Martinsville Outlook
By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com
Two weeks ago in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series we saw Jeff Burton win on the high banked short track of Bristol. This week the series rolls into another short track at Martinsville, however, the two half-mile tracks couldn’t be more different from each other. The major difference between them is that Martinsville has virtually no banking and has much tighter turns on the layout that looks much like a paper clip.
At Bristol we saw drivers letting up on their throttle with minimal braking as they ripped through the turns. At Martinsville, a drivers brakes and how he saves them, becomes as big a story during the race as horsepower is at many other tracks. The special cast-iron rotors literally turn into a molten red state as drivers ride them trough the turns to what basically equates to 1,000 times during the 500 lap race.
Over the years at Martinsville we have seen some drivers establish a certain knack for executing extremely well on the short tight track. The list of winners and Top 5 finishes over the last 10 years may be more broad than any other track out there. Anytime you can mix Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti, Ricky Craven, and Ricky Rudd as past winners at a track among all the current Champions of NASCAR that have won there, it gives us all the impression that just about anyone can win because the track itself is the great equalizer against all the power teams of the sport. Having said that, recent reality over the last five years has seen the Hendrick duo of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon dominate.
Martinsville probably couldn’t have come at a better time for the struggling Jimmie Johnson because he’s won the last three races in a row there. Johnson started his Martinsville career in 2002 with a 35th place finish as a rookie. Since then, Johnson has never finished outside of the Top 10 there with his worst finish being ninth in 2003. Over Johnsons’ last eight starts, he’s finished in the Top 4 seven times. How all of Johnsons’ woes play out this week is hard to gauge because momentum means almost as much as a drivers past history at a track, but it’s very reasonable to believe Johnson will stay within his recent realm of success this week.
Johnson didn’t excel at Las Vegas or Atlanta in the new car as he did last season with the old one. Johnson also didn’t excel at Bristol with the new car, but he never has really taken to Bristol. The team has admitted that they’re catching up to other teams on intermediate tracks in the same fashion that other teams chased them in technology last season on the small tracks. Because nothing has changed from last season to this year, other than possibly Johnson’s ego and confidence, expect him to return to form this week.
Jeff Gordon is Martinsville’s all-time money leader and is the active win leader with seven. Gordon hasn’t finished outside the Top 5 at Martinsville since 2004 and hasn’t been outside the Top 10 since 2002. Just like his teammate, Gordon has four wins since 2003 and all four came in season sweeps. If not for Johnson last season, Gordon likely would have won both races, especially the spring race where the two teammates bumped and banged to finish line with Johnson holding ground against Gordon, who is essentially his boss more than teammate. Along the same lines as Johnson, Gordon should be ready to go again with a track and car combination that they have a good feel for. However, two weeks ago at Bristol does raise a few questions regarding Gordon. Usually very good at Bristol in any car, Gordon was as big a non-factor in the race as anyone. He wheeled a nice 11th place finish, but looked more like he a 25th place-type car.
Might there be something really wrong with the Hendrick duo? Are there any conspiracy theorists out there that believe some of the really good stuff was given to new teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr to ensure early success and not have him in the shadow of his dominant teammates early on? The slow start by Gordon and Johnson is puzzling, but even more so is the fact that Junior has run so well with the junk chassis’ of Casey Mears former No. 25 team. As for Mears, are you kidding with this guy? He takes over the No. 5 equipment that Kyle Busch took to fifth in Championship points last season and can’t crack the Top 10 in any of the five races that include two 42nd place finishes and a 35th?
Let’s just assume that the Dynamic Duo have trouble again and aren’t in the same state as the tandem that won eight of the last 10 Martinsville races. Who else are you going to take?
Well, there are quite a few that have legitimate shots beginning with a bomb price of 30 to 1 odds in Ryan Newman. He finished second in the fall race last season and may have had a chance on the last lap had there not been a caution. Over his career he’s had his most consistent runs on the track of which include five Top 5 finishes in his last 10 starts.
A trio of teammates are the next candidates to look for at Martinsville. Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch are all going to be in the running for Top 5 finishes. Hamlin alone, just because he’s from Virginia, is a nice candidate. Hamlin’s talent rests in his patience and ability to stay out of trouble, finish well, and score points. On the Virginia short tracks of Martinsville and Richmond, Hamlin becomes somewhat processed and obligated to win at his home tracks and races his car for all it has with no fear of consequences.
Tony Stewart is the only active driver other than a Hendrick driver to win at Martinsville in the last 10 races. An argument wouldn’t come from anyone if it was said that Stewart has had the best car in at least half of the last eight races, but just had the worst luck keeping him from winning more. Stewart loves racing on the track and throws his weight around like a Champion brawler.
Kyle Busch finished fourth twice last season driving in the car that Mears drives now. The current points leader will be gunning again for another win and short track racing is believe it or not after all his success everywhere, is his best suited type of racing because of how physical he drives. Busch would jump into just about anything that was racing at the Bull-Ring in Las Vegas and take it to the front. He’s brash enough to mix it up with anyone, but now smart enough to only do it at the right times and being sure there are no consequences that will stop him from finishing strong in the race. He’s become the complete package of race car driver.
Finally, we come back to Junior who used to be a mainstay in the Top 5 before his mother-in-law messed up the DEI organization. Junior took a fifth in the spring race last season which gives him seven Top 5 finishes in 16 Martinsville starts. Even though I don’t believe in conspiracies in sports, at least other than the Knicks winning the lottery in 1985 gaining the rights to Patrick Ewing, I do believe there is something fishy there with Junior and Hendrick. It’s likely to just be momentum on Junior’s behalf and unfortunate luck with his new teammates. Junior also appears to have a much better COT than his new teammates which is shocking considering Hendrick laid out the successful blue print last season on the COT for all teams to follow.
Would it be inconceivable to just say Junior is a pretty good driver who raced bad cars the last season seasons with DEI and still has bad cars with Hendrick, like his new teammates, but they just aren’t as bad as he’s been used to?
We’ll go with Hamlin to win and Junior to be a thorn in his side.
Top 5 Finish Prediction:
#11 Denny Hamlin (8/1)
#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (14/1)
#48 Jimmie Johnson (7/1)
#12 Ryan Newman (30/1)
#18 Kyle Busch (7/1)
Driver to win the Goodys Cool Orange 500
Jimmie Johnson +475
Jeff Gordon +525
Kyle Busch +715
Tony Stewart +785
Denny Hamlin +865
Dale Earnhardt Jr +945
Carl Edwards +1250
Kevin Harvick +1250
Matt Kenseth +1585
Ryan Newman +1685
Kurt Busch +1685
Clint Bowyer +1885
Jeff Burton +1885
Kasey Kahne +2150
Greg Biffle +2150
Martin Truex Jr +3850
Casey Mears +4850
Juan Montoya +6150
Field +2285
TheGreek
Goody`s Cool Orange 500 Preview
Jeff Burton will be seeking his second straight Sprint Cup victory on March 30 when he takes to the track at Martinsville Speedway for this season's Goody's Cool Orange 500.
Burton held off Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to take the checkered flag in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the series' last event on March 16. The win was Burton's first of the season, and it moved him up one spot to fourth place in the driver standings. Burton now has two Top-5 results and three Top-10 finishes on the season.
Greg Biffle was fourth in the Food City 500, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the day's Top 5 drivers. Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, and Matt Kenseth also drove to Top-10 results. Jeff Gordon had been looking to pick up his first victory of the season in the Bristol race, but he had to settle for an 11th-place result.
Several other notable Sprint Cup Series names finished outside of the Top 10 in the Food City 500 as well. Kurt Busch was 12th, Martin Truex Jr. was 13th, Tony Stewart was 14th, Juan Montoya ended up in 15th place, and Carl Edwards finished in 16th place. Series points leader Kyle Busch ran into mechanical problems and wound up in 17th place, while Jimmie Johnson's early-season woes continued as he finished 18th.
The top three spots in the driver standings remained unchanged after Bristol, with Kyle Busch leading Biffle by 30 points and Harvick by 33 points atop the list. Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Stewart all moved up one spot in the standings, while Ryan Newman dropped four spots behind that group into eighth place. Bowyer's third-place result in the Food City 500 vaulted him seven places into ninth in the standings.
Kurt Busch, Kenseth, and Truex Jr. make up the rest of the standings' current Top 12, with Johnson in 13th place and Gordon in 14th place. Hamlin moved up four spots into 15th with his strong showing at Bristol, and he now sits 214 points behind Kyle Busch.
