NOCO 400

NOCO 400
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueMartinsville Speedway
LocationRidgeway, Virginia, United States
Corporate sponsorThe NOCO Company
First race1950
Distance210.4 mi (338.606 km)
Laps400
Stage 1: 80
Stage 2: 100
Final stage: 220
Previous namesUnnamed (1950–1955)
Virginia 500 (1956–1981, 2001–2003)
Virginia 500 Sweepstakes (second 1961 race)
Virginia National Bank 500 (1982–1983)
Sovran Bank 500 (1984–1987)
Pannill Sweatshirts 500 (1988–1989)
Hanes Activewear 500 (1990)
Hanes 500 (1991–1995)
Goody's Headache Powder 500 (1996–1998)
Goody's Body Pain 500 (1999–2000)
Advance Auto Parts 500 (2004–2005)
DirecTV 500 (2006)
Goody's Cool Orange 500 (2007–2008)
Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 (2009–2010)
Goody's Fast Relief 500 (2011–2012)
STP Gas Booster 500 (2013)
STP 500 (2014–2019)
Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (2020-2021)
Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 (2022)
Most wins (driver)Richard Petty (9)
Most wins (team)Petty Enterprises (12)
Most wins (manufacturer)Chevrolet (28)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt (straightaways and top of turns)
Concrete (turns)
Length0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Turns4

The NOCO 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the 0.526-mile (0.847 km) Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. It is the first of two Cup Series races at the track, the other one being the Xfinity 500 in the NASCAR playoffs.

The race was previously 500 laps in length before it was shortened to 400 laps starting in 2022.

Unlike other races which the winner receives a trophy, the winner of this race and other NASCAR races at Martinsville receives a grandfather clock, which has been a tradition since 1964.

History

The 2019 race
The race logo in 2022. Blue-Emu was also the title sponsor of the race in 2020 and 2021 when it was 500 laps in length; the logo in 2020-2021 was the same as the 2022 logo, but the "400" text is replaced by a "500".

The race had no name from 1950 to 1955, before taking the name Virginia 500 in 1956.

Goody's Powder, which was the title sponsor of the spring Martinsville Cup Series race from 1996 to 2000 and the fall Martinsville Cup Series race from 1983 to 1995, returned as the title sponsor of the spring race in 2007 to promote their new orange-flavored brand, Cool Orange, with the race title being Goody's Cool Orange 500. During this time, this race was the sixth race of the season and the first race where the current season's owner point standings were used to determine which cars were "go-or-go-homers" and needed to qualify into the race. (For the first five races, it was the previous season's owner point standings used to determine which cars were locked in the race.)

From 2008 to 2012, the fall Cup Series race at Martinsville was sponsored Tums, which was owned by the same parent company (British pharmaceutical conglomerate GSK plc) as Goody's. In 2013, they reduced their title sponsorship to only the fall race with Goody's replacing Tums as the brand that was advertised in the race sponsorship. Legendary NASCAR and Richard Petty sponsor STP became the title sponsor of the spring race starting in 2013 and remained through 2019.

In 2020, Blue-Emu took over naming rights for the race as part of a multi-year deal with NASCAR.

In 2022, the race was shortened to 400 laps.

In 2023, The NOCO Company, which makes car parts such as batteries, battery chargers and jumper cables, replaced Blue-Emu as the title sponsor of the race.

