NASCAR at Martinsville live updates, results: Martin Truex Jr. gets his first 2020 win

Note: Get NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev’s takeaways from the race at Martsinsville here.

NASCAR’s past 24 hours have had no shortage of news. Tuesday, the sport’s governing body announced steps to brings fans back to races in a limited capacity beginning this weekend, and Wednesday, NASCAR banned the display of the Confederate flag.

Now, Wednesday night, NASCAR turns its attention back to the speedway as Martinsville gets set for its first-ever night Cup Series race. The short-track race, the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.

We have you covered here with live updates and results as they happen throughout the night.

NASCAR at Martinsville results

Stage 3 NASCAR at Martinsville live updates

Checkered flag: Martin Truex Jr. wins

First win of the season for Martin Truex Jr., and it was a commanding victory, leading almost all of the third and final stage at Martinsville.

We will have full results here shortly.

10:22 p.m., Lap 424: Team Penske update

Team Penske has had a great night so far. Less than 80 laps to go and it’s Logano (2), Keselowski (4) and Blaney (5). Blaney had fallen to 14th place after a pit stop penalty but continues to work his way toward the front. He’s the only Penske driver this season without a win.

10:07 p.m., Lap 390: Truex Jr. hung around

If you’re wondering where Martin Truex Jr. came from, you wouldn’t be alone. Keeping yourself on the lead lap will always give you a chance in a short-track race, and Truex Jr. is proof. He has slowly worked his way to the front of the pack and took advantage of positioning over Brad Keselowski while lapping Corey Lajoie. He has a full second lead.

9:53 p.m., Lap 352: Blaney falls back

Penalty for a pit crew member being over the wall too soon forced Ryan Blaney to sit in his pit stall and behind. He’s in 12th, about 10 seconds behind teammate and race leader Joey Logano. Brad Keselowski is in second place and Chase Elliott in third.

9:37 PM, LAP 314: BLANEY BACK TO LEAD

The Fords are flying now, with Team Penske running in the top three. Blaney passes Logano on Lap 307 on the outside then drives low to maintain P1. Keselowski pulls up to third to hold down Penske’s position. Harvick and Elliott follow, in that order.

9:23 PM, LAP 284: TEAM PENSKE TAKES OVER

Off the restart, Johnson and Blaney battle for the lead, with Blaney emerging in front. Blaney temporarily runs in P1 before Logano bumps his Penske teammate rounding a turn and passing on the inside to take over. Their teammate Keselowski has run up to sixth place after dropping down from the lead lap early. Keselowski got the free pass on Lap 130 after Stage 1 and has raced his way back to the top-10.

Stage 2

9:13 PM, LAP 260: FIRST STAGE WIN OF THE SEASON FOR JOHNSON

Like Logano in Stage 1, Johnson cruised to his first stage win of the season. He was followed by Blaney, Logano, Bowman, Harvick, Wallace, Byron, Elliott, Ku. Busch and Tyler Reddick in the top-10. With five laps left in the stage, Corey LaJoie and Matt DiBenedetto battled for the free pass, with DiBenedetto pulling ahead of LaJoie behind Truex Jr., the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver not in the bottom 20.

9:06 PM, LAP 242: SECOND STAGE WINDING DOWN

With under 20 laps to go in Stage 2, Johnson continues to lead (more laps in this race than Johnson, a seven-time Cup Series Champion, has led all season). Wallace has raced his way to sixth place as the Ford Mustangs of Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher look steady in the middle of the pack vying for 11th and 12th. Rookie Reddick stays in the 10th.

8:53 PM, LAP 202: JOHNSON TAKES THE LEAD

After reducing Logano’s lead to under a second, Johnson makes a move to the inside lane, briefly running side-by-side with Logano and eventually passing the Team Penske driver for P1 and clean air. Meanwhile, Wallace has moved into eighth place.

8:49 PM, LAP 190: BLANEY’S BACK

Blaney has been the fastest driver, putting himself back in the top-five (running P4) after he lost the lead in the opening laps from his pole position. Logano, Johnson and Harvick run in front of Blaney, with Johnson edging right behind Logano now.

8:40 PM, LAP 168: JGR STRUGGLES

Jimmie Johnson has moved up to second, ahead of Bowyer, Harvick and Elliott as Logano maintains the lead by over a second. Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske have the most drivers in the top ten (including DiBendetto for the Penske-affiliated Wood Bros. Racing). Meanwhile Hamlin, Ky. Busch and Truex are running in the bottom 20. While veterans struggle, rookies Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemechek are running P11 and P18.

8:30 PM, LAP 153: PIT STOPS

There are 22 cars on the lead lap. Logano in P1 stays out while Busch and Truex Jr. take repairs. Truex Jr. and A. Dillon are penalized on pit road for a commitment line violation (passing the repair box). Bowyer, Johnson and DiBenedetto also stay out. Keselowski gets the free pass.

Stage 1

8:22 PM, LAP 130: LOGANO BREEZES TO STAGE WIN

Joey Logano reclaims the lead spot on four fresh tires after the re-start. Clint Bowyer “threads the needle” between Lajoie and Wallace to run in second place for stage points followed by Johnson, Truex Jr., Wallace, Elliott, Ku. Busch, Harvick, DiBenedetto and Byron in the top-10.

