Forecast bleak for Sunday’s race at Martinsville
Sunday: Showers. High near 53. East wind between 5 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 46. East wind at 8 mph becoming southwest. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
— from the National Weather Service
After rain canceled Sprint Cup Series qualifying on Friday already this weekend, it appears the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 could be delayed or even postponed.
The National Weather Service says there is a 90-percent chance of rain Sunday for Martinsville Speedway. Rain is expected from 8 a.m. ET through Monday morning.
The rain system isn’t expected to clear Martinsville Speedway until 2 p.m. ET Monday afternoon, when there is less than a 20-percent chance.
Over an inch of rainfall is expected for the area on Sunday.
The race is scheduled to begin shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. Martinsville Speedway doesn’t have lights, but takes only 35-45 minutes to dry a completely saturated surface.
Fantasy Pick’Em: 2010 Goody’s Fast Relief 500
The Sprint Cup Series is beginning to hit its stride, five races in and heading to Martinsville Speedway for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. It’s the first race of 2010 where drivers and teams will be guaranteed in based on 2010 owners’ points, meaning we’ve run enough of this year to nail down who’s on top and who’s in a hole.
Clearly, Jimmie Johnson is on top after winning his first career race at Bristol. I didn’t have in the column at all last week, judging by his abysmal record at the track the past few years. My pick, Kyle Busch, wound up ninth, while dark horse Marcos Ambrose had a poor day and wound up 33rd. Kurt Busch had the best day of anyone I mentioned, finishing third, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. placed seventh and Kevin Harvick finished 11th.
I’d be picking Johnson to win Martinsville even without the momentum of three wins in five starts, and the latest coming at his worst track. He’s also won five of the last seven run at the paper clip, six in his career, and you don’t expect any less from him barring catastrophe.
As for a dark horse, check out Juan Pablo Montoya. Until he wins an oval race in Cup, I think this is a fair place to categorize him. He led 37 laps here in the fall, and has a career worst Martinsville finish of 16th, in his track debut in spring 2007. Montoya has only failed to complete one lap in six starts, a key fact at short tracks where cars can easily fall laps down under long green flag runs.
Don’t like what you see? Three more:
Denny Hamlin won the two races out of the past seven that Johnson did not, which basically guarantees him a place in the column. Yes, he’s 19th in points, and I bet that bum knee’s got something to do with it. That might even spell disaster for him at the track, where he has a strong 7.2 average finish and only one finish outside the top 10 in eight starts. But the Virginia native, barring that one poor finish (a crash in spring 2006), has always run well here. I’m going to give him a break.
Jeff Gordon has seven wins, 22 top five finishes, and 28 top-10s in 34 career Martinsville starts. He hasn’t been outside the top 10 at the end of a Martinsville race since 2002. If you took Gordon’s Martinsville track record and tallied up the points, he’d have enough to win the championship in almost any pre-Chase season.
Finally, in an attempt to make this column interesting (and not just pick the four drivers with the best four average finishes at Martinsville), Ryan Newman is a choice that many might overlook. Like a handful of other drivers worthy of consideration, Newman has a 50% top 10 rate; unlike many of them, he hasn’t won at the track. But Newman’s 2009 record at the track, with finishes of 6th and 7th and a pole in the fall race, merits strong consideration for this weekend.
Martinsville Speedway reups with race sponsors; gets two year extensions
Officials from the Martinsville Speedway announced today that they have signed agreements with Goody’s and TUMS to sponsor their Sprint Cup Series races for the next two years. The agreements allow for Goody’s to continue being the longest non-automotive sponsor involved in NASCAR.
“I am overjoyed that these two iconic brands are extending their partnership with Martinsville Speedway, a race track we have been coming to for Goody’s since 1977. Our partnership with Martinsville is unique in the sport, bringing together great brands with a classic American speedway to present true race fans with “old school racing” at its best,” Darren Singer, Vice-President of Marketing, OTC Wellness, GSK, said. “For over 33 years, stock car racing has been the centerpiece of the Goody’s Headache Powders business, signified by our lifetime partnership with “The King,” Richard Petty, and our commitment to Martinsville Speedway. There is no better analogy for the fast relief Goody’s provides for your worst headaches, than the speed and intensity of short-track racing at Martinsville.
