This weekend, Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports managed to pry a victory out of the hands of Denny Hamlin. But, if you missed all that action, here’s a look at what the NASCAR community took away from NASCAR’s first Martinsville trip of the new year.
For those wondering how Kyle Busch’s contract season at Richard Childress Racing is going, look no further than this past weekend as the perfect example.
Following a disappointing qualifying effort for the No. 8 team, Busch gave one of his classic, slightly frustrated interviews. During the race, Busch went two laps down and finished 24th (intentionally or unintentionally), running through a tire on pit road to boot. Nothing is official yet, but this pair’s time together may be winding down.
Every NASCAR fan knows that Martinsville is one of the most frustrating tracks on the schedule for drivers. And Bubba Wallace‘s lap 323 run-in with Carson Hocevar showed just how frustrating the paper clip can be for drivers.
While it’s up for debate exactly what happened on track, this run-in has the potential to start a real war between two of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most passionate fan bases. As we leave Martinsville, we may not have heard the last of Bubba Wallace and Carson Hocevar finding each other on track, especially with Bristol just over a week away.
NASCAR fans entered the 2026 season with a high level of optimism as FOX Sports debuted a refreshed graphics package that pushed aside the long-disliked cartoon drivers, bringing in a sleeker look for the network’s NASCAR graphics. At the time of its unveiling, fans praised the new graphics package, though they were quick to point out that the network still had a long way to go in regaining their trust.
These feelings were proven correct this weekend when, after the race, FOX flashed a graphic display of the Cup Series points featuring inaccurate standings. For the most part, fans online agreed that a mix-up is a mix-up, but this is entirely something else, as it even took FOX host Chris Myers by surprise.
When Chase Elliott isn’t winning races, it doesn’t take his fan base long to call out veteran Crew Chief Alan Gustafson as the reason for the team’s shortcomings. This is somewhat of an annual conversation, with one of NASCAR‘s most passionate fan bases feeling that their driver is being wronged by one of the series most experienced Crew Chiefs.
Well, this weekend Gustafson proved the mob wrong once again, not only returning Chase Elliott to victory Lane, but putting Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet in the victory lane for the first time this season. During post-race interviews, everyone from Jeff Gordon to Elliott poked fun at Gustafson’s doubters.
Martinsville Speedway seemed like the first real test for NASCAR‘s new higher-horsepower short-track package. After a decent showing in previous races, it seemed like the series’ Next Gen car was finally turning a corner in its short track racing product, but this past weekend, it slowed that momentum.
For the most part, fans were quick to call this the worst race of the 2026 season so far, and it’s easy to see why excitement for upcoming races like Bristol is dwindling.
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