N. Woodstock, NH — With last Friday being the deadline for drivers to renew their 2025 licenses for the upcoming season, so too came a pair of bombshells for the 1764 Sports Bar & Grill Late Models in 2026. For possibly the first time ever, the two defending four-cylinder champions of White Mountain and Thunder Road Speedbowl are both moving up to the Late Model class in a landmark battle for Rookie of the Year at New Hampshire’s Favorite Short Track this summer!
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
For the first time in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, drivers in the top division will compete on a bona fide short track when the series visits Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
With a few exceptions, Martinsville traditionally has been a feast-or-famine track. Alex Bowman, who won the fall race in 2021, has no other top-five finishes in 17 starts at the 0.526-mile paper-clip-shaped venue.
