Entry List

The official 2021 Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 NASCAR CUP Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Martinsville Speedway, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.

Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500

Saturday, April 10th, 2021

Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, VA

  • 14 Ford
  • 5 Toyota
  • 18 Chevrolet

  • Martinsville Speedway
  • Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
  • Pole Winner: Joey Logano
  • Age: 30
  • Team: No. 22 - Shell Pennzoil Ford
  • Owner: Team Penske
  • Crew Chief: Paul Wolfe
  • Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
  • Joey Logano won the Pole Award for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 by having the highest total PMQ.
  • PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
  • 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position.
  • 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
  • 25% of the owner's final race position.
  • 35% of the Owner Points position.

  • Sunday, April 11th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Late pass gives Martin Truex Jr. third NASCAR Cup victory at Martinsville

Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday's rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track.

The victory was Truex's second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for the fifth time in his last 11-short track starts.

Truex finished 1.972 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott, who passed Hamlin for the second spot on Lap 495 of 500. Hamlin held third, 2.364 seconds behind, to post his seventh top-five finish (including four third-place results) in his eight starts this season.

"I can't believe we won again here, after not having the dominant car today, for sure," said Truex, who led for the first time when he beat Hamlin out of the pits on Lap 455 but surrendered the top spot to Hamlin's short-run speed after a restart on Lap 459. "It was a lot of fun there at the end racing with Denny.

"We raced clean, and we were able to come out on top. It's definitely difficult. We try to race hard, race clean. He was making it difficult on me—I was loose coming off the corners. His car got tight, so we kind of had opposite things going on, and it made it difficult to pass. We played nice. (Team owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) will be happy. It'll be a cordial meeting tomorrow."

In a race that produced 15 cautions for 102 laps, the 42-lap green-flag run to the finish proved Hamlin's undoing. The driver No. 11 Toyota didn't have the long-run speed to hold off his teammate.

"It's just the cards we were dealt," said Hamlin, who led 276 laps. "We had a really good short-run car. We just didn't have a good long-run car. We just couldn't get our car to turn in the long run. That was the bugaboo of it, I guess you could say.

"We had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away."

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

Ryan Blaney won the first and second stages and led 157 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford dragged an air hose out of the pit box on his final stop, earning a penalty that sent him to the back of the field for the Lap 459 restart. He fought back for an 11th-place finish.

"We've had an issue the last three times we've been here with a car to win, so that's frustrating, but I'm real proud of the effort," Blaney said. "I just wish we could close one out."

A 15-car pileup worthy of a "Big One" at Talladega thinned the field of potential winners and blocked the track as effectively as the forlorn container ship stopped traffic in the Suez Canal. Then melee started with side-to-side contact between the cars of Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch and collected a baker's dozen of cars behind them—and setting the Chevrolets of Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece on fire.

The wreck, which stopped the race under a red flag that lasted 21 minutes, 47 seconds, was the coup de grace for two-time Martinsville winner Brad Keselowski, who had sustained damage in two earlier accidents.

"It's just unfortunate that we got caught up in it," Keselowski said. "The track was blocked. I think I was just barely going to get stopped in time, and somebody clobbered me from behind and just tore us up. It's a bummer. I think we were really good.

"We drove up into the top five and lost the power-steering. I was able to manhandle it around the race track, but I couldn't get down pit road where you go to turn in your pit box… Just one of those compounding, frustrating short-track days, but we had decent speed."

The race was halted by rain after 42 laps on Saturday night and resumed under caution at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

  • Drivers Entered: 37
  • Laps Scheduled: 500
  • Margin of Victory: 01.972 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 54 Minutes 25 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 67.316
  • Cautions: 15 for 102 laps
  • Lead Changes: 18
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,976 (5.0 passes per green flag lap)

