McDowell, Spire Motorsports to Feature NASCAR Rockingham Weekend on No. 71 Car at Martinsville

As NASCAR continues to barrel toward its first NASCAR National Series events at Rockingham Speedway, which will take place in April, since the 2013 season, the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team will feature the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series/Craftsman Truck Series race weekend on Michael McDowell's Chevrolet this weekend in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

While he has never competed in an official race around the 1-mile track in North Carolina, McDowell has fond memories of Rockingham Speedway from the early days of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

"Rockingham is a historic and iconic racetrack," said McDowell in a team press release. "Even though I haven't raced at it, I did a lot of testing there. When you're a rookie in the Cup Series in 2008, you did a lot of testing, and Rockingham was one of those places. So, I have a lot of laps there - not racing - but a lot of laps. Rockingham is a great racetrack, iconic and historic, and it shows NASCAR's continued effort to get back to its roots."

Track Enterprises is the official promoter of the upcoming April 18-19 triple-header race weekend at the iconic track. The promoter is tickled to see the Rockingham Speedway promotion featured on a NASCAR Cup Series race car.

"Track Enterprises is thrilled to partner with Spire Motorsports and Michael McDowell to showcase NASCAR's return to Rockingham Speedway," said Bob Sargent, President of Track Enterprises. "NASCAR has a very rich history at both tracks and Martinsville is just a couple of hours drive from Rockingham. We thought it made great sense to take advantage of a NASCAR Cup Series race in such close proximity to Rockingham. We want fans to know that we'll have an exciting weekend of racing in store and that tickets are still available, but they are going fast and we expect a great crowd both days."

In addition to the NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 on Saturday, April 19, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event on Friday, April 18, the ARCA Menards Series East will compete at the track in a 125-lap event prior to Saturday's Xfinity Series event.

Tickets for the NASCAR Race Weekend at Rockingham Speedway can be purchased on racetherock.com, or tickets can be obtained in person at Rockingham City Hall. The track is offering both single day, and weekend ticket packages for the race weekend.

Photo Credit: Spire Motorsports

(This story originally appeared on TobyChristie.com)