Date: April 7, 2024
Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 8 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (.526-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/100 laps/220 laps)
Note: Race extended 15 laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
RWR Race Finish:
● Kaz Grala (Started 31st, Finished 26th/ Running, completed 413 of 415 laps)
● Justin Haley (Started 27th, Finished 30th/ Running, completed 413 of 415 laps)
RWR Points:
● Justin Haley (32nd with 85 points)
● Kaz Grala (33rd with 82 points)
RWR Notes:
● This was Grala’s first career start at Martinsville.
● This was Haley’s seventh career start at Martinsville. His best finish remains 27th, earned in October 2022.
Race Notes:
● William Byron won the Cook Out 400 to score his 13th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at Martinsville. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was .550 of a second.
● There were five caution periods for a total of 51 laps.
● Only 14 of the 37 drivers in the Cook Out 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Larson leaves Martinsville as the championship leader with a 14-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.
Sound Bites:
“I thought we had a chance at getting a top-25 finish with that overtime restart, but I’m not really sure what was going on. It was tough to get the balance right, tough to pass and at the end of these races everyone races with so much urgency even in the back of the field. So, I’m not sure what to take away from it. We’ll have to debrief and see what we can learn from today.” – Kaz Grala, driver of the No. 15 N29 Capital Partners Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We really struggled with our handling in practice and qualifying, so I know the start of the race wouldn’t be great. We made big swings when we got the chance and it really helped, but we were already two laps down and there’s only so much you can do when you don’t get cautions to use to your advantage. We’ll keep trying, see what we have next week at Texas.”– Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Ohanafy Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 on Sunday, April 14 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Contact Heather Griffin
True Speed Communication on behalf of Rick Ware Racing
(704) 249-1337 or Heather.Griffin@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
