Martinsville Cup Series Race LIVE: Starting Lineup: Start Time, Channel, Live Stream

NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Playoff race live updates, starting lineup: Start Time, TV Channel, How To Watch Xfinity 500 live stream.

Get ready for some short-track fireworks — the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway this Sunday, October 26, 2025, for one of the most intense races of the year. The engines fire up at 2:00 PM ET, and you can catch every lap live on NBC or stream it on Peacock and NBC Sports Live.

2025 NASCAR Race Results: NASCAR Cup SeriesSun Oct 26

 LAPS:  500/500

Xfinity 500

NASCAR Cup SeriesSun Oct 26

Pos. Driver Car Team Grid position Time Points

1 USA William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports 1 3:33:59.0 61

2 USA Ryan Blaney 12 Penske Racing 31 0:0:0.0 39

3 USA Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports 8 0:0:0.0 48

4 USA Ross Chastain 1 Trackhouse Racing Team 13 0:0:0.0 33

5 USA Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports 3 0:0:0.0 49

6 USA Ryan Preece 60 RFK Racing 18 0:0:0.0 35

7 USA Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 12 0:0:0.0 41

8 USA Joey Logano 22 Penske Racing 4 0:0:0.0 38

9 USA Todd Gilliland 34 Front Row Motorsports 16 0:0:0.0 36

10 USA Josh Berry 21 Wood Brothers Racing 27 0:0:0.0 27

11 USA Tyler Reddick 45 23XI Racing 14 0:0:0.0 28

12 USA Tyler Randal Gibbs 54 Joe Gibbs Racing 2 0:0:0.0 31

13 USA Kyle Busch 8 Richard Childress Racing 7 0:0:0.0 24

14 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen 88 Trackhouse Racing Team 22 0:0:0.0 26

15 USA Austin Cindric 2 Penske Racing 10 0:0:0.0 23

16 USA Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing 20 0:0:0.0 21

17 USA Cole Custer 41 Haas Factory Team 6 0:0:0.0 20

18 USA Darrell Wallace Jr. 23 23XI Racing 21 0:0:0.0 19

19 USA Justin Haley 7 Spire Motorsports 34 0:0:0.0 18

20 USA Brad Keselowski 6 RFK Racing 19 0:0:0.0 17

21 USA John Hunter Nemechek 42 Legacy Motor Club 24 0:0:0.0 16

22 Mexico Daniel Suárez 99 Trackhouse Racing Team 30 0:0:0.0 15

23 USA Alex Bowman 48 Hendrick Motorsports 17 0:0:0.0 14

24 USA Michael McDowell 71 Spire Motorsports 11 0:0:0.0 13

25 USA Zane Smith 38 Front Row Motorsports 23 0:0:0.0 12

26 USA Ty Dillon 10 Kaulig Racing 26 0:0:0.0 11

27 USA Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 Hyak Motorsports 32 0:0:0.0 10

28 USA A.J. Allmendinger 16 Kaulig Racing 33 0:0:0.0 9

29 USA Chris Buescher 17 RFK Racing 29 0:0:0.0 8

30 USA Noah Gragson 4 Front Row Motorsports 35 0:0:0.0 7

31 USA Carson Hocevar 77 Spire Motorsports 15 0:0:0.0 6

32 USA Cody Ware 51 Rick Ware Racing 36 0:0:0.0 5

33 USA Casey Mears 66 Garage 66 37 0:0:0.0 0

34 USA Erik Jones 43 Legacy Motor Club 28 0:0:0.0 4

35 USA Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing 5 0:0:0.0 7

36 USA Riley Herbst 35 23XI Racing 25 0:0:0.0 1

37 USA Chase Briscoe 19 Joe Gibbs Racing 9 0:0:0.0 6

William Byron wins at Martinsville to lock into NASCAR Cup Championship 4

Who won Stage 1 in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway today? Who won Stage 2?

NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Stage 1 Results Today (Lap 130): William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric.
NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Stage 2 Results Today (Lap 260): William Byron, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Shane van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones.

2 to go: Chase Elliott to third behind William Byron and Ryan Blaney.

10 to go: William Byron clears Ryan Blaney for the lead. Ross Chastain is third.

11 TO GO RESTART.

Off pit road: William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, Todd Gilliland, Joey Logano, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Shane van Gisbergen in 15th. Austin Dillon free pass in 16th.

CAUTION. Carson Hocevar spins off the front bumper of Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell in turn three and totally turns this race on its head. Restart coming with less than 10 laps to go.

19 to go: Joey Logano and Christopher Bell round out the top 10 behind Todd Gilliland.

TOP 10 (33 to go): Byron, Blaney, Preece, Chastain, Berry, Elliott, Larson, Gilliland, Busch, Logano.

38 to go: Ryan Preece to third. Don’t rule him out of contention for the win yet.

43 to go: BUMP AND RUN WILLIAM BYRON TO THE LEAD. Ryan Blaney is not done yet, still in second and staying with Byron.

46 to go: Byron’s there for the lead on Blaney.