8:11 PM, LAP 113: CAUTION

The yellow flag comes out for Timmy Hill, which is stalled on pit road with under 20 laps in the stage left. There are 19 cars on the lead lap and Ryan Blaney will get the free pass, as many of the lead drivers, including Logano, Bowyer, Elliott, Ku. Busch and Harvick, change all four tires. Wallace takes two tires and comes off of pit road next to Corey Lajoie in first.

8:03 PM, LAP 86: LOGANO, BOWYER, ELLIOTT...

Lead in that order, and have found a rhythm early on the paperclip-shaped track. Tire trouble seems to be a theme for teams at the rear, including Busch, Hamlin (who said his car is overheating) and Keselowski, as most of the cars that pitted showed cording on the tires that were removed. Behind Elliott, a few minutes later, the running order is Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt DiBenedetto and Bubba Wallace in the top 10.

7:49 PM, LAP 60: KYLE BUSCH STRUGGLING TOO

The No. 18 driver joins the majority of the field running a lap down just before the competition caution. Logano has lapped all but 16 drivers on the lead lap, and runs the first off pit road. He’s followed by Elliott, Bowyer and Matt DiBenedetto. Logano’s crew chief Paul Wolfe tells Logano that the tires are showing more wear than what drivers are used to and that other’s tires are cording.

7:43 PM, LAP 42: TOP DRIVERS FALL BEHIND

Both 2020 race winners Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski go a lap down early in the race. Keselowski has lost 27 spots since the start. Hamlin said his car was getting loose, and FOX NASCAR analyst Jeff Gordon said he thinks that’s the same problem for Keselowski. Garrett Smithley has trouble with his breaks, sending him to pit road, as Kyle Busch also struggles with a break issue. Logano, Elliott and (Clint) Bowyer run in the top three.

7:36 PM, LAP 21: LOGANO TO THE LEAD

Joey Logano slides inside Aric Almirola, the early race-leader to take first place. Martin Truex Jr. and the Busch brothers also speed to the front, with Chase Elliott following closely behind. Ryan Newman earlier struggled with tire rub earlier. Drivers are using new Goodyear tires that are supposed to handle better and improve track grip, but the short track is expected to change over the course of the race, which could create some curveballs.

7:29 PM, LAP 5: CAUTION FOR DILLON

Austin Dillon almost immediately drops to the rear from a 22nd place start with a flat right rear tire. During the caution, Jimmie Johnson reports that there is a battery on the track from Joey Gase’s car, which is struggling after failing pre-race inspection five times.

Pre-race

7:25 PM: GREEN FLAG

Despite concerns over a delay for rain, FOX Sports said the track-drying team made “quick work” of preparing the speedway after an earlier shower and the race goes green.

7:15 PM: ENGINES FIRED AS SCHEDULED

WWE stars Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles give the command to start engines following the race invocation, as well as the national anthem performed by Devon Gilfillian. Unlike Sunday, no drivers, crew members or officials were shown kneeling during the pre-race ceremonies on the broadcast. Bubba Wallace stood for the anthem after saying he would kneel with NASCAR official Kirk Price, who remained on his knee through the ceremonies on Sunday.

7:02 PM: BUBBA CLAPS GOODBYE TO CONFEDERATE FLAG

When asked by FOX Sports about his reaction to NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from events, Wallace, who is wearing a t-shirt with the words “I Can’t Breathe/Black Lives Matter” and is sporting a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme for the race, clapped his hands in response.

“Props to NASCAR and everybody involved,” Wallace said. “It’s been a stressful couple weeks. This is no doubt the biggest race of my career tonight.”

6:53 PM: DRIVERS TO CARS...

Jimmie Johnson’s Twitter said at 6:45 p.m. An update from reporters at the track say an on-time start is possible as cars are uncovered. Joey Gase will drop to the rear and perform a drive-through penalty at the green flag after failing pre-race technical inspection five times, per NASCAR. The No. 51 driver will also incur another penalty to be announced later this week.

6:25 PM: LIQUID MENACE

NASCAR was hoping that showers would miss the southern Virginia track on Wednesday, but around 5 p.m., rain touched down, according to reports from the speedway. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service says that showers and thunderstorms are likely this evening, which could disrupt the race’s start time. If the event is postponed, NASCAR will not reschedule the race for Thursday since the turnaround time is too quick for broadcast and other equipment before the next stop at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida this weekend. Any schedule changes are TBA.

NASCAR Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 starting lineup

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Aric Almirola

3. Joey Logano

4. Clint Bowyer

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Kyle Busch

8. Alex Bowman

9. Kurt Busch

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Chase Elliott

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Erik Jones

14. Tyler Reddick

15. William Byron

16. Ryan Newman

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. John Hunter Nemechek

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. Matt Kenseth

21. Jimmie Johnson

22. Austin Dillon

23. Bubba Wallace

24. Chris Buescher

25. Corey Lajoie

26. JJ Yeley

27. Cole Custer

28. Ryan Preece

29. Michael McDowell

30. Ty Dillon

31. Brennan Poole

32. Christopher Bell

33. David Starr

34. Quin Houff

35. Garrett Smithley

36. Joey Gase

37. Daniel Suárez

38. Timmy Hill

39. Reed Sorenson

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 6:29 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription