MARTINSVILLE, VA. – Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 race is at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10.
The race on a .536 mile oval track is in Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
The 500 lap race or 263 miles will be raced in three stages: Stage 1: 130 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 240 laps
Notes of Interest
● Fresh off the NASCAR Cup Series off-weekend, Chase Briscoe looks to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway as a clean slate and the perfect opportunity for the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers team to kickstart its season. The tight and flat .526-mile oval may not seem like the ideal place for a rookie driver to find his footing, but Briscoe has proven that he can handle himself on short tracks like Martinsville.
● The 25-year-old racer from Mitchell, Indiana, made 15 short-track starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, scoring two wins – last September at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and July 2019 at Iowa Speedway in Newton – and earning 10 top-10 finishes. When the Xfinity Series made its return to Martinsville last fall after a 13-year hiatus, Briscoe finished seventh.
● Briscoe also has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Martinsville. His best result came in April 2017 when he started eighth and finished 11th. He returned in October to start on the pole and lead the first 39 laps before a late-race accident resulted in a 19th-place finish.
● This weekend marks Briscoe’s first race carrying the colors of Rush Truck Centers on the No. 14 Ford Mustang. Rush Truck Centers is the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in the United States with more than 100 locations in 22 states. These vehicle centers, strategically located in high-traffic areas on or near major highways throughout the United States, represent truck and bus manufacturers, including Peterbilt, International, Hino, Isuzu, Ford, Mitsubishi, IC Bus and Blue Bird. They offer an integrated approach to meeting customer needs – from sales of new and used vehicles to aftermarket parts, service and body shop operations, plus financing, insurance, leasing and rental.
● After seven races, Briscoe leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 46 points over Anthony Alfredo. With Rookie of the Year honors in the Truck Series (2017) and Xfinity Series (2019), Briscoe is looking to join Erik Jones and William Byron as only the third driver in history to claim the title in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.
Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
We’re heading into two weekends of Virginia short-track racing, starting with Martinsville this weekend before we head to Richmond. Are these races you’re looking forward to?
“I don’t know if it’s fair to say I’m looking forward to either. For whatever reason, it seems like the state of Virginia haunts me. Every time we race at Richmond or Martinsville I tend to struggle. I enjoy running at Martinsville, but from a luck standpoint I’ve had terrible luck there. Maybe we can turn it around this year, but it was a struggle the first few years of my career. There’s a certain rhythm to the racing at Martinsville and, if you can find that, it definitely makes it more fun. But it’s a true short track and you can get caught up in a mess real quick.”
It has been a slow start to the season for the No. 14 team. Was the off weekend a chance to hit the reset button?
“Yes, definitely. I wouldn’t say we’ve had a bad start to the season. We’ve made a lot of progress in terms of learning how to work together. I got a better idea of things I need to work on and they know what I like in a car and what I’m looking for at certain tracks. Those are all things we can build on. But having a week off to take a breath and regroup is never a bad thing. We’ve still got work to do, but this is a chance to turn things around and start moving in the right direction.”
There’s a lot of pressure put on young guys when they move up to the Cup Series to do well right off the bat. Have you been able to enjoy it and have fun?
“Absolutely. This is something I’ve dreamed of my whole life, to get to this point specifically and to drive the car I’m driving now. It’s frustrating but, at the same time, this is a dream being lived out. The results will come eventually, it’s just a matter of learning and keeping things in perspective. I knew it was going to be a big jump and I’d need to adjust, but it’s for sure a bigger adjustment than I expected. But we’re only seven races in, I’ve still got a lot to learn even with as much as I’ve learned so far. I’m just taking it all in. It’s never a guarantee that you’re back the next year. So, I’m just trying to live in the moment, enjoy every moment and have fun along the way.”
