NASCAR champion Kyle Busch reveals what makes Martinsville Speedway so great

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series hits Martinsville Speedway this weekend, and two-time champion Kyle Busch has issued his verdict on the track ahead of the action.

Cup Series cars will be on track on both days this weekend in Virginia, with practice and qualifying on Saturday from 12:30 p.m. ET (Prime, MRN, SiriusXM) and the Cook Out 400 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

Busch heads into the weekend after a tough start to the season, and with a significant, unwanted milestone on the horizon. If he fails to win on Sunday, he will have gone 100 Cup Series races without a victory.

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What makes Martinsville Speedway so great?

Regardless of that, Busch is looking forward to hitting the 0.526-mile track, revealing what he thinks makes it such a great NASCAR venue.

“There’s always action at Martinsville," Busch said ahead of the weekend, via Team Chevy.

"It’s a great racetrack with close-quarters action. Fans are right on top of the speedway seeing the cars up close and personal.

"It’s always great going back to a short track atmosphere that we all grew up racing somewhere. I grew up in late models at the local short tracks that were half mile or smaller like Martinsville so it’s fun going there.”

Busch on 'tricky' Martinsville

“Martinsville is a tricky track," the two-time champion continued. "It has concrete surface in the corners, so it changes a lot during the race.

"When you have these long runs, and you get these rubber build-ups, especially when it’s over 70 degrees outside, you get the clumping of the rubber on the racetrack, so you have to start searching around and trying to find a groove that your car will really work in. 

"Obviously, the shortest way around is always the fastest way around, because there’s not really much momentum that you can build up on the outside at Martinsville. It’s a paper clip, and it's very stop-and-go.

"But then, when you have cautions, all that rubber gets cleaned off, and you’ve got to start all over again. So, a lot of changes happening there at Martinsville.”