“In 2008, we introduced another of our fast relief brands to Martinsville race fans – TUMS, a classic American brand. Based on the great results we are seeing in our Sprint Cup race sponsorships and activation, we are renewing our sponsorship of both Sprint Cup races with Martinsville Speedway through 2012. With Goody’s sponsoring the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 in the spring, and TUMS sponsoring the TUMS Fast Relief 500 in the fall Chase race, these events will showcase our commitment to Martinsville and loyal NASCAR fans!”
The spring event at Martinsville, scheduled for March 28, will continue to be named the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. The fall event, scheduled for October 24, will continue to be named the TUMS Fast Relief 500.
“There aren’t many folks in racing who can say they have been together as long as Martinsville Speedway and GSK Consumer Healthcare,” said Martinsville Speedway President W. Clay Campbell. “But it doesn’t surprise me. It’s a great combination. We all are focused on the same thing, keeping our customers happy.”
GSK Consumer Healthcare owns both Goody’s and TUMS.
Lesa France Kennedy says new ticket prices attracting many new buyers
While the economy’s outlook is still bleak on the surface and NASCAR’s attendance is still on a slight drop after the 2009 NASCAR season, the race tracks have spent much of this year, and the offseason, lowering ticket prices, among other things, to help boost attendance and fan interaction.
- Lesa France Kennedy. (Photo by NASCAR)
Lesa France Kennedy, CEO and Vice Chairwoman of the International Speedway Corporation, was a speaker at the inaugural Motor Sport Business Forum North America on Wednesday and addressed the issues that has faced ISC over the past two years and how the company has handled them.
From a company-wide standpoint, France Kennedy said that ISC has re-priced over a million of their race tracks’ tickets for this season. This coupled with a new array of bundles in which to purchase tickets was a somewhat obvious way to deal with an economic downturn. However, it has not only kept attendance in the Sprint Cup Series to a level just under that of years before, it has brought some new fans to the stands. In fact, two out of every three fans that purchased a ticket this year were a new customer to ISC tracks.
“First of all, there’s no doubt that all businesses have been challenged by the economy and we are not immune to it,” France Kennedy said. “Whenever there is a situation like this, it has also provided an opportunity for us. We’ve taken over a half a million of our tickets and re-priced or restructured them. We’ve taken some of the tickets that were previously bundled and created new packages where the bundling wasn’t as prominent. We find that about 2/3 of the people that are buying our newly structured tickets are brand-new buyers.”
From there, the tracks rely on the hope, and research, that if you go to one NASCAR event you have to go to another one. However, the challenge is getting a fan to that first event.
“Our history tells us that if we can get them to that one event, that the product sells itself,” France Kennedy said. “Our challenge is getting them to that first event, and then it goes from there. We’re accomplishing that through different opportunities and value pricing.”
Prices aren’t the only way these tracks are trying to attract a new breed of fan. Things such as social networking and creating a “green” initiative around the track and the sport are cause for keeping attendance just below average even in these rough economic times.
Many of the ISC tracks have accounts across the most popular social networks in the United States, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. With tracks placing more interest on the younger demographic, social content has become a key marketing strategy and a cause for their overall success.
“People are consuming our sport in different ways now, like NASCAR.com for instance,” France Kennedy said. “Social media, I know especially for the younger folks, that is how they communicate. All of our tracks now have social media outlets where they communicate with potential fans and new fans, as well as the younger audience. We always have to be refilling the pipeline.”
A Chinook helicopter flies in the pace car driven by Lt. Col. Doug Hurley during prerace ceremonies prior to the start of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 8, 2009. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
It’s not just ISC tracks that are making these changes, however. Speedway Motorsports Inc. tracks have to keep up as well. While SMI and ISC have both done similar things, Texas Motor Speedway’s Eddie Gossage, who was also at the motorsports forum on Wednesday, said that while track promoters can’t guarantee the race will always be a nail-bitter, they have to ensure their events are surrounded with activity, such as pre-race festivities at the track.