LAP 445: As crew chief Rudy Fugle prophesized, William Byron is catching Ryan Blaney in lap traffic and is going for the lead. 55 to go.

LAP 437: Joey Logano has cracked the top 10 again.

LAP 417: Ty Gibbs gets loose and sacrifices himself to not take out teammate Christopher Bell. Gibbs drops to 15th. Bell is now up to 11th.

LAP 411: William Byron is dogging Ryan Blaney and is looking for a way around him. Playoff drivers run first, second, fifth (Chase Elliott), seventh (Kyle Larson), 11th (Joey Logano) and 13th (Christopher Bell). Bell is 12 points behind Larson for a Championship 4 spot. Byron is told to back off some and make up ground in traffic.

LAP 406: Ryan Blaney and William Byron are nose to tail to see who will race in the Championship 4 next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Erik Jones is in trouble again and has a right-front wheel pointing the wrong way. NASCAR keeps the race green.

LAP 400: Bell, Logano, Gibbs, Busch, Reddick pit under caution. They’ll restart in front of Austin Dillon, who received the free pass and is now 17th.

LAP 398: Carson Hocevar spins again in turn one — with future Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez again. Hocevar had some sort of issue.

Ryan Blaney hangs on to the lead over William Byron.

Top 10 (Lap 397): Blaney, Byron, Chastain, Berry, Gilliland, Custer, Preece, Elliott, Larson, SVG.

LAP 390: Ryan Blaney to the lead over William Byron but they race hard.

LAP 389: On the lead lap: Blaney, Byron, Chastain, Gilliland, Berry and Custer will restart up front. Chastain, Gilliland, Berry and Custer just pitted.

Preece free pass, Elliott, SVG, Larson, Bell, Busch, Logano, Gibbs and Reddick wavearound.

Cindric will restart tail end – penalty.

LAP 378: CAUTION! Erik Jones pits.

LAP 376: Kyle Larson pits. William Byron and Ryan Preece pit a lap later. Ryan Blaney pits a lap after Byron and Preece.

LAP 374: Christopher Bell is pitting from sixth. Elliott and Logano are coming too. Leaders should be in soon.

LAP 365: William Byron has cut Ryan Blaney’s lead to under a second. Behind them, Ryan Preece was around two tenths faster than the leaders.

LAP 360: Christopher Bell: “Just going free again. It’s the best I’ve been to take off. We gotta help longevity without tightening the fire off.”

Bell slides after losing fifth to Kyle Larson.

LAP 356: Ryan Preece to third over Chase Elliott. He is closing in for the lead on this longer run.

LAP 351: Ryan Preece is running lap times a tenth or two faster than the drivers in front of him. He is 4.9 seconds behind leader Ryan Blaney.

LAP 346: Ryan Preece to fourth. Great run for him. He kicks Christopher Bell back to three points below the cutline behind Kyle Larson, who takes sixth from Joey Logano.

LAP 335: Denny Hamlin has blown an engine from second. He is the third Toyota to have an engine issue in the last 20-30 laps or so. That is nervewracking for Christopher Bell who is one point below the cutline to make the Championship 4 and does not need an engine issue. That would end his title hopes.

LAP 329: Riley Herbst goes to pit road with a mechanical issue. Chase Elliott to fourth over Joey Logano, Christopher Bell takes fifth behind Elliott. Bell is now -1 to Larson for the cutline.

LAP 318: William Byron takes third from Joey Logano.

LAP 310: William Byron is having troubles getting by Joey Logano and remains behind him. Cutline is Blaney with the lead, then Larson +1 to Bell.

LAP 302: Chase Briscoe to pit road with engine issues. Kyle Larson back to 10th. Cutline is tied with Christopher Bell who tries a move on Chase Elliott.

“No indication it was going to fail. I thought we were going to have a really good day and battled Larson. It upshifted and then gave out,” Briscoe said.

LAP 291-294: William Byron gets two spots on the restart to move up to fourth on the outside lane. The two drivers he passed were Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs who are on older tires. Chase Elliott will try to do the same thing and does. Christopher Bell takes sixth behind Elliott.

LAP 287: Green flag! Denny Hamlin hangs tough with Ryan Blaney for a whole lap. Now Blaney clears.

Lap 279: Josh Berry spins

Josh Berry spins through a corner, and the caution is out. Ryan Blaney leads Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin.

Lap 270: Ryan Blaney leads after staying out

Tyler Reddick, the Penske cars, Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin all pitted before the stage end and stay out. Blaney prevails on the restart for the lead

LAP 264: Reddick, Blaney, Hamlin, Logano, Gibbs, Cindric stay out. Byron, Larson, Elliott, Bell, Gilliland, Briscoe, Preece pit.

The final stage is 240 laps and ends with the scheduled checkered flag at lap 500.

STAGE TWO START 

William Byron laps into the top 15 and wins Stage 1. Teams are crediting a softer tire for allowing for more passing today.