Johnson will get another chance to get his season back on track at Martinsville, where he's won each of the past three Cup events. Johnson won the Goody's Cool Orange 500 there last season, and he's also the two-time defending champ in Martinsville's Subway 500 (which is run in October). As well, he claimed the Subway 500 back in '04.
Gordon will be able to draw on past success at Martinsville as well - he's won seven Cup events on that track in his career. Gordon swept the races there in both 2005 and 2003, and he also visited victory lane in Martinsville events back in 1999, 1997, and 1996. Stewart (two), Kurt Busch (one), and Burton (one) also have wins on that track.
So who is the favorite to get the win at Martinsville this weekend? Vegas oddsmakers have both Johnson and Stewart at 6/1 odds, with Gordon and Kyle Busch each at 7/1 odds. Hamlin is sitting at 8/1 odds to pick up the victory, with Kenseth at 11/1. A big group of drivers is then listed at 14/1 odds to visit victory lane - Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Harvick, Burton, Edwards, Biffle, and Kurt Busch. Kasey Kahne is back of them at 17/1.
Johnson has been slipping on Vegas' Sprint Cup odds list, but he's still pegged as the 5/1 favorite to capture the championship again this season. Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. follow their teammate at 6/1 odds on that list, with Stewart, Edwards, and Kyle Busch all at 7/1 odds. Kenseth (9/1) and Hamlin (15/1) round out the top tier of title contenders.
After competing in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will head down to Texas Motor Speedway for the 2008 Samsung 500. That event will take place on April 6. From there the series will hit Phoenix for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 (April 12), and then Talladega for the Aaron's 499 (April 27) after a one-week break.
Goody`s Cool Orange 500 Preview
Jeff Burton will be seeking his second straight Sprint Cup victory on March 30 when he takes to the track at Martinsville Speedway for this season's Goody's Cool Orange 500.
Burton held off Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to take the checkered flag in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the series' last event on March 16. The win was Burton's first of the season, and it moved him up one spot to fourth place in the driver standings. Burton now has two Top-5 results and three Top-10 finishes on the season.
Greg Biffle was fourth in the Food City 500, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the day's Top 5 drivers. Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Aric Almirola, David Gilliland, and Matt Kenseth also drove to Top-10 results. Jeff Gordon had been looking to pick up his first victory of the season in the Bristol race, but he had to settle for an 11th-place result.
Several other notable Sprint Cup Series names finished outside of the Top 10 in the Food City 500 as well. Kurt Busch was 12th, Martin Truex Jr. was 13th, Tony Stewart was 14th, Juan Montoya ended up in 15th place, and Carl Edwards finished in 16th place. Series points leader Kyle Busch ran into mechanical problems and wound up in 17th place, while Jimmie Johnson's early-season woes continued as he finished 18th.
The top three spots in the driver standings remained unchanged after Bristol, with Kyle Busch leading Biffle by 30 points and Harvick by 33 points atop the list. Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Stewart all moved up one spot in the standings, while Ryan Newman dropped four spots behind that group into eighth place. Bowyer's third-place result in the Food City 500 vaulted him seven places into ninth in the standings.
Kurt Busch, Kenseth, and Truex Jr. make up the rest of the standings' current Top 12, with Johnson in 13th place and Gordon in 14th place. Hamlin moved up four spots into 15th with his strong showing at Bristol, and he now sits 214 points behind Kyle Busch.
Johnson will get another chance to get his season back on track at Martinsville, where he's won each of the past three Cup events. Johnson won the Goody's Cool Orange 500 there last season, and he's also the two-time defending champ in Martinsville's Subway 500 (which is run in October). As well, he claimed the Subway 500 back in '04.
Gordon will be able to draw on past success at Martinsville as well - he's won seven Cup events on that track in his career. Gordon swept the races there in both 2005 and 2003, and he also visited victory lane in Martinsville events back in 1999, 1997, and 1996. Stewart (two), Kurt Busch (one), and Burton (one) also have wins on that track.
So who is the favorite to get the win at Martinsville this weekend? Vegas oddsmakers have both Johnson and Stewart at 6/1 odds, with Gordon and Kyle Busch each at 7/1 odds. Hamlin is sitting at 8/1 odds to pick up the victory, with Kenseth at 11/1. A big group of drivers is then listed at 14/1 odds to visit victory lane - Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Harvick, Burton, Edwards, Biffle, and Kurt Busch. Kasey Kahne is back of them at 17/1.
Johnson has been slipping on Vegas' Sprint Cup odds list, but he's still pegged as the 5/1 favorite to capture the championship again this season. Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. follow their teammate at 6/1 odds on that list, with Stewart, Edwards, and Kyle Busch all at 7/1 odds. Kenseth (9/1) and Hamlin (15/1) round out the top tier of title contenders.
After competing in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will head down to Texas Motor Speedway for the 2008 Samsung 500. That event will take place on April 6. From there the series will hit Phoenix for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 (April 12), and then Talladega for the Aaron's 499 (April 27) after a one-week break.
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 PreQ
The start to the 2008 season could not be going any better for Kyle Busch. First, after five races he sits atop the point standings. He has Toyota’s first win ever and then he sees Hendrick Motorsports struggle to start the season – his former team. Busch heads into the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville with all of the momentum on his side. He looks to be a strong candidate to get the checkered flag at a track where he has four top 10s in six starts including back-to-back top 5 finishes. The #18 M&Ms Toyota is the early favorite this weekend.
Ranking just behind Busch on the PreQ forecast is his teammate Tony Stewart. Stewart could easily be the point’s leader but a couple of problems when running well has relegated him to the 7th position in the point standings. He is still searching for his first win of the season and has done twice so at this track. He has 11 top 10s in 18 career starts at Martinsville to go with those two wins for an average finish of 12th place in his career. With Joe Gibbs Racing off to a strong start this season look for all three drivers to be among the front runners frequently this season.
With the off week there was plenty of focus on the slow start for Hendrick Motorsports. Both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon stated they were unfazed as each sits outside the top 12 in the point standings. If, however, Johnson does not have a good run this weekend at Martinsville there will have to some concern. Johnson has four wins in his career at the track (12 starts) in his career including three straight trips to victory lane. He averages a 6th place finish in those 12 starts with the lone finish outside the top 10 in his first ever trip to the track. Johnson needs to get back on track (pun intended) this weekend or he may not be contending for a third consecutive title.
Robby Gordon has had s decent start to the season after getting a 100 point penalty absconded when the switch to Dodge from Ford caused the manufacturer to send him to incorrect parts. He sits in a solid 23rd position in the point standings with some of his best track remaining ahead of him. Unfortunately, short track racing his not one of Gordon’s strong suits especially Martinsville. In 14 career starts he has placed in the 20th position or worse all 14 times. He has not finished in the top 30 in any of the last four races at the track with an average finish of 38th place. Avoid the #7 Jim Beam Dodge for this race.
Carl Edwards has run much better at Martinsville in the last two seasons compared to his first two seasons in the series but he still had not recorded a top 10 finish in seven starts. Edwards is averaging a 21st place finish in his career with four starting finishes in the top 20 but this is a track where fantasy players will want to avoid Edwards. He is only averaging 19th place finish in his last 22 short track starts with just five top 10s. There are better drivers to select for this race than Edwards.
profantasysports.com
Hendrick team’s slow start is no reason to panic ... yet
FIVE SPRINT CUP races in the books in 2008, NASCAR comes up for air, and where do we stand?
Well, the sore-thumb story after the first off weekend of the season is that Hendrick Motorsports hasn’t posted a win. The team that dominated the past couple of seasons (23 wins between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and two championships, both Johnson’s) has yet to find victory lane.
It’s not where they want to be, especially after adding Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the stable during the offseason, but it’s not time to throw in the towel, either.
“(W)e are doing good, but some other teams have stepped up,” Gordon said at Bristol before the weekend off. “To me, the Roush teams have really stepped up. I feel like Gibbs, I mean the No. 18 (Kyle Busch), was really strong last week. ... We are just going to keep trying to push it and be better.
“We certainly are not in a panic.”
HE’S FINALLY QUIET
Sorry to hear — or not hear, depending on your perspective — that driver-turned-commentator Darrell Waltrip had laryngitis during the Bristol race. Talk about your two-sided coins.
Waltrip’s doctor prescribed a week of rest with minimal conversation, which is sort of like you or me being told, “Breathe only when you absolutely have to.”
