Cook Out 400:
The seventh race of 36 scheduled for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is at Martinsville Speedway on March 29 and it is the Cook Out 400. This is the first of two races on the track in Ridgeway, VA, but the next one will carry significantly more implications because it is the final race before the Championship. The Xfinity 500 will be October 26, but our focus for now is on the spring race.
How to Watch The Cook Out 400
When: Sunday, March 29, 2025
Where: Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, VA
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Channel: FS1
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Standings
No change at the top heading into this week, as William Byron is still pacing the field with 244 points. We do have a change in second, though, as Kyle Larson was victorious at Homestead-Miami and jumped into second place with 208 points. Alex Bowman is third with 205 points after a strong second-place finish. He is the only driver with five top-10 finishes through six races.
Tyler Reddick (189) and Christopher Bell (186) round out the top five, as Bell only has 186 points despite having three wins on the season. If the playoffs began this week, the five drivers who would automatically qualify due to wins are Byron, Bell, Josh Berry, and Larson. Berry is 12th in points despite the win at Las Vegas in the Pennzoil 400.
Cook Out 400 Winners
This is the first short track race of the year, as the drivers only have to go 0.526 miles around “The Paperclip”. The 400 in this case stands for laps and not miles, as there are 210.4 miles in this race, barring overtime.
We may not see a playoff spot claimed this week, as Byron won in 2022 and 2024, with Larson in the middle in 2023. This is the earlier that this race has been run since 2019 when Brad Keselowski won on March 24.
If we look at the fall race, though, we could have a playoff spot claimed if Ryan Blaney can pick up his second consecutive win on the track and third of his career at Martinsville. He’s won the fall race back-to-back years. Bell, Bowman, and Chase Elliott were the three previous winners. Blaney won Stage 1 and led the most laps last week at Homestead-Miami, but his engine blew up.
Cook Out 400 Predictions
For the latest odds and VSiN’s NASCAR Best Bets, head to our NASCAR Hub to see Steve Makinen’s simulation results and more stats on the drivers.