“The race is the race, and it could be an extremely close nail-biter,” Gossage said. “Or it could be a runaway and it falls on us as promoters to make the day exciting before the green flag drops and perhaps for awhile after the checkered flag drops. We try to do those kinds of things, our pre-race show for our Cup race was an hour-long concert by ZZ Top, we had a Chinook helicopter land on the front straightaway and in the pace car was a season ticket holder who was also the pilot of the Space Shuttle back in July. The fans loved that. So it’s giving them the ‘wow’ factor long before the green flag drops.”
ZZ Top performs prior to the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 8, 2009. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey)
With the recent approval of a casino being built near to Kansas Speedway, the ISC is looking forward to new chances to raise ticket sales within their company. Nonetheless, France Kennedy and the ISC knows it’s going to be a slow process to get back where they were pre-recession period.
“We’re going to be braced for a slow recovery but we’re also looking at some new opportunities,” France Kennedy said. “At Kansas, next to the Kansas Speedway, we’re looking at building a casino and a hotel with our gaming partner. It’s a little bit of a departure from our core business, but it’s also an enhancement if you look at the fans coming to the Kansas Speedway and extending their stay. It becomes more of a destination, bringing more tourists in than it already does. We’re doing the same in Daytona, where we’re looking at some other guest amenities across the street that would be complementary to the track. Over time we would like to develop some retail and dining.”
Regardless of the roughly nine-percent attendance drop this season, NASCAR is still considered America’s No. 1 spectator sport, with many events drawing upwards of a 120,000 people or more. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events claim 17 of the nation’s top-20 most attended events every year.
The ISC operates Auto Club Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Phoenix International Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Watkins Glen International. SMI owns eight tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
Drivers expecting treacherous restarts at Martinsville
This weekend, the double-file restart will make its well anticipated debut at Martinsville Speedway.
Martinsville, which was already considered a “wild card” track, could offer quite a shake-up in the Sprint Cup Series driver points if Kurt Busch’s expectations come true on Sunday for the Tums Fast Relief 500. The former Sprint Cup Series champion thinks the smallest track on the circuit will offer the wildest restarts on the circuit.
“It’s always been demanding enough at Martinsville in the past,” Busch said. “We’ve already seen just how perilous it can get out there on the other tracks with the double?file restarts and this will no doubt be the most treacherous situation yet.
“Short and sweet, you don’t want to get caught up on the outside lane. As bad as it’s been in the past, with the lapped cars in one lane and the lead lappers in the other, this will be the insane end of impossible.”
Pat Tryson, crew chief for Busch and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team, agreed with Busch. In fact, he went as far as predicting that Sunday’s race will be the most controversial race of the year.
“It may be the most controversial race of the year and probably will be,” Tryson said. “If it was ever possible to give up a spot before or during a caution in order to be on the inside for a restart, this would definitely be the place. Of course, that’d be impossible to do because there are so many variables you’re up against and things happen so fast there. About the best way to sum it up is just saying that it’s bound to be a big mess out there.”
However, series veteran Mark Martin has a different thought than that of Busch’s and Tryson’s.He believes that, just like the other tracks on the circuit with double-file restarts, Martinsville will be intense, but not anymore intense then anywhere else.
Double-file restarts debuted at Pocono and have made appearances at every style of track so far, including two other tracks that are less than a mile in length; Bristol and Dover. With action at both of those tracks sticking close to the norm in comparison to past history at those short-tracks, Martin’s prediction of the weekend seems to have a shot at scoring validity this weekend.
“No one really knew what to think when double-file restarts started at any track,” Martin said. “But, so far, I think they’ve worked out really well. I don’t worry about them too much. With how tight Martinsville is, it’s probably going to get a little intense sometimes. But overall I don’t think it will be any crazier than it has been in most other races.”