An old colleague from Daytona, Ken Willis of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, wrote that in an air-conditioned den somewhere in Sardis, Cale Yarborough was sitting and muttering, “Yeah, great. Thirty years too late.”
A SHAVE FOR CHARITY
Say what you will about Tony Stewart, he would give you the hair off his back. Or at least sell it for a good cause.
Operation Wax Smoke, Stewart’s “back-wax-for-charity” gig last week, done live on his Sirius Satellite radio show, raised $125,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, his favorite charity.
From what I gathered, his buddy Kevin Harvick challenged Stewart to do it, and the thing evolved into some weighty donations from several racing figures ($15,000 for a tender strip around the back of Stewart’s neck from his boss, J.D. Gibbs, I believe) during a live, scream-filled segment on his show.
Plus, Stewart had about the coolest pickup line I ever heard. To one of the peelers from a local spa who was doing the waxing, Stewart said: “After about our 10th date, when we go and meet your parents, we’re going to look back at this and laugh,” he said.
No word on whether the shag carpet is available on eBay.
thestate.com
Martinsville: Round six preview
By any calculation, the following numbers just don't add up.
Together, Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) and Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) have won a total of six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships -- but not a single race thus far this season.
Five races worth of frustration finds Johnson 13th in the series standings, Gordon 14th.
That has opened the door for some early-season optimism by everyone else, following last season's Johnson-Gordon domination that resulted in 16 victories and a 1-2 finish in the final standings.
Don't be surprised if the door gets slammed shut, for at least a week, come Sunday, as the series visits a short track for the second straight week, following the previous event at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Martinsville Speedway -- site of Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 -- seemingly arrives at a most opportune time for the two struggling past champions. Johnson has won the last three Martinsville events; together, he and Gordon have won eight of the last 10 races at the .526-mile oval, the series' only track that was on the very first NASCAR schedule in 1948.
Sixty years of Martinsville amounts to a lot of history but since 2003, history had been made, basically, by Johnson and Gordon -- especially in April of 2007 when the two seriously tested the stability of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' "new car" with a contact-laden battle over the race's closing laps. Johnson outslugged his Hendrick Motorsports teammate by a scant .065 seconds.
Earnhardt Seeks Breakthrough Win; McDowell Seeks Solid Debut
The upside for Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) coming into Sunday's event at Martinsville Speedway:
He's fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, the highest-ranked of Hendrick Motorsports' star-studded four-man team.
The downside: He has never won at Martinsville Speedway.
That's not to say he hasn't been close.
Earnhardt has seven top fives in 16 Martinsville starts -- including a fifth in 2007's spring event.
Of Earnhardt's 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup victories, four have come on short tracks (ovals less than one mile in length) -- three at Richmond International Raceway, one at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the learning curve this week we find Michael McDowell, who is technically replacing David Reutimann in the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. But in reality, he's replacing NASCAR legend Dale Jarrett, who retired after the March 16 race at Bristol, leaving the No. 44 UPS Toyota to David Reutimann, the former driver of the No. 00.
McDowell is assured of making his first NASCAR Sprint Cup start Sunday; the No. 00 is safely within the top 35 of the owner points and is thus guaranteed a spot in the field.
Said McDowell: "To make your debut at Martinsville is tough. Lot of laps ... lot of hard laps. ... I've done a lot of training to make sure I'm in shape for 500 laps."
In The Loop: Gordon Rates Highest, At Martinsville
For the season, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M's/Interstate Batteries Toyota) has the top spot in NASCAR's Driver Rating. (See chart at right of page.)
As far as Martinsville Speedway is concerned, that status belongs to Jeff Gordon.
Compilation of track-specific Driver Rating data began in 2005, which means the last six Martinsville events are the basis for Gordon's 124.5 rating.
Gordon's Martinsville success could mean a shake-up in the top 12 once the checkered flag falls Sunday. Gordon sits in 14th-place, 21 points behind 12th-place Martin Truex Jr. (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet), and has finished inside the top five in six consecutive Martinsville races.
During that six-race span, Gordon has an Average Running Position of 7.2 (second-best), a series-high 342 Fastest Laps Run, 2,606 Laps in the Top 15 (second) and 147 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), which is fourth-best.
Also hoping a continued Martinsville hot streak will lead to a top-12 spot is Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last three races there. Only once has Johnson finished outside the top 10 at Martinsville -- as a rookie in 2002 in his first trip.
Since then, he's had eight top fives in 11 starts. Since 2005, Johnson has a Driver Rating of 120.8 (second-best), an Average Running Position of 7.3 (third), 296 Fastest Laps Run (second) and has spent 86.2% of the laps in the top 15 (third).
Adding to the possibility of a top-12 shakeup -- Truex struggles at Martinsville. In four starts at the Virginia short track, Truex has never finished better than 19th and has led just one lap. His Martinsville Driver Rating is 58.3 (the lowest of any driver currently in the top 12) and his Average Running Position is 25.3 (also the lowest among the top 12.)
And finally, here are some Loop Data nuggets in support of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s chances Sunday. His statistics there since 2005 rank comfortably in the top 10 of several categories. He has a Driver Rating of 95.8 (sixth), an Average Running Position of 11.9 (fifth), 205 Fastest Laps Run (fourth) and a series-high 304 Green Flag Passes.
On The Bubble: Hornish Is In, Franchitti's Not
With five races in the books for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the weekly guaranteed starting spots start going to the top 35 teams in current car owner point standings. (For this season's first five races, the guarantees went to the top 35 teams in the final 2007 points.)
There are some definite surprises thus far -- on both sides of the "bubble."
Michael Waltrip Racing has all three of its teams in the top 35 -- with Waltrip (No. 55 NAPA Toyota), David Reutimann (No. 44 UPS Toyota) and Michael McDowell (No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota) driving.
Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge) the former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion, is safe for now. Hornish, who started the year with an impressive 15th-place run at the Daytona 500 for Penske Racing, has the 35th and final spot going into Martinsville.
Casey Mears (No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet), part of Hendrick Motorsports' powerhouse lineup, is 33rd, only 12 points ahead of Hornish. Mears, keep in mind, was a winner of one of NASCAR's biggest events last season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Jamie McMurray, a member of Jack Roush's well-stocked stable of drivers, is 36th this week, forced to rely on his qualifying speed to make Sunday's field. Like Mears, McMurray also had a marquee win last season, capturing the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in July.
Dario Franchitti, last year's Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion, is down in 38th, amid a challenging start to his first NASCAR season driving for Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates.
And veteran Kyle Petty is 40th, with his team an already-perilous 60 points behind Hornish's. Encouraging: In recent years, Petty has shown glimpses of his 1980s form at Martinsville; he finished 10th in the 2006 fall race. ... "I have a lot of experience at Martinsville and that should help us qualify our way in to Sunday's race," Petty said. "This is not an enviable position to be in, but I have a good team around me and we can dig our way out of this. ... I've been in this situation before and we've come out just fine. We're more than capable of hitting a streak where we get a string of top-10 or top-15 finishes. Martinsville would be a good place to start one."
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.
Bowyer Two Times Tough: Clint Bowyer (No. 07 BB&T Chevrolet) is following last year's spectacular season in fine fashion. A third-place finisher in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup, Bowyer is ninth in series points going into Martinsville. But he's also leading the points in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, after a runner-up finish at Nashville Superspeedway this past Saturday night. This marks the first time Bowyer has led the standings of a NASCAR national series.
Virginia Tech's Beamer Serving As Grand Marshal ... Frank Beamer, head football coach at Virginia Tech, will be the Grand Marshal for the Goody's Cool Orange 500. "I think most people know how much I love racing, and I'm delighted by this honor," Beamer said.
"This is a real privilege," added Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell.
Burton After Short-Track Sweep ... Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet), winner at Bristol Motor Speedway's half-mile two weeks ago, will try to pull off an early-season short-track sweep on Sunday. In 2005, an adjustment of the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule put Bristol and Martinsville back-to-back. Consecutive short-track races were once commonplace, but that had disappeared from the schedule in 1999. The last time a driver swept short-track events on consecutive weeks was Jeff Gordon, at Bristol and Martinsville, in 1997.
Burton -- fourth in series points this week -- has a solid record at Martinsville: In 27 starts, he has a victory, nine top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. According to Loop Data statistics, Burton has been the sport's seventh-best green-flag passer at Martinsville over the last six races there.
