The 2019 First Data 500 was a

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

held on October 27, 2019, at

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in s ...

Ridgeway, Virginia Ridgeway is a town in Henry County, Virginia, Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 742 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Martinsville micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. M ...

. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track (extended from 500 laps), it was the 33rd race of the

2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series (also known as the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 71st season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 48th modern-era Cup series season. The seas ...

season, seventh race of the Playoffs, and first race of the Round of 8.

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway, September 2011 overview

Martinsville Speedway is an

International Speedway Corporation International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International ...

-owned

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

stock car racing track located in Henry County, in

, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR

Monster Energy Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

. The track is also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by

H. Clay Earles Henry Clay Earles (August 11, 1913 – November 16, 1999) was the founder and chairman of the board of Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR stock car racing track that Earles built in 1947 in Ridgeway, Virginia that was one of the circuit's first pa ...

. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only NASCAR oval track on the entire NASCAR track circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways, then concrete to cover the turns.

Entry list

* (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. * (R) denotes rookie driver. *

Matt Tifft Matthew Kenneth Tifft (born June 26, 1996) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, and current team owner. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 36 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports unt ...

was supposed to drive No. 36 car but he was hospitalized after suffering “a medical condition”.

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a three-time champion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2013, 2014, 2019), in which he competes full-time, driving the No. 88 Ford F-150 ...

was called to replace Tifft in the No. 36 car. Tifft has not raced in NASCAR since the hospitalization.

Practice

First practice

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...

was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.591 seconds and a speed of .

Final practice

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...

was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.667 seconds and a speed of .

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and oper ...

scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.354 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Race

Stage results

Stage One ''Laps:'' 130 Stage Two ''Laps:'' 130

Final stage results

Stage Three ''Laps:'' 240

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 3 among 3 different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 11 for 69 * Red flags: 0 * Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes and 9 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, 1997 race winner

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...

Steve Letarte Steven Letarte (born May 14, 1979) is an American professional NASCAR crew chief and sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a color commentator on their telecasts for NASCAR. He also works as a consultant for Spire Motorsports, a NASCAR Cup ...

and 2014 race winner

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

had the call in the booth for the race.

Parker Kligerman Parker L. Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing. Kligerman is a former development driver ...

, Marty Snider and

Kelli Stavast Kelli L. Stavast is an American sportscaster who works for NBC Sports as a pit reporter for both their NASCAR (in both the Cup and Xfinity Series) and IndyCar Series coverage. She has reported for numerous other forms of motorsports throughout he ...

reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on

Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...

. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 7 time Martinsville winner

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

had the call for MRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Dave Moody covered the action for MRN when the field raced down the backstraightway into turn 3. Winston Kelley, Steve Post, Kim Coon, and Dillon Welch had the call for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup

First Data 500 The Xfinity 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The race is traditionally held in the fall and has been run in every NASCAR Cup Series season, starting with the sixth e ...

NASCAR races at Martinsville Speedway