Author Archives: PressBox

Carson Kvapil won the pole for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Martinsville Speedway, turning a 19.855-second lap at 95.371 mph in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Rajah Caruth qualified second, 0.048 seconds behind Kvapil, with Justin Allgaier third, Parker Retzlaff fourth and William Sawalich fifth in the 38-car lineup.

Sammy Smith will start sixth, Brandon Jones 12th, Harrison Burton 17th and Austin Hill 21st in the race at the 0.526-mile oval in Martinsville, Virginia. The race is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET and will air on CW, the ESPN App, MRN and SiriusXM, with stages set for 60, 120 and 250 laps and a purse of $1,661,806.

Timmy Hill said Martinsville Speedway would be his final scheduled race as a team owner, as he prepares to shift his focus back to driving. Hill said he was grateful for the people, memories and support from his time running Hill Motorsports, and said his 2027 driving plans would be announced later.

Hill currently co-owns Hill Motorsports with Tyler Hill. The team has competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since 2019, making 148 Truck Series starts and two ARCA Menards Series starts. Its results include two top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes, with its best finish coming when Tyler Hill placed second at Talladega in 2021.

Hill is entered in the No. 56 Toyota for Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Martinsville and will drive the truck this weekend. Hill Motorsports fields the No. 56 truck part-time in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Kaden Honeycutt entered Martinsville Speedway with a 43-point lead over Layne Riggs in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship battle, but the title remained undecided heading into Friday night’s Black’s Tire 200. Honeycutt could not clinch the championship at Martinsville unless Riggs had a very poor points day, and with two races left after Martinsville, the battle was set to continue to Homestead-Miami on Nov. 6.

All 36 Truck Series entries passed pre-race inspection at Martinsville on Thursday, including Honeycutt’s and Riggs’ trucks on the first attempt. The series was racing at the 0.536-mile track, where Honeycutt’s best finish had been second and Riggs had four finishes of 15th or better. Riggs also earned the pole and finished third in the fall 2025 Martinsville race.

Honeycutt finished fifth at Talladega last week, while Riggs was eighth, and both drivers said the championship was still up for grabs. Riggs said his team would need to dominate the final two races to have a chance at the title. Corey Heim was the defending race winner at Martinsville, and Sammy Smith was in the field. Christian Eckes, Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger remained in points battles despite being eliminated from title contention.

NASCAR declined Fred Lorenzen’s family’s proposal to help fund CTE research, saying after consulting its medical partners that a different approach would better fit its driver health and wellness efforts. The family said it had spent more than six months discussing a possible partnership with NASCAR, and that the proposed contribution could have reached $1 million per year for three years. Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom said they were prepared to match NASCAR’s funding and would move forward with the initiative regardless of the decision.

The push came after Boston University researchers posthumously diagnosed Lorenzen with Stage 3 CTE after examining his brain, making him the first known NASCAR driver with a CTE diagnosis. Lorenzen died on Dec. 18, 2024, at age 89. He raced in NASCAR from 1956 to 1972 and won the 1965 Daytona 500.

NASCAR said it already has safety and medical programs, including mandatory baseline concussion testing, a Medical Advisory Group, helmet testing, and partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Wake Forest University. Lorenzen’s family announced a $1 million donation to the Concussion & CTE Foundation on Oct. 20, with the money set to support CTE research and a Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine for families dealing with suspected CTE and concussion symptoms. Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom also questioned whether NASCAR has any post-career CTE-specific programs for drivers.