"Martinsville is both a physical and emotional race," Burton said. "I think it's the longest feeling race that we run all year and I like that challenge ... obviously some challenges are bigger than others. To me, that's what our sport is all about. It's about being difficult and trying to overcome obstacles and Martinsville is a pretty big obstacle to overcome."
NASCAR's 60th Anniversary Season Returns To One Of The Originals -- Martinsville
The year was 1948 and the fledgling sport was NASCAR. That was the first season, with a 52-race schedule for mostly Modified machines, although there were the relatively sparse appearance of cars that would come to define NASCAR -- the Strictly Stocks, precursor to today's NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.
That schedule came to Martinsville Speedway, with an event on July 4. The speedway had actually opened a year earlier, with only 750 seats.
For the first installment of what would become one of NASCAR's true traditions -- racing on or around the July 4 holiday -- Fonty Flock was the winner.
An ambitious gentleman by the name of Bill France, who also was NASCAR's founder and first president, finished eighth.
Up Next: Samsung 500 At Texas Motor Speedway
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves on to Texas Motor Speedway next week, for the Samsung 500, set for Sunday, April 6.
Jeff Burton is the race's defending champion. Jimmie Johnson won last year's fall race at TMS, as part of his late-season charge to the series championship.
Burton also won the very first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at TMS, in 1997, driving then for Roush Fenway Racing. He is the only repeat winner in series history at TMS, with 14 races having been held there.
Burton is coming off the 20th win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16. That win was the first this season for his current owner, Richard Childress, and the first for Chevrolet overall in 2008.
The Race: GOODY'S COOL ORANGE 500
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sunday, March 30
The Time: 2 p.m. (ET)
The Track: .526-mile oval
The Distance: 500 laps/263 miles
TV: FOX, 1:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS Satellite Radio
2007 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2007 Polesitter: Jeff Gordon
Pre-Race Schedule: Friday -- Practice, 12-1:30 p.m.; Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.
Saturday -- Practice, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; Final Practice, 12:50 -1:50 p.m.
Driver Highlights - Martinsville
VegasInsider.com
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Martinsville Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last six races at Martinsville. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.
Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) 8/1
# Three top fives, four top 10s
# Average finish of 13.2
# Average Running Position of 10.9, fourth-best
# Driver Rating of 98.0, fourth-best
# 90 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
# 202 Green Flag Passes, ninth-most
# 2,427 (80.7%) Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
# 161 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most
Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) 18/1
# One win, two top fives, four top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 20.3
# Average Running Position of 13.4, sixth-best
# Driver Rating of 88.5, ninth-best
# 57 Fastest Laps Run, 10th-most
# 2,023 (67.3%) Laps in the Top 15, sixth -most
# 99 Quality Passes, 10th-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) 8/1
# Seven top fives
# Average finish of 14.8
# Average Running Position of 11.9, fifth-best
# Driver Rating of 95.8, sixth-best
# 205 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
# Series-high 304 Green Flag Passes
# 2,131 (70.9%) Laps in the Top 15, fifth-most
# Series-high 166 Quality Passes
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) 7/1
# Seven wins, 18 top fives, 24 top 10s; six poles
# Average finish of 7.2
# Average Running Position of 7.3, second-best
# Series-high Driver Rating of 124.5
# Series-high 342 Fastest Laps Run
# 2,606 (86.7%) Laps in the Top 15, second-most
# 147 Quality Passes, fourth-most
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota) 8/1
# Two top fives, four top 10s
# Average finish of 11.2
# Average Running Position of 13.6, seventh-best
# Driver Rating of 96.5, fifth-best
# 98 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
# 199 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most
# 1,579 (63.0%) Laps in the Top 15, seventh-best percentage
# 85 Quality Passes for an average of 17.0 per race, tied for eighth-best percentage
Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) 14/1
# Five top 10s
# Average finish of 19.3
# Average Running Position of 15.5, 11th-best
# Driver Rating of 89.0, eighth-best
# 41 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most
# 1,754 (58.3%) Laps in the Top 15, eighth-most
# 84 Quality Passes, 14th-most
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) 8/1
# Four wins, eight top fives, 11 top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 6.2
# Average Running Position of 7.3, third-best
# Driver Rating of 120.8, second-best
# 296 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
# 2,592 (86.2%) Laps in the Top 15, third-most
# 151 Quality Passes, third-most
Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge) 18/1
# Five top fives, six top 10s; two poles
# Average finish of 14.0
# Average Running Position of 14.7, eighth-best
# Driver Rating of 89.1, seventh-best
# 210 Green Flag Passes, sixth -most
# 1,801 (59.9%) Laps in the Top 15, seventh-most
# 97 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) 8/1
# Two wins, six top fives, 10 top 10s; three poles
# Average finish of 12.3
# Series-high Average Running Position of 5.9
# Driver Rating of 119.3, third-best
# 287 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
# Series-high 2,700 (89.8%) Laps in the Top 15
# 128 Quality Passes, fifth-most
Open-wheelers' struggle in surprise
March 26, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Blame it on JPM. He's the one who made people think any driver with a reasonable amount of talent could jump into a stock car and succeed.
But if there's one thing that's become painfully obvious through the first five races, it's that Juan Pablo Montoya is the exception and not the rule to open-wheelers moving into NASCAR. Four top-notch drivers followed him this season, and have struggled mightily in one of the five biggest surprises so far this season.
Of course, Montoya warned often last season that Patrick Carpentier, Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve were not going to have an easy time wrestling the full-bodied 3,400 lb. machines. Despite his decent results, he never shied away from admitting the switch to NASCAR was the hardest transition the former Formula One star had ever made.
The others have learned the hard way just how serious Montoya was.
``I didn't expect it to be easy by any stretch, but it's even more difficult than I thought,'' said Franchitti, Montoya's teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing.
The attention Montoya received last season while winning rookie of the year, a Cup race and a Nationwide race made the venture look promising for anyone seeking a fresh start away from fledgling open-wheel. No one expected these newcomers to match Montoya's success. Then again, no one expected them to struggle as much as they have, either.
Villeneuve's venture didn't make it past the season-opening Daytona 500. When the former F1 world champion failed to make the race, he hightailed it home to Montreal days before the event. A lack of sponsorship pushed him out of the Bill Davis Racing ride he had planned to pilot, and the team has since ceased operations on the No. 27 Toyota.
Carpentier, another Canadian who raced in both Champ Cars and the Indy Racing League, has a solid team and sponsorship but can't make races. He's qualified for just two of five events so far, has a best finish of 35th in Atlanta and is 46th in the points standings.
Franchitti heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend ranked 38th in points and in danger of not making the field for the first time this season. He started the year inside the top 35, thus guaranteed a starting position, but the field resets this week and he's now on the outside looking in and needs a strong qualifying lap to make Sunday's race.
Through five events, he's finished 33rd three times and his best was a 32nd in California. It could be bad news for the reigning Indianapolis 500 and IRL champion, who doesn't have full season sponsorship yet, and missing races would certainly curtail any potential suitors.
That makes Hornish the best of the group, and he's clinging to 35th-place in the standings. The three-time IRL champion opened the season strong with a 15th-place run in Daytona. But it's been downhill from there, with a 25th in Atlanta his best showing since.
Hornish said this season is a building year, and that NASCAR was a natural move because he had little left to accomplish in open wheel.
``I didn't feel (open wheel) was challenging me enough,'' he said. ``I knew how difficult this was going to be, and I knew I'd look back at my career and if I didn't do this, I was going to wonder `Could you have made it and gotten to the point of being successful?'
``I knew it was going to be difficult, that's why I did it.''
The other surprises this season:
2. MONTOYA HIMSELF: His rookie campaign raised the expectations on the Colombian, and even car owner Ganassi bought into the hype when he said this season was ``Chase or bust'' for his star driver.
Although Ganassi later downplayed the expectations, many still believed Montoya would be a legitimate threat to win on an oval and perhaps qualify for the 12-driver Chase.
But through five races, he's 19th in the standings and still searching for his first top 10 of the season. Even worse, the places he should have contended at - fast tracks such as California, Las Vegas and Atlanta - were not kind to him.
There's no one doubting his skill level, which leads many to wonder if the Ganassi equipment is meeting his needs. Aside from Reed Sorenson's strong showing in Daytona, none of the three Ganassi cars has shown the same improvement the other Dodge teams have made this season.
Montoya is not pointing fingers.
