The NASCAR Cup Series visited Martinsville Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the Cook Out 400. Denny Hamlin started the race on the pole, with William Byron starting second.
Denny Hamlin dominated the majority of the race, leading a race-high 292 of 400 laps and sweeping both stages. In the final stage, Bubba Wallace bumped Carson Hocevar several times, which triggered a major crash on lap 325 that also involved 10 other cars, including Connor Zilisch, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, and Erik Jones. It was one of four on-track cautions through the race.
Chase Elliott took the lead away from Ross Chastain on lap 332. Denny Hamlin passed Chastain for second place. He kept chasing Elliott, but the lapped-down cars made it hard to catch him. Elliott led the final 69 laps to win his first race of the season by 0.565 seconds over Denny Hamlin. It was Elliott’s 22nd career Cup Series win and second at Martinsville.
Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron rounded out the top five. Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry completed the top ten. Three cars did not finish the race. They were Riley Herbst, Bubba Wallace, and Ty Dillon.
The Cup Series is off next weekend. Their next race is on Sunday, April 12, 2026, from Bristol Motor Speedway at 3 pm on FS1.