Martin’s teammate Jeff Gordon has another item on his agenda this weekend as he goes for his eighth victory. To do that, Gordon will obviously have to get around the double file restarts on Sunday. But, besides that, Gordon’s game plan will stay the same this weekend.
“Our job is the same as it’s always been here,” Gordon said. “We must make the car go through the corners as fast as we can, make sure we’re not burning up the brakes, and get the car up off the corner and down the straightaways the best we possibly can against the competition.”
A win would be timely for Gordon, who could use a maximum points-gain this weekend to stay within a distant reach of points-leader and teammate Jimmie Jonson.
The News:
Martinsville Speedway will be making history on Sunday, the speedway announced on Tuesday. Instead of having just one person giving the command to fire the engines, the entire crowd will be. Every fan will receive a smaller version of a green-flag before the start of the event and will all give the field the green flag to begin the 500-mile race.
The checkered flag last weekend signaled the half-way mark for the Sprint Cup Series chase. With Martinsville being the sixth of ten chase races, there will only be four events left before the 2009 Sprint Cup Series champion is decided in Florida.
The Word:
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota: “It’s (Martinsville) just a short racetrack and you’ve got to try to have a good car. But it’s hard to have a good car there with the field as tight as it is. Qualifying up front seems to help out a little bit. We know who the guys are who are going to be tough there. Really, there’s nothing that you can change about that racetrack to stay out of trouble. Basically, you can be leading the race and have a wreck in front of you while you are trying to lap some guys and that could be it.”
Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford: “Compared to larger oval tracks, at Martinsville you feel like you’re going so slow that it’s hard to make yourself wait long enough to push the gas down. I really love going to Martinsville though; short tracks like Martinsville and the road courses are some of my favorite places to race at during the season. We had a great run earlier this season, so my goal is to run well again on Sunday.”
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet: “Once I figured out what to do with the brakes at Martinsville, I enjoyed racing there. Martinsville is a fun race track as long as you stay out of trouble and keep those brakes cool. You go to a place like Michigan or California and it takes less driver and more car than it does at a short track in my opinion. That is one of the things I enjoy about Martinsville.”
David Stremme, driver of the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge: “Martinsville is a place where you beat and bang all day. As a driver, you have to be defensive all day. You have to be patient and wait for your competitors to make a mistake and take advantage of it.”
The Info:
Race Name: TUMS Fast Relief 500
Track: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
Date: Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 263 miles/500 laps
TV Race Coverage: ABC, 1 p.m. ET
Radio Race Coverage: MRN and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Polesitter: None (qualifying was PPD)
Sprint Cup Series Events Moving To Earlier, Uniform Start Times For 2010 Season
NASCAR PR
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Continuing the sport’s “back to basics” approach, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and its television broadcast partners today announced earlier, uniform start times for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2010.
NASCAR worked closely with FOX, Turner, ESPN/ABC and the tracks on this project for the fans. The race start times for NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2010 in the Eastern and Central regions of the country will begin at 1 p.m. ET, West Coast events will begin at 3 p.m. ET, and night races will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. (The one exception is NASCAR’s longest night race, the Coca-Cola 600, which will have the same 5:45 p.m. ET start time.) Following the invocation and national anthem, the green flag will drop at approximately 15-20 minutes past the hour after each listed race start time.
“NASCAR fans have been asking for earlier and more consistent start times, and we are making this change for our fans, beginning with the Daytona 500 next February,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “We are revisiting our sport’s tradition of earlier green flags, and the added consistency will make it easier for fans to know exactly when the races are being televised. Additionally, the new start times will help track operators get fans in and out of the track earlier in the evening. Many fans heading home from the race earlier will be able to eliminate the costs of an extra travel day.”
A total of 28 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2010 will be held at an earlier time compared to 2009, with 20 races moved to 1 p.m. ET, including the Daytona 500. Moving up the start of “The Great American Race” two-and-a-half hours will produce the earliest start time for the Daytona 500 since 2003, when the race was also scheduled for 1 p.m. Five races move earlier to a 3 p.m. ET start and three races start earlier at 7:30 p.m. ET.