  • Martinsville Speedway
  • 72nd Annual Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500
  • Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
  • Age: 40
  • Team : No. 19 - Bass Pro Toyota
  • Owner: Coy Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: James Small
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the 72nd Annual Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, his 29th victory in 558 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his third victory and 14th top-10 finish in 32 races at Martinsville Speedway.
  • Chase Elliott (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 13 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 22nd top-10 finish in 32 races at Martinsville Speedway.
  • Anthony Alfredo (26th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Denny Hamlin leads the point standings by 76 points over Martin Truex Jr..
#48 Sign for Jimmie Chevrolet on the grid
Martinsville, Virginia - November 1, 2020 : A detail of the #48 Sign for Jimmie Chevrolet, driven by Jimmie Johnson, on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on November 01, 2020 in Martinsville, Virginia.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images
ENTRY
#
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
DOB
AGE
MAKE
SPONSOR
TEAM
CREW CHIEF

1
10
Tampa, FL
Mar 14, 1984
37
Ford
Smithfield Anytime Favorites
2
2
Auburn Hills, MI
Feb 12, 1984
37
Ford
Autotrader
3
11
Chesterfield, VA
Nov 18, 1980
40
Toyota
FedEx Office
4
53
Phoenix, AZ
Oct 05, 1976
44
Chevrolet
Fatboy Ice Cream
5
22
Middleton, CT
May 24, 1990
30
Ford
Shell Pennzoil
6
4
Bakersfield, CA
Dec 08, 1975
45
Ford
Busch NA
7
1
Las Vegas, NV
Aug 04, 1978
42
Chevrolet
GearWrench
8
18
Las Vegas, NV
May 02, 1985
35
Toyota
Snickers Peanut Brownie
9
19
Mayetta, NJ
Jun 29, 1980
40
Toyota
Bass Pro
10
34
Phoenix, AZ
Dec 21, 1984
36
Ford
Fr8Auctions
11
6
South Bend, IN
Dec 08, 1977
43
Ford
Guaranteed Rate
12
3
Lewisville, NC
Apr 27, 1990
30
Chevrolet
American Ethanol
13
47
Olive Branch, MS
Oct 02, 1987
33
Chevrolet
Kroger / Crest
14
5
Sacremento, CA
Jul 31, 1992
28
Chevrolet
HendrickCars.com
15
48
Tuscon, AZ
Apr 25, 1993
27
Chevrolet
Ally
16
12
High Point, NC
Dec 31, 1993
27
Ford
Menards / Pennzoil
17
7
Kannapolis, NC
Sep 25, 1991
29
Chevrolet
ARK.io
18
9
Dawsonville, GA
Nov 28, 1995
25
Chevrolet
NAPA Auto Parts
19
21
Grass Valley, CA
Jul 27, 1991
29
Ford
Motorcraft / Quick Lane
20
17
Prosper, TX
Oct 29, 1992
28
Ford
Fastenal
21
43
Byron, MI
May 30, 1996
24
Chevrolet
Petty's Garage
22
78
Wauchula, FL
Nov 17, 1983
37
Ford
CorvetteParts.net
23
37
Berlin, CT
Oct 25, 1990
30
Chevrolet
Louisiana Hot Sauce
24
99
Monterrey, Mexico
Jan 07, 1992
29
Chevrolet
Camping World
25
51
Greensboro, NC
Nov 07, 1995
25
Chevrolet
Nurtec ODT
26
42
Alva, FL
Dec 04, 1992
28
Chevrolet
Chevrolet Accessories
27
23
Mobile, AL
Oct 08, 1993
27
Toyota
DoorDash
28
24
Charlotte, NC
Nov 29, 1997
23
Chevrolet
Liberty University
29
41
Ladera Ranch, CA
Jan 23, 1998
23
Ford
HaasTooling.com
30
52
Menomonee Falls, WI
Jun 03, 1995
25
Ford
Insurance King
31
8
Corning, CA
Jan 11, 1996
25
Chevrolet
Childress Vineyards
32
00
Weyers Cave, VA
Sep 15, 1997
23
Chevrolet
Gardner Marsh
33
77
Winamac, IN
Apr 28, 1999
21
Chevrolet
Diamond Creek Water
34
20
Norman, OK
Dec 16, 1994
26
Toyota
Toyota
35
15
Melbourne, Australia
Aug 28, 1986
34
Chevrolet
Jacob Companies
36
14
Mitchell, IN
Dec 15, 1994
26
Ford
Rush Truck Centers
37
38
Ridgefield, CT
Mar 01, 1999
22
Ford
iRacing