``We're trying as hard as we can,'' he said. ``It's not like I can be upset and say `We're not giving 100 percent' or `We're not doing everything we can.' I know that the entire team is doing everything in its power and all we can do is keep trying.''
3. JIMMIE JOHNSON: The two-time defending Cup champion has never in six previous seasons put together a stretch as poor as the one he's in the midst of.
And it's not the actual finishing position that's troubling about Johnson's season. It's that the No. 48 Chevrolet has only been up front once this season, at California, where he led 76 laps and finished second.
Sure he led a lap in Daytona, and 14 more in Bristol, but it's because he started from the pole. That's it in a shocking start for a team that couldn't seem to lose for much of the past three years.
Suddenly, Johnson can't seem to get anywhere close to a win. He was 29th in Las Vegas - where he entered the race as the three-time defending winner - and followed it with 13th and 18th place finishes in Atlanta and Bristol.
Now he heads to Martinsville, where he's again won three times in a row, searching for his first top 10 of the season.
It's telling, though, that his struggles have come at a time when Hendrick Motorsports is still looking for its first victory of the season. This time last year, the team already had three wins and was in the middle of a streak that saw Hendrick cars win eight of nine races.
4. GREG BIFFLE: He opened 2006 as a popular pick to win a Cup championship, only to struggle through the next two seasons.
The drop-off was significant for ``The Biff'' after he won six races in '05 and finished second to Tony Stewart in the Chase. He failed to make the Chase in 2006 or 2007, and wound up 13th and 14th in the standings those two years.
But Biffle has skyrocketed out of the gates this year, and heads into Martinsville second in the series standings. He's been inside the top 10 in all but one race this year, and his lowest finish was a 15th in California.
At this pace, Biffle is on track to live up to his potential of two years ago.
5. BRIAN VICKERS: It sure seemed as if Vickers made an awful move when he left Hendrick Motorsports to be the star driver at startup Red Bull Racing.
As his old team won 18 of 36 races last season, Vickers struggled to even make the field. He qualified for just 23 of the events and finished 38th in the final standings.
It sent him into this second season with Red Bull needing to make the first five races on speed, and Vickers more than delivered by qualifying for each of them. Then, his early runs were so strong, he went into Bristol knowing he could miss the race and still leave Tennessee locked into the top 35.
He spent time inside the top 12 in points, but his 39th-place finish in Bristol dropped him to 17th. Regardless, Vickers isn't in danger of missing races anytime soon and the seat time and race experience will only help Red Bull continue its development.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Leads The Way in Opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Races
Last season at this time, Hendrick Motorsports had set themselves apart by notching three wins and two poles; three of the four Hendrick drivers were sitting in the top six of the standings.
Much has changed —for now.
During 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one of the most coveted free agents in NASCAR history, and this season he is validating the hype. He is one of only four drivers to post four top-10 finishes in the first five races of the season. The only race he didn’t finish in the top 10 was California, due to an accident.
Earnhardt currently is fifth in the series standings — the highest-ranked Hendrick Motorsports driver. He continues to be consistent — a solid formula to follow, en route to making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
NASCAR Loop Data statistics show Earnhardt is ranked near the top of several pre-race categories at Martinsville, including Driver Rating (95.8) and Average Running Position (11.897).
Earnhardt’s teammate Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) has not had the start of the season he was hoping for, with one top-10 finish at California. Johnson is currently 13th in the standings, 14 points out of 12th place. Johnson is looking forward to Martinsville, having won four races there, the last three consecutively (fall 2006 and both in 2007).
The NASCAR Loop Data statistics show Johnson near the top of several pre-race categories at Martinsville, including Driver Rating (120.8), Average Running Position (7.348), and Laps in the Top 15 (86.2%).
Jeff Gordon has had both ups and downs this season with two top 10s and two DNFs. Last season at this time he was leading the standings, but this season he sits in 14th after an 11th-place finish at Bristol.
But don’t count Gordon out at Martinsville. He has the most wins of any active driver in the series with six, and the most poles with six. Pre-race NASCAR Loop Data Statistics show Gordon at the top of the Driver Rating category with (124.5). Gordon also is ranked second in the following categories: Average Running Position (7.272) and Laps in Top 15 (86.7%).
Casey Mears (No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet) is currently 33rd in driver and owner point standings. He finished 42nd in the spring and 20th in the fall at Martinsville in 2007.
Next week seems to bode well for a turnaround. At Martinsville, Hendrick drivers have won eight of the last 10 races.
paddocktalk.com
Fantasy preview: Martinsville
I'm stoked about my performance in Sporting News' Fantasy Stock Car Challenge. Standing 17th out of 91 teams in my league (I'm even beating my boss), my initial $50 million roster is now worth $52.42 million. Though I'm $3-plus million shy of the world's leader in the category, I'm still very pleased with my progress. But I'm at a critical juncture in regard to my team budget, and I bet a number of you are in a similar spot.
Since Las Vegas, I've been riding the Kyle Busch wave with much success. He's earned $840,000 in that span, and I in turn have been earning some serious points for his top performances, including his win at Atlanta (though I didn't especially like his finish at Bristol). He's now the sixth highest-priced driver at $12.53 million, and his price should continue to rise to at least the $13 million mark.
However, I just sold Shrub because the financial flexibility resulting from it helped me solidify the remaining spots on my roster. The most significant move I made as part of my roster makeover was trading Busch for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Junior ($10.98 million) has top-five finishes in each of the last three Sprint Cup races, and he clearly has been Hendrick Motorsports' top competitor. Junior's average finish through five races (11.8) is nine spots better than when he was with DEI for the same stretch last season (20.8). The man hasn't forgotten how to drive.
Though Junior's 40th-place finish at Talladega sapped a lot of his early-season appeal in our game, I fully anticipate that Junior's value makes a sizable leap this weekend. He's priced extremely well heading to a track where he has had seven top-fives in 16 races.
The bottom line is that I stand to gain at least $2 million over the next several weeks from buying Junior vs. staying with Busch, where I could save a trade but would see a smaller gain. I think the trade is worth it. There will come a time when I can afford both Junior and Busch, and I'll be pleased when that time comes.
On to this week's guys to watch at Martinsville.
TOP TIER
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. These two have won six of the last seven Martinsville races, with Johnson winning four of them -- including the last three. Their side-by-side battle in this race last year was terrific theater. Though Johnson has underwhelmed significantly thus far, owners should be encouraged by his run last week at Bristol. He was in line for a top-10 finish before a flat tire ended those hopes. Sooner or later, Johnson will find it. And we bet on sooner. As for Gordon, his seven Martinsville wins are most of any active driver.
Tony Stewart. As the only driver to win at Martinsville during this three-plus year Hendrick run of dominance, Stewart deserves special praise. His average finish of 5.9 the past six races here is better than any driver on the circuit, as is his number of laps led in that same span (829). Watch out for the No. 20.
Kevin Harvick. It's time to give Harvick an atta' boy for his success this season, with five finishes of 14th or better (including four top 10s). Harvick, who entered Bristol having led one lap all season, led 32 at the short track. Harvick is an underrated short track driver.
MIDDLE TIER
Ryan Newman. Martinsville was one of Newman's strongest tracks in 2003-05, and he may be returning to that form again. Newman finished second in last year's fall race here, and his average finish of 10.2 over the last four Martinsville races is fourth-best.
Jeff Burton. Despite his spotty record in the recent past at this track, his fabulous start to the season should be the superseding factor in adding him to your team. Plus, there will be all the people adding him this week because he won at Bristol. Ride this wave until bad fortune arrives.
WELCOME TO THE TOP 35!
Sweat no longer beads from the brows of these four competitors, as their early season performance has them among NASCAR's top 35 in points -- and thus a guaranteed spot in the field for every race provided they stay in that echelon. Somewhat surprisingly, three of the four are entries from Michael Waltrip Racing -- a major accomplishment given the organization's struggles last season. But just as surprising is the performance of Brian Vickers, who basically was running a one-car team because of AJ Allmendinger's struggles to make races.
Michael McDowell ($4.45 million). Owners will make a quick buck because he's so cheap, but once his inexperience starts to show, he'll suffer the same fate as Sam Hornish. Save your trades if they are at a premium.
Michael Waltrip ($5.75 million) . The only time you ever have to take Waltrip seriously is on restrictor plate tracks. And there's two more races to Talladega.
David Reutimann. ($6.96 million). Crew chief Ryan Pemberton typically has gotten the most out of his drivers, and Reutimann is the latest in that line. Reutimann has been MWR's top driver. Twentieth-place finishes aren't sexy, but that's pretty good production from a guy under $7 million.
Brian Vickers ($9.06 million) . If he were $8 million or lower, I'd give him some consideration. But he's overpriced in my mind.
OUTSIDE THE TOP 35
Jamie McMurray. He wins the best ride/worst performance award hands down.
Dave Blaney. Just once I'd like to see him with a better team.
Dario Franchitti. He is learning, but learning won't help until the second half of the season.
Regan Smith. Goodness gracious, pull the plug on this kid.
Kyle Petty. Dude, help yourself and take Bobby Labonte's owner points.
Joe Nemechek. He'll make a few races, but he'll miss a lot more.
sportingnews.com
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 HOT! Sheet
After the traditional Easter weekend off, it’s time to re-focus on the racing season. And in case you forgot, when last we saw action on the track there was a little smoke coming from Smoke. That’s because Tony Stewart looked like he was going to cap off a dominating performance at Bristol in which he led over half of the event with a victory only to be pushed aside and wind up 14th. He still is near the top of our sheet thanks to his prior performances so far this season, withholding the 43rd place at Vegas. He won this event two years ago, so look out.
His good friend, Kasey Kahne, returns from the break with a lot of confidence. The #9 team stumbled a little bit at Atlanta when they finished three laps down in 28th, but in the other four races he has posted solid top 10s. He has an average finish of 7th place in those four events and has led a few laps along the way. His short track record isn’t he greatest, but he is coming off of a nice run at Bristol in which he started back in 20th but wound up 7th. Get him on your roster if you can while he’s heating up.
There’s an old saying that goes: “you don’t want to be the first guy to take over for a legend.” Well, this season Aric Almirola has not one, but two legends he is taking over for at the same time! First of all, his ride is the #8, and we all know who made that number famous. And as if that wasn’t enough pressure, he is taking the wheel of the car when Mark Martin takes a break. But he handled the situation well at Bristol when he ran among the leaders the entire day and placed 8th, which was good enough to place him on our sheet this week. He probably comes at a cheap price, so you may want to consider him.
There are several drivers who can’t wait to get back on the track to try and swing things back in a positive direction. At the bottom of our sheet you’ll find Casey Mears. His debut season driving the #5 has been a horrible one as he has only finished on the lead lap once when he placed 13th at Vegas. His average finish in the other 4four events is 34th, including a pair of 42nd place showings at California and Bristol. He has had a hard time finishing on the lead lap at Martinsville in the past (only 3 out of 10 races) so we’d stay away from him again this weekend.
Near the bottom of the chart with him is Dave Blaney. His season has gone so bad so far that he finds himself having to race his way in to the race as he is currently 37th in the standings. The #22 team has yet to finish on the lead lap with his closest attempt coming at Las Vegas when he ended up one lap down in 26th. He is coming off back-to-back 34th place finishes, and last year at this track he went home 37th and 36th. If he makes the show, we predict another result in the 30s somewhere.
profantasysports.com
Fantasy Picks 'N' Pans: Goody's Cool Orange 500
Cami Starr and Mike Neff
The quiet Easter break comes to a screeching halt this Sunday as the Sprint Cup drivers take to the Virginia paper clip known as Martinsville Speedway. Festively painted Easter eggs give way to brightly painted stock cars; and you can bet that on the circuit’s smallest track, more than one car will end up cracked by the end of the day.
With the unpredictability of Martinsville in full bloom, which drivers will help you dust off the cobwebs from the off week with a good finish — and which ones will leave you wishing you could take an extended vacation? Read on to see who the Frontstretch fantasy experts think you should use and who you should abuse this weekend in this week’s Picks ‘N’ Pans.
Cami’s Race Rewind:
Normally, there are plenty of hard feelings coming out of Martinsville, thanks to the close confines and bumper banging, but the end of last year’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 seemed to be a lovefest between teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. The Hendrick duo found themselves one-two in the closing laps of the race, and had any other driver been behind Johnson as the checkered flag approached, he most likely would have been moved out of the way. That’s not to say Gordon didn’t give him all he could handle, but he did stop short of wrecking Johnson to claim victory. The win was Johnson’s third in the first six races of the 2007 season, and his third straight at Martinsville. Gordon was strong all day, leading a total of 97 laps, before settling for second place. Polesitter Denny Hamlin led 125 circuits, but a problem during the last pit stop of the day put him outside the Top 10 for the final restart. However, he was able to battle back to finish third; behind him, Kyle Busch finished fourth just ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who led 137 laps — the most of any driver.
Mike’s Keys to the Race:
Martinsville is the shortest track on the circuit, with the tightest radius corners. The key at the paper clip, more than any other track on the schedule, is making the car roll through the center of the corner. The better that the car can get through the center, the faster the driver can get on the gas and get up to full speed. That generally translates into the elusive forward bite, which is a car’s ability to get off of the corner at maximum velocity. Most of the teams on the tour are getting a handle on the front end of this new race car, and it is showing up in the fact that more drivers are complaining of being loose. That’s a major change, for the predominant complaint all of last year with the new car was that it was too tight.
At this point, fantasy owners should focus on the teams that were strong at Bristol, because the handling at the concrete oval in the Tennessee mountains is the closest thing to what they’ll be dealing with this week. Obviously, the Childress cars should be on the top of anyone’s list based on that criteria; however, Jeff Burton is the only RCR driver that is in the top 14 in average finish at Martinsville. Check out some other teams that finished right behind them at the half-mile two weeks ago. While Hendrick Motorsports has struggled some this year, with the exception of Dale Earnhardt Jr. their drivers have owned Martinsville in the recent past. Jimmie Johnson is the three-time defending champion at the track, and Jeff Gordon won four of the seven races before Johnson went on that tear. Don’t forget about the Joe Gibbs drivers, either; Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Denny Hamlin all looked strong at Bristol before various issues took them out of contention.
Mike’s Picks:
Crank ‘Em Up:
Tony Stewart was in position to win the race at Bristol. Unfortunately, Kevin Harvick had a bobble that ended Stewart’s day before he got the chance. But expect the No. 20 team to bounce back here; Stewart is fifth among active drivers in average finish at Martinsville (12.3). He’s got two wins, a second, and two thirds at the paper-clip shaped oval, and really knows how to get around the place. With the way the Joe Gibbs camp has been running, if Stewart can make it to the checkered without a major incident, he should be right in the middle of things at the end of the race.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been carrying the banner for Hendrick Motorsports so far in 2008. He is the only Hendrick driver within the cutoff for the Chase at this juncture of the season, running roughshod over teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Earnhardt is ninth in average finish at Martinsville with a 14.8 average, and almost half (7 of 16) of his race finishes have been in the Top 5. Earnhardt does not get as much credit as he deserves for his short track abilities, but he is one of the best short track drivers on the circuit. Expect him to continue his strong showing to start the season with another top finish this weekend.
Sit ‘Em Down:
Elliott Sadler is sure to get a lot of publicity this weekend about going home to Virginia to race. Unfortunately for Sadler, coming home has very seldom translated into a strong finish. In 18 career starts at the paper clip, Sadler has one Top 5 and three Top 10 finishes. Maybe it’s the hot dogs, but Sadler has more finishes of 32nd or worse at Martinsville than he has in the Top 10. While GEM has shown some flashes of improvement this season, they are still not looking like they are ready to contend for the front of the pack just yet. It looks like another weekend to leave Sadler on the pine.
Robby Gordon is doing an outstanding job this season as the only owner/driver in the series, and has himself solidly in the Top 35 in points. But while this season has been rather successful for Gordon, his history at Martinsville has been anything but. Gordon has run at the track 14 times, never finishing higher than 20th in any race. His average finish is 32.9, and half of his finishes have been 36th or worse. Even though Gordon has had some decent runs this year, his history at Martinsville begs that he be left on the sidelines this week.
Roll The Dice:
Jimmie Johnson has been struggling at the start of the 2008 season, and Chad Knaus has sounded more perplexed this year than he has in most of his professional career. However, Johnson is the two-time series defending champion and three-time race defending champ. Even though Johnson has struggled, he is only 13th in points, and the team has salvaged some good finishes even when they haven’t been the best all day. Add to that the fact that he has the highest average finish of any active driver at 6.9, and it would seem like a given he’ll be able to rebound with a solid finish this weekend.