In making the decision for earlier, more uniform start times, NASCAR consulted its Fan Council, comprised of 12,000 avid fans who serve as a sounding board on important topics. Half of NASCAR avid fans said they are often unclear about what time NASCAR races actually start. When given the chance to choose a start time, more than two-thirds of avid NASCAR fans preferred early Sunday afternoon.
“It’s become clear to us that traditional, early Sunday afternoon, start times are favored by NASCAR fans who both attend races and watch on television,” said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill. “NASCAR, perhaps more than any other sport, belongs to the generations of fans who have passed on their passion, father to son, mother to daughter, so whatever we can do to make them feel better connected to the sport they love should be done.”
“Many fans have been interested in standard start times for NASCAR’s television partners. In the long term, we believe this change will make the viewing experience better for everyone,” said David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting’s distribution, sales and sports. “NASCAR races continue to deliver solid, consistent ratings for TNT. When you combine TV ratings with the number of people who visit NASCAR.COM, the sport clearly remains very healthy and popular.”
“We enthusiastically support consistent start times and are happy to have worked with NASCAR on this move,” said John Skipper, ESPN’s executive vice president, content. “We are thrilled about our position with NASCAR and bullish about the long-term prospects.”
“An earlier starting time for the Daytona 500 is great news for our race fans,” Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said. “In recent years, race fans made their desire very clear for an earlier starting time. With the help of our partners in the sport at NASCAR and FOX Sports, we’re proud to deliver an earlier starting time for the 2010 Daytona 500.”
“This is a very positive move for our fans,” said Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager for New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “For example, it allows us another hour of daylight to run our races and to get traffic out before nightfall. Based on the letters I receive from fans, I know they will appreciate NASCAR making this change. For years, the NFL has been very successful with its standardized start times of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. You never have to guess when their games start on Sunday. I think that same template will help our sport as well.”
“We believe this will be well-received by NASCAR fans who attend races in Dover, especially those traveling long distances,” said Denis McGlynn, president and CEO of Dover Motorsports, Inc. “A large percentage of our fans come from the Northeast, and some drive great distances to get here. Consistent, earlier start times is great news for both fans headed to the track and those watching at home.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points races will be seen on either FOX, TNT, ESPN or ABC. The 2010 television schedule for points races is below.
2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule With Start Times (All Times Eastern)
Date Day RaceSite Network Start Time
Feb 14 Sun. Daytona 500 FOX 1:00 PM
Feb 21 Sun. Auto Club Speedway FOX 3:00 PM
Feb 28 Sun. Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX 3:00 PM
Mar 7 Sun. Atlanta Motor Speedway FOX 1:00 PM
Mar 21 Sun. Bristol Motor Speedway FOX 1:00 PM
Mar 28 Sun. Martinsville Speedway FOX 1:00 PM
Apr 10 Sat. Phoenix International Raceway FOX 7:30 PM
Apr 18 Sun. Texas Motor Speedway FOX 1:00 PM
Apr 25 Sun. Talladega Superspeedway FOX 1:00 PM
May 1 Sat. Richmond International Raceway FOX 7:30 PM
May 8 Sat. Darlington Raceway FOX 7:30 PM
May 16 Sun. Dover International Speedway FOX 1:00 PM
May 30 Sun. Lowe’s Motor Speedway FOX 5:45 PM
Jun 6 Sun. Pocono Raceway TNT 1:00 PM
Jun 13 Sun. Michigan International Speedway TNT 1:00 PM
Jun 20 Sun. Infineon Raceway TNT 3:00 PM
Jun 27 Sun. New Hampshire Motor Speedway TNT 1:00 PM
Jul 3 Sat. Daytona International Speedway TNT 7:30 PM
Jul 10 Sat. Chicagoland Speedway TNT 7:30 PM
Jul 25 Sun. Indianapolis Motor Speedway ESPN 1:00 PM
Aug 1 Sun. Pocono Raceway ESPN 1:00 PM
Aug 8 Sun. Watkins Glen International ESPN 1:00 PM
Aug 15 Sun. Michigan International Speedway ESPN 1:00 PM
Aug 21 Sat. Bristol Motor Speedway ESPN 7:30 PM
Sep 5 Sun. Atlanta Motor Speedway ESPN 7:30 PM
Sep 11 Sat. Richmond International Raceway ABC 7:30 PM
Sep 19 Sun. New Hampshire Motor Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Sep 26 Sun. Dover International Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Oct 3 Sun. Kansas Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Oct 10 Sun. Auto Club Speedway ABC 3:00 PM
Oct 16 Sat. Lowe’s Motor Speedway ABC 7:30 PM
Oct 24 Sun. Martinsville Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Oct 31 Sun. Talladega Superspeedway ABC 1:00 PM
Nov 7 Sun. Texas Motor Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Nov 14 Sun. Phoenix International Raceway ABC 3:00 PM
Nov 21 Sun. Homestead-Miami Speedway ABC 1:00 PM
Earnhardt Jr: “Not Real Happy About That Finish”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., despite finishing eighth for his best run of the season, was not 100% satisfied with the result this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt Jr has never won at Martinsville, but recorded his tenth top-ten finish at the track in his 19th start.
