The NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in the spring will be cut by 100 laps, but the playoff race will not be affected.

Martinsville Speedway’s two annual NASCAR Cup Series races have always been 500 laps apiece, but that is slated to change with the 2022 season.

While the October playoff event will remain a 500-lap race at the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) oval in Ridgeway, Virginia, the spring race will be cut in half.

The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500, which will take place at night on Saturday, April 9, has been reduced from 500 to 400 laps.

This change was made because of the fact that the race is a night race

The first stage is scheduled to end after 80 laps, the second after 180 laps, and the third and final stage, from lap 181 to lap 400, is planned to last 220 laps.

Since 1949, Martinsville Speedway has staged a total of 146 Cup Series races, with only one being a 400-lap race.

The Paperclip has not hosted a scheduled 400-lap race in 66 years, despite the fact that 500-lap races had been reduced there before, most recently in April 1995.

The only — and only — time this happened was in October 1956, when Jack Smith won the 400-lap Old Dominion 400.

This was only the track’s 15th race, and the 147th event there this spring will bring an end to a run of 131 straight 500-lap Martinsville Speedway races, which began in 1957 and encompassed every race until 2021.

Owing to rain, only eight of the 131 races lasted less than 500 laps, while seven of the other 123 lasted more than 500 laps due to overtime rules.

The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price: