NASCAR at Martinsville: Start time, lineup, TV schedule and more for Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500

After a weekend off to celebrate Easter, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to action with short-track racing under the lights Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.

It has been an eventful and surprising start for the Cup Series in 2021, with seven different winners in seven races. Michael McDowell pulled off the first shocker, winning his first career Cup race in the season-opening Daytona 500. Young guns Christopher Bell (Daytona road course) and William Byron (Homestead) followed up with unexpected wins in the next two races, while Kyle Larson (Las Vegas), Martin Truex Jr. (Phoenix), Ryan Blaney (Atlanta) and Joey Logano (Bristol dirt) are the four most recent winners.

So, will we see an eighth different winner Saturday night?

Here's all the information you need to get ready for the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway:

START TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET.

TV: Fox Sports 1. Pre-race broadcast begins at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

RADIO: Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

STREAMING: Fox Sports Go (must have TV provider) and FOX Sports Go app plus other streaming services.

RACE DISTANCE: 500 laps around the 0.526-mile track at Martinsville Speedway for a total of 263 miles.

STAGE LENGTHS (laps per stage): Stage 1: 130, Stage 2: 130, Stage 3: 240.

Chase Elliott (9) leads  Joey Logano (22) and Brad Keselowski (2) during the 2020 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.
Chase Elliott (9) leads Joey Logano (22) and Brad Keselowski (2) during the 2020 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

LAST TIME: Chase Elliott dominated, leading 236 of 500 laps and beating Ryan Blaney by 6.577 seconds in the November playoff race for his first career win at Martinsville. In the 2020 spring race — which was moved to June — Martin Truex Jr. led 132 of 500 laps, beating Blaney by 4.705 seconds for his second career Martinsville victory.

QUALIFYING: There was no on-track qualifying for this race. Instead NASCAR used a performance-metrics formula to determine the lineup:

  • 25 percent: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race

  • 25 percent: Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race

  • 35 percent: Team owner points ranking

  • 15 percent: Fastest lap from the previous race

LINEUP: Joey Logano, who won the most recent race at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Cup Series first race on a dirt track since 1970, earned the pole and will lead the field to green alongside Denny Hamlin.

Here is the lineup for the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (with car number in parentheses):

1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford

2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet

4. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford

5. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet

6. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet

7. (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota

8. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford

9. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford

10. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford

11. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet

12. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota

13. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet

14. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford

15. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford

16. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet

17. (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet

18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet

19. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet

20. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet

21. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet

22. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford

23. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota

24. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford

25. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota

26. (41) Cole Custer, Ford

27. (42) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet

28. (53) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet

29. (00) Quin Houff, Chevrolet

30. (77) Justin Haley, Chevrolet

31. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford

32. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet

33. (52) Josh Bilicki, Ford

34. (7) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet

35. (38) Anthony Alfredo, Ford

36. (78) BJ McLeod, Ford

37. (15) James Davison, Chevrolet

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR Martinsville 2021: Start time, lineup, TV, streaming schedule