NASCAR at Martinsville live updates: Bowman wins race; Hamlin, Truex make final four

The NASCAR Cup Series races today at Martinsville Speedway. The Xfinity 500 race is at 2 p.m. on NBC.

The race is 263 miles (500 laps) with stages ending on laps 130, 260 and 500.

Follow along here for lap-by-lap updates. Refresh this page for the latest updates and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

Live updates for this race have concluded. Click here for results and analysis.

Final results

Final Stage

5:57 p.m.: Off the restart with two to go, Bowman held off all comers, neither Busch nor Keselowski could make a run and Truex Jr. and Hamlin will advance,

5:54 p.m., Lap 497: Looks to be a green-white-checkered finish (overtime) here as Hamlin pits, securely into the final four unless his pit stop goes horribly wrong. Alex Bowman will start as the race leader, with Brad Keselowski in third position and Kyle Busch in second. Both of those drivers can get into the final four with a win.

5:51 p.m., Lap 493: Caution is out! Bowman spins Hamlin to take the lead!

5:50 p.m., Lap 490: Battles everywhere! Bowman challenging Hamlin for the lead; Keselowski needs to win, but he’s behind Kyle Busch who needs to hang onto his position to advance. Truex is stick in no-man’s land.

5:47 p.m., Lap 480: Bowman muscles around the outside to take the race lead. He’s not in the championship picture anymore, but he wants that clock.

5:46 p.m., Lap 477: As the race returns to green after the 14th caution, we have 23 laps to go. Denny Hamlin still comfortable in front, but now he’ll have Keselowski on his bumper, and Keselowski is squarely on the bubble, running now a point behind Kyle Busch and tied with Martin Truex. What a battle!

5:42 p.m., Lap 473: Truex makes aggressive move and it costs him a ton of positions... and perhaps a spot in the final four. His tire went down and he went into the wall, dropping well back of the lead. A curious move, to say the least. He’s in 12th.

5:39 p.m., Lap 466: Green waves (again). Let’s see how long we can stay green this time. Hamlin again leads the pack to the flag, and Keselowski is right on his bumper on the inside lane. Keselowski HAS to win the race to advance.

5:35 p.m., Lap 460: Green waves,. Hamlin leads them to the line. Bowman on his right rear, and Keselowski moves into third, but Stenhouse spins, and another caution.

5:30 p.m., Lap 456: Tense battle near the front for the points necessary to earbn a transfer spot. Denny Hamlin is holding off Alex Bowman for the top spot, and Hamlin is right now third in points. Truex just suffered some damage to the left front, but he’s hanging on.

And around goes the 9 of Elliott after Keselowski got impatient trying to make the pass. Caution is back out!

5:22 p.m., Lap 437: We have another caution, this time for Austin Dillon, whose tire explodes and forces him into the wall. He’s still running, though, and able to get to the pits. All leaders pit with 62 to go.

5:18 p.m., Lap 434: Hamlin remains in front, Truex in second. Truex is the final transfer spot to make the final four beginning next week at the moment. The first driver out is Keselowski, who’s running in fifth.

5:06 p.m., Lap 397: Denny Hamlin slides into the lead now and Joey Logano, perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the last caution, is closing back to the front after his tires stop. Logano needs to win the race to advance to the final four next week.

4:50 p.m., Lap 360: Caution flies one more time, this after Joey Logano fell from the lead after not pitting on the last yellow Elliott, Bowman, Larson, Truex and Byron are the top 5 at the moment.

4:40 p.m., Lap 341: The eighth caution is out for Ross Chastain and Ryan Newman getting together, which sent Newman into the wall. Joey Logano stays out to inherit the lead as others pit.

4:30 p.m., Lap 324: The caution is back out, involving Josh Bilicki and Quin Houff. Denny Hamlin is restarting among the Hendrick cars again after contact with William Byron during the last restart. He says he’ll start with the 9 car of Elliott.

4:20 p.m., Lap 310: The caution is out for Josh Bilicki into the wall. Chase Elliott leads the front of the field to pit road. Denny Hamlin gains two spots on pit road. Elliott win the race off pit road.

Stage 2

4:02 p.m., Lap 260: Chase Elliott sweeps the first two stages at Martinsville and will advance to the Championship 4 on points. Alex Bowman finishes second and William Byron is third. Martin Truex Jr. is fourth and says, “Those Hendrick cars, they got everything man. Turn better than me in the rubber.” Larson finishes out of the top 10 for stage points, as he’s 11th.

3:49 p.m,. Lap 235: Alex Bowman is on the move. He’s up to second place, passing Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron. Hendrick cars now make up the top three with the order being Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron. Kyle Larson is in 10th place.

3:43 p.m., Lap 219: No Penske driver has led during this race. Brad Keselowski is in seventh, Joey Logano is in 16th while Ryan Blaney is in 18th. Chase Elliott remains the leader followed by William Byron and Martin Truex Jr.

3:35 p.m., Lap 200: Martin Truex Jr. gains a spot on pit road after the caution comes out for Austin Dillon, whose car has a cut tire. Dillon made contact with the wall and he has some front damage. Chase Elliott is the second car off. Tyler Reddick gets a speeding penalty and Chase Briscoe is the free pass. Elliott takes the outside lane and gets a big jump on Truex to get back to the lead.

3:28 p.m., Lap 186: Chase Elliott continues to lead Martin Truex Jr., William Byron and Alex Bowman while Kyle Larson is up to 12th after the earlier speeding penalty.

