Buck Reuss, the race director for the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, released the first list of invitees for the 2016 Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown before Sunday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Three finishers from today’s 200-lap feature will be added to the list of invitees following the conclusion of today’s events. They will join a list of previous participants in the race, as well as top finishers at various tracks and events in the state of Virginia and in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points standings.
Here is the list of invitees, categorized by their basis of invitation.
| DHSTS Re-Invite of 2015 LMSC Competitors | Reg # |
| Blake Stallings | 77 |
| Brayton Haws | 41 |
| Brian Pemberton | 00 |
| Bruce Anderson | 73 |
| Bugs Hairfield | 04 |
| CE Falk | 40 |
| Chad Finchum | 19 |
| Coleman Pressley | 47 |
| Dalton Saregeant | 51 |
| Davin Scites | 06 |
| Dude Gibbs | 7 |
| Dustin Storm | 16 |
| Eddie Johnson | 57 |
| Garrett Campbell | 12 |
| Josh Berry | 88 |
| Kaz Grala | 51 |
| Kyle Plott | 4 |
| Myatt Snider | 2 |
| Payton Ryan | 23 |
| Peyton Sellers | 99 |
| Quinn Houff | 18 |
| Travis Swaim | 21 |
| William Byron | 9 |
| NASCAR D4D Drivers | |
| Natalie Decker | 4 |
| Colin Cabre | 6 |
| NWAAS NATIONAL CHAMPION | |
| Lee Pulliam | 5 |
| Next 5 from NWAAS National Standings | |
| Thomas Tillson Jr. | 85 |
| Taylor Holdaway | 41 |
| Jimmy Zachorias | 71 |
| Keith Rocco | 88 |
| Ryan Preece | 16 |
| NWAAS Virginia Top 5 | |
| Matt Bowling | 83 |
| Greg Edwards | 97 |
| Danny Edwards Jr. | 26 |
| Mark Wertz | 55 |
| Brenden Queen | 03 |
| 3 from the Hampton Heat 200 | |
| Matt Waltz | 2 |
| Tyler Ankrum | 58 |
| Nick Smith | 10 |
| Virginia Track Points 3 from each | |
| South Boston Speedway | |
| Austin Thaxton | 12 |
| Juan Garcia | 11 |
| Bobby McCarty | 6 |
| Langley Speedway | |
| Conner Hall | 77 |
| Tyler Hughes | 8 |
| Michael Hardin | 7 |
| Motor Mile Speedway | |
| GR Waldrop | 01 |
| Tommy Lemons Jr. | 27 |
| Craig Stallard | 42 |
| Additional Drivers for 2016 | |
| Burt Myers (NWSMT) | 1 |
| George Brunnhoelzl | 28 |
| Andy Seuss | 11 |
| Gray Gaulding | 20 |
| Taylor Sticklin | 7 |
| Dalton Saregeant | 51 |
| Sergio Pena | 4 |
| Devon Amos | 6 |
| David Garbo | 8 |
| Payton Ryan | 23 |
| Macy Causey | 33 |
| Todd Gilliland | 98 |
| Justin T Carroll | 57 |
| Craig Eastep | 25 |
| Past Winners: |
| 2008 – Kyle Busch (Southside) |
| 2009 – Kyle Busch (Southside) |
| 2010 – C.E. Falk (Southside) |
| 2011 – Denny Hamlin (RIR) |
| 2012 – Tony Stewart (RIR) |
| 2013 – Kyle Busch (RIR) |
| 2014 – Matt Bowling (SOBO) |
| 2015 – Timothy Peters (SOBO) |
| A Few Past Paticipants |
| Ricky Stennhouse Jr. |
| Kyle Larson |
| Trevor Bayne |
| Michael Waltrip |
| Joey Logano |
| Kevin Harvick |
| Marcos Ambrose |
| Hernie Sadler |
| Elliott Sadler |
| Aric Almirola |
