The 2026 Cook Out 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 29, 2026, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps on the paperclip-shaped oval, it was the seventh race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Chase Elliott won the race. Denny Hamlin finished 2nd, and Joey Logano finished 3rd. Ty Gibbs and William Byron rounded out the top five, and Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry rounded out the top ten.
Report
Background
Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the 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 NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track on the NASCAR circuit since its beginning in 1948.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 48 Justin Allgaier (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list
Alex Bowman, the original driver of the No. 48, was sidelined for the race due to vertigo sustained at Austin.
Practice Bubba Wallace was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 19.685 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 19.685 96.195 2 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.701 96.117 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.732 95.966Official practice results
Qualifying Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.275 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.275 98.241 2 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.331 97.957 3 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19.334 97.941 4 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.338 97.921 5 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 19.339 97.916 6 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 19.351 97.855 7 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 19.363 97.795 8 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 19.376 97.729 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.389 97.664 10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.392 97.649 11 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.398 97.618 12 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 19.429 97.463 13 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.432 97.448 14 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.444 97.387 15 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 19.445 97.382 16 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 19.446 97.377 17 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 19.453 97.342 18 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 19.457 97.322 19 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 19.486 97.177 20 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 19.495 97.133 21 48 Justin Allgaier (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.503 97.093 22 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 19.508 97.068 23 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 19.518 97.018 24 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 19.530 96.959 25 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 19.536 96.929 26 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 19.561 96.805 27 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.562 96.800 28 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 19.578 96.721 29 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.588 96.671 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.625 96.489 31 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.650 96.366 32 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 19.664 96.298 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 19.676 96.239 34 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.705 96.097 35 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 19.719 96.029 36 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 19.760 95.830 37 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.921 95.055 Official qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 93 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 84 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 66 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 57 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 48 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 39 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 210 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 1
Stage Two Laps: 100
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 75 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 57 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 48 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 39 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 220
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 10 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 55 2 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 56 3 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 400 46 4 4 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 49 5 2 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 47 6 12 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 400 41 7 11 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 30 8 6 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 400 40 9 13 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 30 10 3 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 400 36 11 5 97 Shane van Gisbergen Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 400 34 12 17 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 400 26 13 23 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 400 24 14 27 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 400 23 15 8 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 400 28 16 18 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 400 21 17 7 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 400 20 18 20 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 400 19 19 16 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 399 18 20 22 7 Daniel Suárez Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 399 17 21 19 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 399 16 22 21 48 Justin Allgaier (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 398 0 23 29 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 398 14 24 34 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 398 13 25 30 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 398 12 26 25 88 Connor Zilisch (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 397 11 27 28 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 397 10 28 31 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 397 9 29 32 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 397 8 30 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 397 7 31 24 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Chevrolet 396 6 32 35 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 394 5 33 37 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 394 0 34 14 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 371 3 35 26 35 Riley Herbst 23XI Racing Toyota 323 2 36 15 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 323 1 37 36 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 298 1 Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 8 among 6 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 5 for 54 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 47 minutes, and 18 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television The race was carried by FS1 in the United States. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight on-site during the race.
FS1Booth announcersPit reportersIn-race analystLap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Clint BowyerColor-commentator: Kevin Harvick Jamie LittleRegan Smith Larry McReynolds
Radio MRN was the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Mike BagleyAnnouncer: Todd Gordon Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyTurns 3 & 4: Tim Catafalmo Steve PostChris Wilner
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Tyler Reddick 353 2 Ryan Blaney 271 (–82) 1 3 Denny Hamlin 259 (–94) 1 4 Chase Elliott 249 (–104) 1 5 William Byron 238 (–115) 5 6 Ty Gibbs 222 (–131) 1 7 Christopher Bell 212 (–141) 1 8 Brad Keselowski 206 (–147) 1 9 Kyle Larson 206 (–147) 3 10 Chris Buescher 206 (–147) 8 11 Bubba Wallace 206 (–147) 4 12 Joey Logano 185 (–168) 1 13 Ryan Preece 180 (–173) 1 14 Shane van Gisbergen 174 (–179) 2 15 Carson Hocevar 171 (–182) 2 16 Daniel Suárez 167 (–186)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 345 1 2 Chevrolet 261 (–84) 1 3 Ford 248 (–97)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
References