Noah Gragson speaks his heart on “coolest thing” about Martinsville

Noah Gragson addressed the "coolest thing" about racing in Martinsville and stated that the history surrounding the track, including the trophy and the grandfather clock, makes him remember the iconic track. Gragson is gearing up to race in the Cook Out 400 on Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway.

The story behind the Martinsville Speedway Grandfather clock formed after Clay Earles, the track's founder, did not want a track but a tradition. As a result, the tradition of presenting the winning driver with an iconic clock came into place, and to this day, it is one of the most cherished traditions in the world of NASCAR.

"It's been a good place to me, and the coolest thing about going to Martinsville is the trophy, grandfather clock and all the history with the track and the trophy," Noah Gragson said as per Kyle Dalton

He added:

"And the best part is, it reminds you that you've won a race there every 15 minutes when you wind the thing up."

Richard Petty, the winningest driver of the NASCAR Cup Series, won most races around here — 15 times. However, he only has 12 grandfather clocks to his name, as the tradition of presenting the clock started (in 1964) after he won three races here already.

William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports is the defending champion of the race after he won the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway ahead of his HMS teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. This year's Cook Out 400 will take place on March 30 3:00 PM ET.

This year's race is going to be the seventh NASCAR Cup Series race around this track and the 84th edition of the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell is to start the race from pole position ahead of Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Kyle Larson.

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Noah Gragson to race with new sponsor in Martinsville

Noah Gragson will drive the #4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse sponsored by A&W Root Beer at the Martinsville Speedway. This is A&W's first-ever partnership with Front Row Motorsports and Gragson, as the #4 driver will drive the traditional brown and orange paint scheme on Sunday.

Announcing the same, Front Row Motorsports shared a post from their official X account recently. Here's the post by FRM that showed the paint schemes the drivers will drive with on Sunday:

Noah Gragson is currently in 32nd place with 82 points at the end of six races. So far, he has only managed a Top 10 finish (8th place in Circuit of The Americas), led two laps, and faced two DNFs. His average start position has been 19.333, and his average finish position has been 23.833.