“It was an all right day,” said Earnhardt Jr. “We didn’t have as good a car as I wanted to have, but we worked on it all day and the guys stayed positive. Just right there at the end, we weren’t as good as we needed to be.
“We were a pretty good car all day and made some adjustments there at the end that weren’t helping the car. We weren’t able to finish where we should have, we were a top-five car most of the day I thought. Kind of unfortunate, not real happy about that finish.
All four Hendrick Motorsports teams met for three hours earlier this week to discuss how they could improve their program. After the meeting, all four Hendrick Motorsports teams finished in the top-eight at Martinsville this weekend.
“I am happy for Rick and they got a win, especially for that company,” Earnhardt Jr continued. “I am glad to be a part of it. This is excellent equipment, we just got to know what to do with it. We got to get a little bit better as team to compete. The stuff is right there in front of us man, we just gotta figure out what to do to make it work.”
Johnson Gets First Win of 2009 at Martinsville
The Hendrick dominance at Martinsville continues as Hendrick Motorsports picked up their 18th win at Martinsville pulling in within one of Richard Petty Motorsports as the most wins ever at Martinsville for an organization. Richard Petty Motorsports has 19 totals wins at Martinsville.
Johnson’s 41st career victory came after a pass of Denny Hamlin, who had dominated the late part of the race, which required more then the recommended use of the front bumper. Johnson, whose last victory came at Phoenix in November of 2008, posted his sixth victory and 14th top-ten finish in his 15 career starts at Martinsville Speedway.
“I’m very excited to give the Lowe’s fans something to cheer for today and all the fans of the No. 48 and of Hendrick Motorsports,” said Johnson. “It’s teamwork. It’s about people and we work hard to make it right. he first couple of things we did, we put spring rubbers in the right rear and we lost track position and it didn’t really help. And then as the day went on (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) kept playing with tire pressure and wedge and we got the car right. It’s such a special day for Rick (Hendrick), the 25th year in the sport, to come back to the same track on the same weekend and win again, we’re just really proud.”
Hamlin had to settle for second yet again in his career. Hamlin said before Bristol that he thought he should have more wins at this point in his career, and that his team has had a lot taken from them and have given a few away. Hamlin, despite posting his seventh top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway, seemed disappointed in his runner-up finish at Martinsville. Hamlin said in the post-race press conference that he not angry with Johnson, because he said he would have done the same thing.
“You know, it’s not that hard because I know I would do the same thing,” said Hamlin. “You can’t sit here and tell nobody can sit here and tell me they wouldn’t do the same thing that he did. You know, honestly, with 15 to go, I’d rather be in second than first because I’m going to move the guy out the way.
