Martinsville Speedway Television Ratings Highest Ever: Not only was the DirecTV 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway a sellout last Sunday afternoon, it was a huge hit on television. The race scored a 6.2 final national rating on FOX, up 22 percent over the 5.1 final national rating a year ago. The 2006 DirecTV 500 was the highest rated, most viewed NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event in the history of Martinsville Speedway, out-performing the previous record rating by 15 percent. The previous record had been a 5.4 on FOX for the 2001 and 2004 spring events. The 6.2 final rating meant that 9,766,000 people watched the race in 6,810,000 households. The Kroger 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday also drew record television numbers for Martinsville Speedway. The Kroger 250 earned a 1.1 rating on SPEED, up 10 percent from the 1.0 rating for the 2005 race. - Martinsville Speedway PR