STP 500: What’s the speed limit on pit road?

What’s the speed limit on pit road during the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway?

The first short track race of the season will get underway as first of two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway. Sunday’s race, the STP 500 will present many challenges to the drivers who have been used to longer tracks that have also been wide enough to race three and four car wide at a time. Another change is the speed limit on pit road as drivers can only go 30 mph while on Martinsville Speedway’s pit road.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the pit road speed limit is much lower than other tracks this season. Drivers won’t be hitting the top 190-200 mph range on the track like they did at earlier races this season. Martinsville is only one half mile long and doesn’t allow drivers much time to pick up speed as they will spend must of the race turning left. This means the cars will be slowing down much quicker between turns.

Drivers will do everything they can to get an advantage. As a result, it would not be shocking to see more speeding related penalties throughout pit road. They are used to the pit road speed limit being around 55 mph in most races, so this will present a slight change. Yet, there will be no one to blame but themselves when they are caught over the 30 mph mark on pit road. With a short track, these penalties cause a major blow to their chance of winning the STP 500.