Cami’s Picks:
Crank ‘Em Up:
After five races in the 2007 season, Jeff Gordon is shocking fans for unlikely reasons. With no wins and two finishes of 35th or worse, he currently sits 14th in the standings coming off the Easter break. But it should be back to business as usual for Gordon this weekend at Martinsville. Gordon, a seven time Martinsville winner, has scored ten straight Top 10 finishes at the Virginia short track, with eight of them being Top 5s. He may have been down earlier this season, but look for a coming out party for Gordon and the No. 24 team this weekend.
While his former teammate has been struggling this year, Kyle Busch has been basking in success with his new team at Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch enters race six of the year as the point leader, thanks to three Top 5 finishes and a win at Atlanta. While on paper, Busch had his worst performance of the year (17th) last week at Bristol, keep in mind that he spent most of the second half of the race fighting steering issues. Without a doubt, the No. 18 team is one of the hottest on the circuit; and with four Top 10s in six Martinsville starts, now is not the time to jump off the bandwagon.
Sit ‘Em Down:
This week, David Reutimann takes over the famed No. 44 UPS ride from the recently retired Dale Jarrett; but don’t look for a great run to celebrate the new pairing. While Reutimann has shown improvement over last season, demonstrated by his 25th position in the standings, he still has only eked out one finish higher than 20th. In his brief history at Martinsville, he has managed a meager 25th average finish, clearly nothing to write home about. Yes, Michael Waltrip Racing has shown improvement; but be careful of getting carried away by using them this early in the season.
While he is off to a good, but quiet, start in 2008, Martin Truex Jr. is one driver you may want to take a pass on using this week. Granted, he did finish 13th last weekend at Bristol; but that final tally was aided by other drivers who had run better for the majority of the day falling out. Looking at his track record at Martinsville, where he has no finish higher than 19th in four starts, doesn’t instill much confidence in the No. 1 group.
Roll the Dice:
Once again, Denny Hamlin saw his chances of victory at Bristol dashed due to a fuel pickup problem; but he could make things right with a trip to Victory Lane this weekend at Martinsville. Hamlin still managed to come out of Bristol with a sixth place finish, his best result of 2007, and should be easily able to top or match that this Sunday. Hamlin was the polesitter in his home state race one year ago, and if not for a problem with the jack on the final stop, could have likely been celebrating the win. With four top 10s in five Martinsville starts, it seems to just be a matter of time until he will be pulling into Victory Lane.
frontstretch.com
Hendrick’s Recent Performance At Martinsville Inspirational
Kurt Smith
Much has been said and written about the perceived fall from dominance of Hendrick Motorsports. It is the farthest they’ve gone into a season without a victory since 2003, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are out of the Top 12, Casey Mears is struggling to stay in the Top 35, etc. It seems as though this team is suddenly looking very mortal.
But let’s not get hasty. We’re only five races in and, in truth, the only really surprising faulty cog in the Hendrick machine has been Jimmie Johnson. After winning two straight championships and 15 races in two years, the 48 team has only finished higher than 13th once in 2008, with a 2nd in California. That’s a surprise, but even that isn’t impossible to believe…the car being run at the intermediate tracks is radically different from last year’s, so we’re going to see some anomalies out there, at least for a little while.
Jeff Gordon has two Top 5s and could easily have had four by now. And the new kid in the 88 hasn’t done too badly…it’s his best start since 2004, or since the last time he drove for a team that was capable of consistently building winning racecars.
Hendrick dominated in 2007 not just because they got a handle on the new car before anyone else did—they won the first five CoT races and nine of the 16 total—but also because they handled the transition better than anyone, winning nine of the other 20 races. This year they have no such transitional advantage…the other teams have fully committed to the new car and it is showing.
But enough about why Hendrick hasn’t been as dominant and won’t be in 2008. This weekend the traveling circus comes to a track where Hendrick Motorsports could win in Volkswagens.
Most of us have seen HMS dominate the last six races at Martinsville, probably without even thinking twice about what it must be like for the team to race there these days. Three and a half years isn’t a very long time; most of the players at Hendrick are undoubtedly still affected by the tragedy that happened in October 2004. Surely coming back to this track brings back the awful memory of that day.
They build engines and think of Randy Dorton. Someone wears his hat backwards, and they think of Ricky Hendrick. When they race against Tony Stewart, they think of Tony’s pilot Scott Lathram. When people see Rick Hendrick, they think of how he lost his son, his brother, two nieces and some of his closest friends in a single day; this not long after losing his father. No one gets over all of that in three years. When Hendrick Motorsports comes to Martinsville, it’s always at least in the back of their minds.
But seeing the way HMS has performed at Martinsville since, an observer could conclude that this team could shake off anything.
In the six races at the paper clip since October 2004, Hendrick Motorsports has won five…and they could be six-for-six but for the odd finish of the April 2006 race—after a late race caution, there was leftover “stay-dry” compound on the track; Jeff Gordon spun in it on the final restart and came home second to Tony Stewart.
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson especially have been phenomenal at Martinsville since: Johnson has won the last three races; Gordon swept both 2005 races and has not finished outside of the Top 5. Last season, Jimmie and Jeff were 1-2 in April and 1-3 in October. They have been great at other tracks too—last season both of them were great everywhere—but no team has dominated like this at one venue since DEI at Talladega.
Hendrick’s recent command of Martinsville Speedway is even more impressive considering it is a short track where danger lurks constantly for 500 laps. Like at Bristol, there is no place to hide there.
That Hendrick Motorsports has been able to perform so brilliantly at the site of their darkest hour is nothing short of remarkable. Granted, it’s their job and they have to do it regardless. NASCAR doesn’t stop. But few organizations in sports or anywhere else could function as well with so much weighing on their mind. Most everyone in the company was close to someone who passed that day.
I won’t suggest that some supernatural force has been at work in southwest Virginia, because nothing has struck me as inexplicable about it, unlike with the wacky events following Dale Earnhardt’s passing. (Except possibly for the aforementioned kitty litter incident—maybe Scott Lathram was getting a lick in for his driver.) Hendrick had already been running very well at Martinsville, with Gordon sweeping both races in 2003 and Johnson winning the race on the fateful day of the tragedy. What I will say with confidence is that this weekend will be when the Hendrick Motorsports team very likely finds whatever momentum it’s been missing this year.
Martinsville is a place where Hendrick has already raced twice in the current car, so the adjustment factor is not there. And judging from the performance of the 24 and 48 cars last year, the new car isn’t a problem for them at the paper clip. Something just seems to kick this team into another gear at this joint.
On top of all that, this weekend Hendrick Motorsports is putting someone else in a racecar who knows a thing or two about bouncing back from life’s blows at the very place where the tragedy occurred. Since I haven’t heard it said yet, the Official Columnist of NASCAR is declaring Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driving for Hendrick Motorsports, to be the sentimental favorite to win at Martinsville this Sunday.
Next time life knocks you down, remember how Hendrick Motorsports bounced back with a vengeance at the very place where they were knocked down the hardest. Get up and get back in the game. And win.
That may be the best way to honor the memory of the departed.
frontstretch.com
Driver Handicaps: Martinsville
This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is back in action at Martinsville Speedway, after a weekend off, for Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 500-lap event.
Who's HOT at Martinsville
# Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in wins (7), top fives (18) and laps led (2,466).
# Jimmie Johnson holds the best finishing average (6.2) among active drivers.
# Denny Hamlin has an average finish of 3.7 in his last three races.
# Tony Stewart has finished seventh or better in four of his last five starts, including a win in 2006.
Keep an Eye on at Martinsville
# Besides Gordon, Johnson and Stewart, Kurt Busch is the only other active driver that has won at Martinsville in the last 11 races.
# Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top five in seven of the last 12 Martinsville races.
# Kyle Busch is coming off a pair of fourth-place finishes at Martinsville.
# Jeff Burton has the second best finishing average (12.6) among drivers that have competed in every event since 1998.
# Ryan Newman, who finished second last October, has qualified within the top 10 in all 10 of his 12 Martinsville starts.
