Martinsville Victory Lane Tradition at Risk

What’s Happening?

Howard Miller, the clock manufacturer responsible for the beautiful grandfather clocks presented as trophies to race winners at Martinsville Speedway, will cease operations later this year after over 100 years of business. The decision made, per company CEO Howard J. Miller, the grandson of the company’s founder, said that it was “unsustainable” for the company to go on.

Our business has been directly impacted by tariffs that have increased the cost of essential components unavailable domestically and driven specialty suppliers out of business, making it unsustainable for us to continue our operations.

-Howard J. Miller

It is unclear at this time what company will take on the tradition of manufacturing the grandfather clock. But the expectations will be high. Regardless, this is a very sad day for Howard Miller’s 195 employees. Luckily, they will receive severance checks and assistance in finding future jobs.

• This created quite a stir online in the NASCAR community. NASCAR’s most popular driver took to X to post his thoughts on the matter. Bluntly, he issued a dire warning to the company that picks up the responsibility. You can read his post below.
• The tradition of the winner of Martinsville receiving a grandfather clock started all the way back in 1964. Howard Miller had been the clock manufacturer since the start of the tradition. The clocks are made by hand and historically a star employee of the company is hand-picked to present the clock to the Martinsville race winner.
• It will be interesting to see what company takes on the responsibility of clock manufacturing for the Martinsville Speedway. The final trophy grandfather clock from Howard Miller is expected to be presented to the winner of the fall Martinsville race.

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