The top 10:

William Byron

Joey Logano

Kyle Larson

Chase Elliott

Ty Gibbs

Denny Hamlin

Ryan Blaney

Christopher Bell

Todd Gilliland

Austin Cindric

STAGE ONE Winner: William Byron

STAGE TWO

The top 10 is mostly unchanged. However, Ty Gibbs is up to fourth with Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell behind him.

Top 10 to start the stage on lap 142: William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece.

The second stage is 130 laps and ends on lap 260.

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 130):

 William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric. Free pass Tyler Reddick in 15th.

LAP 122: Blaney to seventh. Logano to second.

LAP 106:   Ryan Blaney has cracked the top 10 after starting 31st. He’s gonna be a serious contender by day’s end. Teammate Joey Logano took third.

Lap 100: Joey Logano up to P3

Joey Logano is up to third, passing Chase Elliott as the first stage closes to conclusion.

Lap 85: William Byron starting to lap the back of the field

William Byron's lead is 1.3 seconds over Kyle Larson as Byron starts to lap the back of the field. Chris Buescher, in 31st, is now a lap down.

Lap 85: William Byron starting to lap the back of the field

William Byron's lead is 1.3 seconds over Kyle Larson as Byron starts to lap the back of the field. Chris Buescher, in 31st, is now a lap down.

Ryan Blaney inside the top 20

Ryan Blaney has driven up to 17th on Lap 70, good progress. He's in a win-to-get-in spot.

LAP 62:  The top 3 Hendrick cars — Byron, Larson, Elliott — have been about 2-3 tenths faster than the rest of the field the last few laps.

Lap 60: 3-way Hendrick battle for the lead

William Byron's lead is down to car lengths ahead of Kyle Larson, with Chase Elliott also there within a second.

Elliott is told to save a little if he can, meaning fuel. The first stop of the day put teams right on their fuel number to complete the first stage.

LAP 55: Michael McDowell has dropped from first to 23rd on two fresh tires. It is now 20 laps after the restart.

LAP 51: Joey Logano to fourth over Ty Gibbs.

LAP 42:  Michael McDowell finally gets down to the bottom with an aggressive block on Cole Custer. Custer has to lock up the brakes and caused Todd Gilliland to touch the wall. Christopher Bell passes McDowell on the outside lane for seventh.

LAP 37:  William Byron takes the lead. Michael McDowell tried to defend but has just two fresh tires. Kyle Larson battles McDowell for second and now Ty Gibbs and others are coming through


LAP 30:  Michael McDowell takes the lead with a pit stop for two fresh tires. William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric round out the top 10 off of pit road on four tires. No one stayed out.

LAP 29:  Bubba Wallace spins. This is the first caution of the day.

LAP 25:  Chase Elliott takes third. Now, Denny Hamlin goes for fifth on Joey Logano.

LAP 22:  Chase Elliott to fourth over Joey Logano.

LAP 20:  Chase Elliott takes fifth from Denny Hamlin. Hamlin appears to be saving his tires early on.

LAP 13:  Joey Logano takes fourth. He basically needs a win to get into the Championship 4.

LAP 5:  William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Cole Custer, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell.

LAP 1: William Byron takes the early lead from the pole.

The first stage is 130 laps

When is the Martinsville Cup Series Race? Date, Location

Date: Sunday, October 26, 2025

Start Time: 2:00 PM ET

Location: Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia

How to Watch Martinsville Cup Series Playoff Race Today, Start-time, tv channel, live streaming

TV Channels:  NBC

Live Stream:  Peacock or NBC Sports Live

Start Time:  2:00 PM Eastern Time (11:00 AM PT / 6:00 PM GMT)

Coverage starts early with pre-race analysis, driver interviews, and all the build-up before the engines roar.

Why This Race Matters

This isn’t just another Sunday at the track — it’s the Round of 8 finale in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The stakes? A golden ticket to the Championship 4.

Drivers on the playoff bubble are under immense pressure to deliver. Every lap counts, every pit stop matters, and one mistake could end a title dream. Martinsville is where tempers flare, bumpers are used as tools, and rivalries often boil over.

Martinsville Speedway might be small — just 0.526 miles long — but it’s mighty. Known as “The Paperclip”, this short track is famous for its tight corners, heavy braking, and constant contact.

It’s a true driver’s track: part patience, part aggression. Finding rhythm here is tough, and keeping your cool might be even tougher. Expect plenty of chrome horn action, close quarters, and maybe a little post-race drama

NASCAR playoff race at Martinsville starting lineup

1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

3. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

4. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

5. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

6. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

7. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

8. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

9. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

10. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

11. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

12. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

13. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

14. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

15. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

16. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

17. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

18. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

19. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

20. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

21. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

22. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

23. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

24. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford

25. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

26. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

27. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

28. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

29. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford

30. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

31. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

32. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

33. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet

35. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

36. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford

NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings

Who have secured a spot in the Championship 4 are marked with an asterisk.

1. Chase Briscoe*

2. Christopher Bell (+9)

3. Kyle Larson (+10)

4. Denny Hamlin (+13)*

5. William Byron (+46)

6. Joey Logano (+48)

7. Ryan Blaney (+57)

8. Chase Elliott (+72)

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