“Unfortunately, the way he did it, unfortunately for me, it got us way up high to where I couldn’t get back to him. It would have been great if it just got us up a little bit. He was smart. Got us up high enough to where we got trash on our tires. I was done after that. I was just trying to keep up. We gained a little bit at the end. Believe me, I’ve been in the top three many times. I’ve led many times on last laps and all that. You know, it’s tough to say that you’ve gotten used to losing, but I’ve gotten used to the disappointment at the end. It’s not like a new thing.”
Tony Stewart had an impressive showing for his Stewart-Haas Racing team, finishing third for his 12th top-10 finish in 21 races at Martinsville Speedway. This is Stewart-Haas Racing’s highest finish so far in 2009. The other driver at SHR finished sixth after making a last-lap pass over Mark Martin to move from seventh to sixth.
“We struggled in one part of the corner to get it to rotate right past the center,” said Stewart. “That was pretty much what we thought, I would say two thirds of the Friday practice, then that’s what we thought the majority of the day today. I could see Denny, Jeff’s and Jimmie’s car were really good in that area. That’s something that I know you got to be good at.
“But, you know, to work with a different crew chief, a different package, end up like we did, you know, I felt like Darian made good calls. There were times during the race he was making changes that I questioned, but they were better and made the car work. He’s really good. The thing is, he’s very sure of himself. He’s very sure of his decisions.”
Jeff Gordon finished fourth and Clint Bowyer both continued their great runs in 2009, with Newman, Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-ten.
Scott Speed, driver of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota, wasn’t the happiest guy at Martinsville with Kyle Busch. The two got together while running up front, taking them both out of contention for the rest of the event.
“I’m sure Kyle [Busch] is going to offer to buy me dinner [laughing] since that’s the second time this year that he’s wrecked me, so I’m looking forward to that,” Speed said. “We had a great car before we got wrecked and we even had a great car after we got wrecked. This race is a lot like Daytona for us where we had a great car but were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The top-19 all finished on the lead lap, with Kasey Kahne being the final car on the lead lap. Positions 20th-23rd finished on lap down. Three cars did not finish the race.
Notes: This is Chevrolet’s first win of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. … Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 89 points over Clint Bowyer. … Joey Logano finished 32nd and was the highest finishing rookie. … Johnson’s win comes on the 25th anniversary of Rick Hendrick’s first win as a team owner in the Sprint Cup Series, which came at Martinsville with Geoff Bodine. … There was a total of 12 cautions for 66 laps. … There was 13 lead changes among 7 drivers. … The margin of victory was 0.774-seconds. … The race lasted 3-hours, 27-minutes, and 48-seconds.
Truck Race Postponed To Monday
NASCAR Officials have decided to call off the start of the Kroger 250 at Martinsville, after persistent rains moved in this morning. The rains also prompted the cancellation of the two Sprint Cup Series practices earlier this morning.
Qualifying for the race was able to be completed, as Rick Crawford will start on the pole. The race is scheduled to begin Monday at 12PM ET and will be televised on SPEED. FOX was the original telecaster of the event.
“It’s just tough because everybody is a competitor and wants to get going, you know what I mean, the anxiety, the anticipation,” said Raybestos Rookie Johnny Sauter. “You get yourself all pumped up ready to go race and then it rains. I think about 90 percent of us knew what was coming. It’s been coming throughout the country there for the last couple of days. I think everybody for about a week knew this was coming. At least we get to come back, right? At least we get to race on Monday. That’s all you can ask for.”
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is scheduled to begin Sunday 2:16PM ET on FOX.
Defending Martinsville Winner Denny Hamlin Rolls in Quitely
Twice a year when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Martinsville Speedway, the talk is focused on the Chevrolets of Hendrick Motorsports. It is obvious that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will always be the favorite. Together, the two own 12 of Hendrick’s 17 wins at Martinsville and hold an average finish of 6.25 between them.
But one most remember, they aren’t the only favorites. Denny Hamlin, who won this race last spring,finished fifth last fall at Martinsville, despite an ill-handling race car. Hamlin is making his eighth career start at the short-track, in which he has already assembled an impressive history at Martinsville. He holds an average finish of 8.9, and besides the 2006 spring race where he finished 37th, his lowest finish is eighth in his first start at Martinsville in the fall of 2005. The team’s primary chassis will be JGR 238, which has top-ten finishes at New Hampshire and Martinsville last year.
