MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to historic Martinsville Speedway on Friday night for one of the most pressure-packed races of the season as drivers enter the penultimate event of the 2026 campaign and the sixth race of the NASCAR Chase. With only one race remaining after Martinsville, opportunities to gain ground in the championship standings are quickly disappearing.
The series returns to the sport’s shortest track, a 0.526-mile paperclip-shaped oval known for bent fenders, bruised egos and grandfather clocks awarded to race winners. The combination of tight quarters, heavy braking zones and playoff pressure has routinely made Martinsville one of NASCAR’s most unpredictable short-track events.
The race comes one week after a dramatic Talladega Superspeedway event that shook up the standings and provided several drivers with momentum heading into a track where experience and track position often prove critical.
Among those carrying momentum into Virginia is Sammy Smith, who earned his first career Truck Series victory last weekend at Talladega driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Smith led six times and survived an overtime finish to score...