Sorry, the trophy at this NASCAR race is a f***ing GRANDFATHER CLOCK?

No seriously, there's been a massive grandfather clock awarded to the winner of NASCAR races at the Martinsville Speedway for the last 60 years.

The trophy is seven foot tall, it's valued at around about $10,000, it's hand-crafted, and to reiterate, they're giving one of these out at Martinsville this Sunday.

READ MORE: Hamlin lays out AMBITIOUS NASCAR playoff plan despite Las Vegas struggle

It isn't a tradition that dates back to the very start of Martinsville hosting NASCAR races, back in the original 1949 series, but it was brought in for the 1964 race and it's become iconic ever since.

For Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, the real aim coming into Sunday's race was making it into the Championship 4 next week in Phoenix. For 31 other drivers, it was getting their hands on a clock.

Why is the Xfinity 500 trophy a clock?

Clay Campbell, track president, told ESPN in 2009: "My grandfather wanted something that reflected this area and this town. He didn't have to look far. This area was built on the furniture industry and Ridgeway was based right here and they made the clocks right here. It was perfect. Still is."

Or course, not every driver knows the history of the trophy inside and out. Kurt Busch, winner in 2002, said: "I had no idea you won a grandfather clock. We pose for so many photos in Victory Lane I just thought we posed with the clock and that was it.

"The week after the race these guys started wheeling this thing in the house and I was like, 'What the heck is this?!'

"But every time I hear that clock start chiming I think about those old school guys running at Martinsville sixty years ago when it was dirt. And I think about my grandfather, who passed away the week before I won my Martinsville race. His name was Al, so I named my grandfather clock after my actual grandfather."

READ MORE: Busch team hint at NASCAR CONSPIRACY after Homestead incidents

Related

NASCAR Cup Series

Jordan NASCAR ownership debated as HUGE F1 claim made

• November 19, 2024 03:00

NASCAR Cup Series

F1 champion backs Logano for SWITCH in stunning verdict

• November 18, 2024 17:00