Martinsville Rookie Report
Regan Smith in the only Raybestos Rookie of the candidate that has competed in a Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Last year he finished 26th in this event driving the No. 01 Chevrolet. Smith is also the only rookie that has raced in all three of NASCAR's top divisions at Martinsville. Both Michael McDowell and Dario Franchitti raced in the Truck race last October finishing 30th and 33rd, respectively. The Goody's Cool Orange 500 will mark McDowell's first career Cup race. Rookie Standings
Qualifying Tidbits
There have been seven different Bud Pole winners in the past 12 events at Martinsville Speedway. Jeff Gordon, who leads all active drivers with six poles, captured five of them in that span, including three-straight. Ryan Newman is the only other multiple pole winner since 2002. Denny Hamlin is the defending Goody's Cool Orange 500 pole winner at Martinsville. Tony Stewart set the current qualifying record of 98.083 mph in the 2005 fall event, for his third pole at the track. Out of the 118 races run at Martinsville, 17 have been won from the pole, and 85 were won from within the top 10.
RacingOne Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Tony Stewart
Pete Pistone: Tony Stewart
Rachael West: Jeff Gordon
Kym Opalenik: Tony Stewart
Top 20 Driver Notes - Ordered by Current Standings
1. Kyle Busch: Busch posted his best finishes at Martinsville Speedway in 2007 after finishing fourth in both events. Last year marked the third and fourth time Busch has finished in the top five in six starts. Busch's only finish outside the top 20 came in his first track start when he came home 39th after mechanical problems took him out of contention. Busch also has two top 10s in the Truck Series at Martinsville and will make another start in the series on Saturday.
2. Greg Biffle: Biffle is coming off his first top 10 in 10 starts at Martinsville Speedway. Biffle started 37th last October and was able to post a seventh-place finish to lower his overall average finish to 24.0. This weekend Biffle will return in the same car (chassis Rk-559) that finished 15th in February at California.
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick has five top-10 finishes in 13 career starts at Martinsville Speedway with his best finishes of seventh coming in the 2003 fall and 2006 spring race. Harvick was last out front at Martinsville in the fall of 2004 when he led 104 of his track total of 147 laps. This weekend Harvick will be driving a new chassis (No. 242) in the Goody's Cool Orange 500.
4. Jeff Burton: Jeff Burton has competed in seven races at Martinsville Speedway with Richard Childress Racing. His sixth-place finish last April was his second top 10 with the team. His lone Martinsville win came in this event in 1997. The victory was one of the 11 top 10s he recorded with Roush Racing. At 625, Burton is ranked fourth in laps led (574 coming with Roush) among active drivers at Martinsville. this weekend Burton will be returning in the same car (chassis No. 224) that finished 12th at Auto Club Speedway in February.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Earnhardt Jr. has finished in the top five in seven of the last 12 races at Martinsville Speedway. A pair of third-place finishes in the spring races in 2003 and 2004 mark Junior's best performances in 16 starts at the half-mile track. After finishing 23rd last October, Earnhardt will now make his first start at Martinsville with Hendrick Motorsports. This weekend Junior will be shooting for his fourth top five with chassis No. 88-421. This car most recently finished fifth at Bristol.
6. Kasey Kahne: Kahne's seventh-place finish in the 2006 fall race was his second, and last, top 10 in eight starts at Martinsville Speedway. His worst finish, and only DNF, in seven track starts came in the 2006 spring race after engine problems relegated him to a 35th-place finish. This weekend will mark Kahne's 150th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.
7. Tony Stewart: Stewart finally got his second Martinsville Speedway win in the 2006 spring race after dominating three consecutive events, leading a combined 818 laps. Since then, Stewart has only led 11 laps, but has combined for average finish of 8.0. Last year in the event, Stewart finished seventh for his 10th top 10 in 18 starts. This weekend Stewart will be racing chassis No. 157 for the sixth time. This car, which has posted an overall average finish of 11.8, most recently finished fourth at Phoenix last November.
8. Ryan Newman: With the exception of the last two races, Newman has qualified within the top 10 in all of his starts at Martinsville Speedway. Two of the starts have come from the pole, both in the fall events (2002, 2004). Overall, Newman has posted an average finish of 14.0 and has led 83 laps. He is coming off his best finish, of second, and fifth top five at the track. This weekend Newman will be driving a new car (chassis No. PRS-513) in the Goody's Cool Orange 500.
9. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer lowered his Martinsville finishing average to 16.2 with his first top 10 (ninth) at the track last October. He won the pole for the Martinsville Nationwide race in 2006 and went on to lead 58 laps en route to a second-place finish. Bowyer also led 84 laps in the April 2006 truck race on his way to a seventh-place finish. This weekend Bowyer will be racing a new car (chassis No. 218) that was tested at Greenville-Pickens, when he makes his fifth career Cup start at Martinsville.
10. Kurt Busch: Busch has competed in 15 races at Martinsville Speedway posting four top-10 finishes, including a win in the 2000 fall race. His lone victory came from the 36th starting position, the farthest back a race winner has started at Martinsville by 12 positions. Busch has posted a 20.3 average finish in his four track starts with Penske Racing. He also won the pole for the 2006 fall event with the team. This weekend Busch will pilot a brand new car (chassis No. PSC-560) in the Goody's Cool Orange 500.
11. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has finished outside of the top 15 twice in the last nine events at Martinsville Speedway. His worst finish in that span was a 24th-place finish when a crash took him out of contention. Last October Kenseth finished fifth for his second top five in 16 starts. This weekend Kenseth will pilot a brand new chassis (RK-569) in the Goody's Cool Orange 500.
12. Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr's best finish (19th) in four starts at Martinsville Speedway came in his first attempt in 2006 and his last this past October. Last year in this event he led one lap for the first time on his way to a 29th-place finish.
13. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has won the last three events at Martinsville Speedway after leading a combined 505 laps. It was his third and fourth career wins at the track, making Martinsville one of two tracks where Johnson has won four or more times at. His wins have come in a streak of 11 consecutive top-10 finishes. Johnson, who won the pole for the 2006 April race, has led 871 laps at the .526-mile speedway. This weekend Johnson will return in the same car (chassis No. 48419) that won last October at Martinsville.
14. Jeff Gordon: Gordon notched his second Martinsville Speedway sweep in 2005 after starting 16th and 15th, respectively. His previous sweep at the track came in 2003, winning both races that year from the pole. In his most recent track start, Gordon finished third for his 10th consecutive finish of ninth or better. In total, he has seven wins, six poles, 18 top fives, 24 top 10s and has led in 22 races for a total of 2,466 laps. Gordon's 7.2 average finish is second among active drivers, just shy of his teammate Jimmie Johnson's mark of 6.2.
15. Denny Hamlin: Noted as one of the toughest tracks to conquer as a rookie, Hamlin went out and finished eighth in the fall event at Martinsville Speedway in just his third career Sprint Cup start. In the 2006 spring race, Hamlin never recovered from a bad qualifying run and went on to score his only DNF of that season. He made up for that run in the next three attempts, finishing second, third and sixth, respectively. Prior to Cup racing, Hamlin competed in the late model races at Martinsville where he posted three top 10s. This weekend Hamlin will be driving the same car (chassis No. 166) that posted top fives at Darlington and Dover last year.
16. Carl Edwards: Edwards has yet to finish inside the top 10 in seven career starts at Martinsville Speedway. Edwards, who finished 11th last October, saw his best track performance come in the Craftsman Truck Series race in 2003 when he finished second. This weekend Edwards will be racing the same chassis (No. RK-513) that debuted at Phoenix where he won the pole and finished 42nd when the engine expired.
17. Brian Vickers: After failing to qualify for both races last season at Martinsville Speedway, Vickers will be able to make his first track start this weekend with Team Red Bull after securing a spot in the top 35. In his previous six attempts at Martinsville with Hendrick Motorsports, Vickers posted one top 10 and an average finish of 22.7.
18. Bobby Labonte: Labonte has made 29 starts at Martinsville Speedway, capturing one win and one pole. His last six of 13 top 10s at Martinsville have all been finishes of fourth or better. Labonte has made four track starts with Petty Enterprises with his best finish (third), and only top 20, coming in this event in 2006.
19. Juan Pablo Montoya: Martinsville Speedway is Montoya's best track on the circuit that he's raced on two or more times based on his finishing average of 12.0. This weekend he will be driving the same car (chassis No. 735) that completed all 1,006 laps at Martinsville in 2007.
20. Elliott Sadler: Sadler hasn't fared too well in his three starts at Martinsville Speedway with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. After placing 38th when an engine expired in his No. 19 Dodge in his first track start with the team, Sadler went on to post an average finish of 32.0 in his next two starts. GEM is the third team Sadler has competed with at Martinsville Speedway following Yates Racing and the Woods Brothers. Sadler's three top 10s at the track all came with Yates.
racingone.com