Notable races

  • 1953: Herb Thomas was originally declared the winner, but a recheck showed that he had been credited with an extra lap.
  • 1971: Controversy dogged Richard Petty's win as he lost his gas cap (dry-break fuel couplers were not mandated until 1974) during the race but was not black-flagged; there had been incidents of drivers flagged to get gas caps under green.
  • 1973: David Pearson won his first short track race since 1971, driving the Wood Brothers Mercury.
  • 1976: Darrell Waltrip took the win, the first for the DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet.
  • 1979: Richard Petty posted his first win in a Chevrolet and first short track win since 1975.
  • 1981: Morgan Shepherd stunned the field with his first career Winston Cup win. It also marked the first victory since October 1963 for the Pontiac nameplate, who had been on a seventeen-year hiatus from NASCAR. Of Shepherd's four career victories, this was the only one at a track other than Atlanta.
  • 1982: After nearly a dozen second-place finishes, Harry Gant pulled down his first win.
  • 1984: Geoff Bodine edged Ron Bouchard for the win, the first for Bodine and the first for Hendrick Motorsports; it was also the first for crew chief Harry Hyde since 1977.
  • 1986: Ricky Rudd won a race where wrecks and blown engines put the entire field behind him at least one lap down.
  • 1989: Darrell Waltrip won, the final win for Chevrolet's bubble-glassed Monte Carlo race car; the Monte Carlo was replaced by the Lumina.
  • 1990: Geoff Bodine posted his first win with Junior Johnson.
  • 1993-1996: Rusty Wallace went on to win 4 consecutive Martinsville Spring Races in this time frame. He would become only the 2nd driver in the track's history, and the only driver in the history of the Spring Race, to win the same Martinsville event 4 years in a row. Richard Petty would accomplish this feat in the fall race from 1967-1970.
  • 1997: Jeff Gordon edged Bobby Hamilton for the win, ending a four-race win streak in the Virginia 500 by Rusty Wallace.
  • 1998: Bobby Hamilton drove the Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet to the win; he engaged in several bouts of multi-lap drag-racing with John Andretti, driving the Petty Enterprises Pontiac that Hamilton had driven the previous three seasons.
  • 1999: John Andretti lost a lap after being tagged by Ward Burton; he made up the lap and ran down Jeff Burton; in the final ten laps he and Burton raced nose to nose for several laps before Andretti rallied to the win, his first for Petty Enterprises, the 200th short track win for the team, and the first for the team since 1997. This was the 268th and final win for Petty Enterprises.
  • 2002: Bobby Labonte posted his first career short-track win.
  • 2004: Rusty Wallace posted his final Nextel Cup win.
  • 2007: This was the second race for NASCAR's new Cup Series car, the Car of Tomorrow. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had an exciting battle for the win in the closing laps with Johnson prevailing despite Gordon's attempts to pass him and him hitting the side of Johnson's car and Johnson's bumper multiple times while attempting to pass him.
  • 2010: Denny Hamlin stormed four-abreast through traffic on a late restart to steal the win.
  • 2012: Ryan Newman stormed to the checkered flag because of the wreck that happened before. Clint Bowyer hit both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon during the first attempt. Newman held off A. J. Allmendinger on the second attempt to win the Goody's Fast Relief 500.
  • 2014: Kurt Busch posted his first win with Stewart-Haas Racing after passing Jimmie Johnson with eleven laps to go. The win was Busch's first in two seasons following his firing from Penske Racing and numerous confrontations with media. The race lead changed 33 times, a track record, breaking the 31 sets in Kevin Harvick's 2011 win.
  • 2018: The race was postponed to Monday due to snow. Clint Bowyer won the race, breaking a 190-race winless streak dating back to 2012.
  • 2019: Brad Keselowski dominated by leading 446 laps and winning the race.
  • 2020: The race was scheduled to be the track's first-ever night race in the Cup Series.

