The race was previously 500 laps in length before it was shortened to 400 laps starting in 2022.
Unlike other races which the winner receives a trophy, the winner of this race and other NASCAR races at Martinsville receives agrandfather clock, which has been a tradition since 1964.[2][3]
The 2019 raceThe race logo in 2022. Blue-Emu was also the title sponsor of the race in 2020 and 2021 when it was 500 laps in length.The race logo in 2023
The race had no name from 1950 to 1955, before taking the nameVirginia 500 in 1956.
Goody's Powder, which was the title sponsor of the spring Martinsville Cup Series race from 1996 to 2000 and the fall Martinsville Cup Series race from1983 to1995, returned as the title sponsor of the spring race in 2007 to promote their new orange-flavored brand, Cool Orange, with the race title being Goody's Cool Orange 500. During this time, this race was the sixth race of the season and the first race where the current season's owner point standings were used to determine which cars were "go-or-go-homers" and needed to qualify into the race. (For the first five races, it was the previous season's owner point standings used to determine which cars were locked in the race.)
From 2008 to 2012, the fall Cup Series race at Martinsville was sponsoredTums, which was owned by the same parent company (British pharmaceutical conglomerateGSK plc) as Goody's. In 2013, they reduced their title sponsorship to only the fall race with Goody's replacing Tums as the brand that was advertised in the race sponsorship. Legendary NASCAR andRichard Petty sponsorSTP became the title sponsor of the spring race starting in 2013 and remained through 2019.
In 2020, Blue-Emu took overnaming rights for the race as part of a multi-year deal with NASCAR.[4]
In 2022, the race was shortened to 400 laps.
In 2023,The NOCO Company, which makes car parts such as batteries, battery chargers and jumper cables, replaced Blue-Emu as the title sponsor of the race.[5]
In 2024, the race had another new title sponsor,Cook Out.[1]
1953:Herb Thomas was originally declared the winner, but a recheck showed that he had been credited with an extra lap.
1971: Controversy doggedRichard Petty's win as he lost his gas cap (dry-break fuel couplers were not mandated until 1974) during the race but was not black-flagged; there had been incidents of drivers flagged to get gas caps under green.
1979:Richard Petty posted his first win in a Chevrolet and first short track win since 1975.
1981:Morgan Shepherd stunned the field with his first career Winston Cup win. It also marked the first victory since October 1963 for thePontiac nameplate, who had been on a seventeen-year hiatus from NASCAR. Of Shepherd's four career victories, this was the only one at a track other thanAtlanta.
1982: After nearly a dozen second-place finishes,Harry Gant pulled down his first win.
1991:Dale Earnhardt scores his 50th Cup win, one day before his 40th birthday.
1993-1996:Rusty Wallace went on to win 4 consecutive Martinsville Spring Races in this time frame. He would become only the 2nd driver in the track's history, and the only driver in the history of the Spring Race, to win the same Martinsville event 4 years in a row.Richard Petty would accomplish this feat in the fall race from 1967-1970.
1999:John Andretti lost a lap after being tagged byWard Burton; he made up the lap and ran downJeff Burton; in the final ten laps he and Burton raced nose to nose for several laps before Andretti rallied to the win, his first forPetty Enterprises, the 200th short track win for the team, and the first for the team since 1997. This was the 268th and final win for Petty Enterprises.
2002:Bobby Labonte posted his first career short-track win.
2007: This was the second race forNASCAR's new Cup Series car, theCar of Tomorrow.Hendrick Motorsports teammatesJeff Gordon andJimmie Johnson had an exciting battle for the win in the closing laps with Johnson prevailing despite Gordon's attempts to pass him and him hitting the side of Johnson's car and Johnson's bumper multiple times while attempting to pass him.
2010:Denny Hamlin stormed four-abreast through traffic on a late restart to steal the win.
2014:Kurt Busch posted his first win withStewart-Haas Racing after passingJimmie Johnson with eleven laps to go. The win was Busch's first in two seasons following his firing fromPenske Racing and numerous confrontations with media. The race lead changed 33 times, a track record, breaking the 31 sets inKevin Harvick's 2011 win.
2018: The race was postponed to Monday due to snow.Clint Bowyer won the race, breaking a 190-race winless streak dating back to 2012.
2019:Brad Keselowski dominated by leading 446 laps and winning the race.
2020: The race was scheduled to be the track's first-ever night race in the Cup Series.[6]
1961 (first): Race abandoned as a result of rain. Under current rules, it would not be declared official as less than 50% of the race distance was completed.
1961 (second): A replacement race for the original 1961 race.