3:23, Lap 171: Ryan Blaney’s car balance issues persist. He says that he has “no drive” and “no motor either” and is mired in 19th. Denny Hamlin is up to ninth. He comes on the radio a few minutes later, saying that he has no battery. He sounds frustrated. “Sh*t’s burned off it now,” he says.

3:17 p.m., Lap 154: Martin Truex Jr. is half a second behind race leader Chase Elliott and trying to take the spot away while William Byron zips to third. Byron has a fast Chevy and is on the move, first applying pressure to Kyle Busch and getting the third place spot, then moving just over one second behind Truex.

3:12 p.m., Lap 139: Chase Elliott lines up on the inside and Martin Truex Jr. takes the outside for the restart after Kyle Larson gets a speeding penalty on pit road in the same spot that Denny Hamlin was earlier penalized. The order falls into Elliott, Truex, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Christopher Bell.

Stage 1

3:03 p.m., Lap 127: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, Brad Keseowski, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola are in the top 10 for the first stage finish.

5:58 p.m., Lap 113: Chase Elliott has led all laps since re-taking the lead on Lap 85. There are 15 cars not on the lead lap. Ryan Preece goes to the garage.

2:53 p.m., Lap 100: Ryan Blaney has left rear damage after contact with Austin Dillon. He drops to 11th and has some apparent contact with Christopher Bell. He says his car is “so jacked up” that he doesn’t even know what to do different. Hamlin is another playoff driver who’s had early trouble, and likely won’t get stage points.

2:49 p.m., Lap 85: Chase Elliott retakes the lead and Kyle Larson again doesn’t put up much of a fight giving him the spot. Larson mentioned today that he didn’t want to make enemies today. He’s the only driver through to the Championship 4 so far.

2:40 p.m., Lap 73: The caution is out for Ryan Newman spinning. On the last restart, Kyle Larson took the inside lane with Chase Elliott was on the outside with Brad Keselowski lined up behind him. For the next restart, Elliott takes the inside line behind Larson.

2:32 p.m., Lap 60: Chase Elliott leads at the competition caution after moving by Kyle Larson a few laps before the flag. Larson relinquishes the position. Under caution, the leaders pit and and Larson wins the race off pit road. Disaster for Denny Hamlin. He gets a speeding penalty on pit road in Section 11.

2:29 p.m., Lap 45: Race leader Kyle Larson is gaining on Denny Hamlin and could lap him before the competition caution on Lap 60. He’s already lapped 12 cars, but Larson is hitting traffic which will slightly slow his pace. He’s led all opening laps of the race.

2:25 p.m., Lap 33: Ryan Blaney mentions multiple issues with the balance of his car and says that he’s loose on entry. William Byron appears to get into Blaney from the back and Blaney wiggles and Byron passes him for the position.

2:20 p.m., Lap 20: Kyle Larson has led all laps so far as Denny Hamlin tries to cut through the field from the back. He’s up to 25 but sitting behind lots of traffic. Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott continue to follow. Hamlin is the only driver out of the top 10. Hamlin is told to be patient and that the competition caution is coming on Lap 60.

2:14 p.m., Lap 5: There’s already early contact between Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. as the field goes green. Truex and Elliott get together slightly with Elliott taking some damage on the nose, but Elliott radios that he thinks that he “hit him pretty square” and that he doesn’t think the right front fender damage is that bad. Kyle Larson is the early race leader followed by Truex, who’s followed closely by Elliott.

Pre-race

2:05 p.m.: Cars are lined up, drivers are in their seats and engines are fired. Cars start rolling off pit road. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are starting in the front row, with Larson on the pole and the only driver so far through to the Championship 4 round.

Denny Hamlin dropping to the rear for race start

NASCAR has completed pre-race inspection for today’s Cup Series race. Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota twice failed and Hamlin will drop to the rear of the field prior to the green flag. He was slated to start third, and sits plus-32 points above the Championship 4 driver cutoff behind Kyle Larson, who is locked in on wins, and Chase Elliott, who is plus-34 points. Kyle Busch is one point above the cutline, followed by Ryan Blaney, who is one point below, Martin Truex Jr. (minus-3), Brad Keselowski (minus-6) and Joey Logano (minus-26).

Hamlin is the only playoff driver dropping to the rear for inspection failures. Click here for pre-race betting odds and predictions.

“It’s not ideal,” Hamlin said of dropping to the back. “Just kinda keep our nose clean throughout the day, we should be fine.”

Hamlin, who was featured with his 23XI Racing team in a Post Malone music video earlier this year, posted on Twitter a picture of him dressed as the rap star for Halloween with the promise that if the post received 5,000 retweets, he would keep the face tattoos on for the race. He didn’t quite hit the mark, with the post hovering around 3,000 retweets this morning. Hamlin said today that he was relieved for that, but he decided to keep one tattoo of a bear on his hand after his No. 11 team failed pre-race tech as inspiration.

HOW TO WATCH NASCAR AT MARTINSVILLE CUP RACE

• Race: Xfinity 500
• Distance: 263 miles (500 laps) with stages ending on laps 130, 260 and 500
• Where: Martinsville Speedway
• When: Sunday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. EST
• TV: NBC
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Purse: $7,778,099

NASCAR AT MARTINSVILLE STARTING LINEUP

This story was originally published October 31, 2021 at 1:42 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