Past winners

Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race distance Race time Average speed
(mph)
Report
Laps Miles (km)
1950 May 21 41 Curtis Turner John Eanes Oldsmobile 150 75 (120.7) Report
1951 May 6 41 Curtis Turner John Eanes Oldsmobile 200 100 (160.934) Report
1952 April 6 120 Dick Rathmann Walt Chapman Hudson 200 100 (160.934) 2:19:59 42.862 Report
1953 May 17 42 Lee Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 200 100 (160.934) Report
1954 May 16 87 Jim Paschal Bob Griffin Oldsmobile 200 100 (160.934) 2:10:04 46.130 Report
1955 May 15 300 Tim Flock Carl Kiekhaefer Chrysler 200 100 (160.934) 1:54:10 52.555 Report
1956 May 20 502 Buck Baker Carl Kiekhaefer Dodge 500 250 (402.336) 4:06:07 60.947 Report
1957 May 19 87 Buck Baker Hugh Babb Chevrolet 441* 220.5 (354.86) 3:50:49 57.318 Report
1958 April 20 4 Bob Welborn Julian Petty Chevrolet 500 250 (402.336) 4:05:27 66.007 Report
1959 May 3 42 Lee Petty Petty Enterprises Oldsmobile 500 250 (402.336) 4:12:03 59.512 Report
1960 April 10 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 250 (402.336) 3:54:35 63.943 Report
1961* April 9 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 149* 74.5 (119.896) 1:05:23 68.366 Report
April 30 27 Junior Johnson Rex Lovette Pontiac 500 250 (402.336) 3:46:19 66.278 Report
1962 April 22 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 250 (402.336) 3:45:49 66.425 Report
1963 April 21 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 250 (402.336) 3:51:24 64.823 Report
1964 April 26 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 500 250 (402.336) 3:33:59 70.098 Report
1965 April 25 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 500 250 (402.336) 3:44:40 66.765 Report
1966 April 24 14 Jim Paschal Frieden Enterprises Plymouth 500 250 (402.336) 3:36:54 69.156 Report
1967 April 23 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 250 (402.336) 3:42:24 67.446 Report
1968 April 28 21 Cale Yarborough Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 500 250 (402.336) 3:44:56 66.686 Report
1969 April 27 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Ford 500 250 (402.336) 3:52:54 64.405 Report
1970 May 31 71 Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf Dodge 377* 197.925 (318.529) 2:53:20 68.584 Report
1971 April 25 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:22:41 77.707 Report
1972 April 30 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Plymouth 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:37:00 72.657 Report
1973 April 29 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:44:26 70.251 Report
1974 April 28 11 Cale Yarborough Richard Howard Chevrolet 450* 236.25 (380.207) 3:22:41 70.427 Report
1975 April 27 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:47:15 69.282 Report
1976 April 25 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:39:43 71.759 Report
1977 April 24 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 384* 201.6 (324.443) 2:36:26 77.405 Report
1978 April 23 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:22:00 77.971 Report
1979 April 22 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Chevrolet 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:25:43 76.562 Report
1980 April 27 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:48:06 69.049 Report
1981 April 26 5 Morgan Shepherd Cliff Stewart Pontiac 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:30:10 75.019 Report
1982 April 25 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Buick 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:30:01 75.073 Report
1983 April 24 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 500 262.5 (422.452) 3:57:14 66.46 Report
1984 April 29 5 Geoffrey Bodine All-Star Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:35:23 73.264 Report
1985 April 28 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:16:06 73.022 Report
1986 April 27 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:25:15 76.882 Report
1987 April 26 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:36:44 72.808 Report
1988 April 24 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:31:08 74.74 Report
1989 April 23 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:19:41 79.025 Report
1990 April 29 11 Geoffrey Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:23:49 77.423 Report
1991 April 28 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:26:41 75.139 Report
1992 April 26 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:22:05 78.086 Report
1993 April 25 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Pontiac 500 263 (423.257) 3:18:33 79.078 Report
1994 April 24 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:25:43 76.7 Report
1995 April 23 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford 356* 187.256 (301.359) 2:35:44 72.145 Report
1996 April 21 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:13:50 81.41 Report
1997 April 20 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:44:19 70.347 Report
1998 April 20 4 Bobby Hamilton Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:43:10 70.709 Report
1999 April 18 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Pontiac 500 263 (423.257) 3:28:35 75.653 Report
2000 April 9 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:41:45 71.161 Report
2001 April 8 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:42:53 70.799 Report
2002 April 14 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 500 263 (423.257) 3:33:23 73.951 Report
2003 April 13 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:28:51 75.557 Report
2004 April 18 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Dodge 500 263 (423.257) 3:51:29 68.169 Report
2005 April 10 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:38:52 72.099 Report
2006 April 2 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:36:56 72.741 Report
2007 April 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:44:36 70.258 Report
2008 March 30 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 263 (423.257) 3:35:41 73.163 Report
2009 March 29 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:27:48 75.938 Report
2010 March 29* 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 508* 267.208 (430.029) 3:39:05 73.180 Report
2011 April 3 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:32:41 74.195 Report
2012 April 1 39 Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 515* 270.89 (435.955) 3:26:12 78.823 Report
2013 April 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:38:58 72.066 Report
2014 March 30 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 263 (423.257) 3:38:38 72.176 Report
2015 March 29 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 263 (423.257) 3:49:13 68.843 Report
2016 April 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 263 (423.257) 3:17:02 80.088 Report
2017 April 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:44:59 70.139 Report
2018 March 26* 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:13:14 81.663 Report
2019 March 24 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 500 263 (423.257) 3:21:54 78.158 Report
2020 June 10* 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 263 (423.257) 3:23:56 77.378 Report
2021 April 10–11* 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 263 (423.257) 3:54:25 67.316 Report
2022* April 9 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 403* 211.978 (341.341) 2:40:30 79.244 Report
2023 April 16 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 210.4 (338.606) 2:50:35 74.005 Report
  • 1957: Race shortened due to crash.
  • 1961 (first): Race abandoned as a result of rain. Under current rules, it would not be declared official as less than 50% of the race distance was completed.
  • 1961 (second): A replacement race for the original 1961 race.
  • 1970, 1977, and 1995: Race shortened due to rain.
  • 1974: Race shortened due to the 1973-74 energy crisis.
  • 1998 and 2010: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
  • 2010, 2012, and 2022: Race extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish. 2012 took two attempts.
  • 2018: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to snow.
  • 2020: Race postponed from May 9 to June 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 2021: Race started on Saturday night but finished on Sunday afternoon due to rain.
  • 2022: Race length shortened to 400 laps.
Track length notes
  • 1950–1969: 0.5 mile course
  • 1970–1983: 0.525 mile course
  • 1984–present: 0.526 mile course

Multiple winners (drivers)

Wins Driver Years won
9 Richard Petty 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979
5 Darrell Waltrip 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1989
Rusty Wallace 1993-1996, 2004
3 Cale Yarborough 1968, 1974, 1977
Dale Earnhardt 1987, 1988, 1991
Jeff Gordon 1997, 2003, 2005
Jimmie Johnson 2007, 2009, 2013
Denny Hamlin 2008, 2010, 2015
2 Curtis Turner 1950, 1951
Buck Baker 1956, 1957
Lee Petty 1953, 1959
Fred Lorenzen 1964, 1965
Jim Paschal 1954, 1966
Harry Gant 1982, 1985
Geoffrey Bodine 1984, 1990
Mark Martin 1992, 2000
Brad Keselowski 2017, 2019
Martin Truex Jr. 2020, 2021

Multiple winners (teams)

Wins Team Years won
12 Petty Enterprises 1953, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1999
10 Hendrick Motorsports 1984, 1989, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2022, 2023
8 Joe Gibbs Racing 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021
7 Team Penske 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2017, 2019
4 Richard Childress Racing 1987, 1988, 1991, 2011
3 Holman-Moody 19611, 1964, 1965
DiGard Motorsports 1976, 1978, 1980
Junior Johnson & Associates 1977, 1983, 1990
Stewart-Haas Racing 2012, 2014, 2018
2 John Eanes 1950, 1951
Carl Kiekhaefer 1955, 1956
Wood Brothers Racing 1968, 1973
Mach 1 Racing 1982, 1985
Roush Racing 1992, 2000

Manufacturer wins

Wins Manufacturer Years won
28 Chevrolet 1957–1958, 1974, 1976–1980, 1983–1985, 1987–1989, 1991, 1997–1998, 2003, 2005–2007, 2009, 2011–2014, 2022–2023
14 Ford 1964–1965, 1969, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994–1996, 2000–2001, 2017–2019
7 Plymouth 1960, 1962–1963, 1966–1967, 1971–1972
6 Toyota 2008, 2010, 2015–2016, 2020–2021
5 Pontiac 1961, 1981, 1993, 1999, 2002
Dodge 1953, 1956, 1970, 1975, 2004
4 Oldsmobile 1950–1951, 1954, 1959
2 Mercury 1968, 1973
1 Hudson 1952
Chrysler 1955
Buick 1982

This page was last updated at 2023-11-20 18:54 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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