“Martinsville is special for me for a lot of reasons,” said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Racing Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. “The experience of winning a Cup race here, at a Virginia track where I raced Late Models a few years ago, and in front of great racing fans and my family, was something I will never forget. And to have a Martinsville clock sitting in my home that I see everyday – it reminds me of that day and also how much went into getting to that point. I remember racing here in Late Models, in the big fall events, and thinking then what a big deal it was to be here at a famous track, getting to do what I loved which was race cars. So to go there in a Cup car, win a pole a few years back and then get a win there last Spring was something that was hard to imagine even just a few years. Don’t get me wrong, it was what I always wanted and was working for but you can’t expect things to work out like they did. This is a great track – one of my favorites – with a ton of history and a special style of racing. I think it’s where I am at my best and I know the entire #11 FedEx team circles the Martinsville races on the calendar.”
So far this season Hamlin has had a long, but progressive road through the season so far. He finished 26th at Daytona before moving up to 15th in Sprint Cup Series driver points with a sixth-place finish at Fontana. He finished 22nd at Las Vegas and 13th at Atlanta to move him up to 14th in points, before finishing second last weekend at Bristol to move him into eighth in points.
Besides Hamlin, Gordon, and Johnson, you can’t count out Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Mark Martin out either. Both have gotten off to a start that is less then pleasant, but both are beginning to crawl back up the Sprint Cup Series driver standings. Statistically, both Earnhardt Jr. and Martin have had a respectable history at Martinsville. Earnhardt Jr., despite never winning at Martinsville, has eight top-ten finishes in 18 career starts at the track, earning a series fourth-best driver rating of 102.4. He is fourth in many other NASCAR Loop Data Statistics field, such as an Average Running Position of 10.4, 311 Fastest Laps Run, and has spent 76% of his laps in the top 15. He ranks second in the field 219 quality passes, which counts the number of times he passes a car in the top-15 under the green flag. Earnhardt Jr. also leads the field in with 396 green flag passes.
The No. 88 team also tested their primary car, chassis No. 88-539, at Rockingham Speedway on March 17th.
“You’ve got to have a lot of forward bite,” said Earnhardt Jr, driver of the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. “You’ve got to be able to get good drive off the corners — especially on the long runs — like 50 to 80 laps. A lot of times you get real long green-flag runs, and if you aren’t able to put the power down like most guys, there is no way to adjust. It’s a real, real fun racetrack. I love racing on the short tracks, but it’s a headache and a pain in the butt at the same time. But you just have a lot of fun doing it.”
Martin, the 50-year-veteran, has struggled recently at Martinsville, with his last of two wins in his career at Martinsville coming in 2000, and has finished outside of the top-ten in his last three starts at Martinsville. He has also taken off the last four races at Martinsville while running a partial schedule in the Cup Series, before returning full-time this season.
Notes: A win for Kyle Busch this weekend will put him into a tie with Jeff Gordon for the most wins before age 25 with 15. … This is the first weekend that owner points from the current season will be used to determine the 35 drivers who are guaranteed a spot in the weekends race. … This is the 121st Sprint Cup Series race held at Martinsville Speedway.
Top 12 Preview: The Goody’s Fast Relief 500
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads into Martinsville this weekend, for the second short-track race in a row. Below is a breakdown of how the current top-12 drivers in Sprint Cup Series driver points have fared so far this season, and their past history and success at Martinsville, the smallest short-track on the Sprint Cup Series circuit.
1. Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 794 points: Gordon has had a great season after suffering his first win less season since his rookie year in 2008. Despite still being win less, Gordon comes into Martinsville Speedway as a strong contender, and rightfully so. Gordon has made 32 starts, posting seven wins, 20 top fives, 26 top 10s, and seven poles. Gordon, who has led at least one lap in 24 of 32 races for 2,613 total laps, finished 4th during last October’s race at Martinsville.
2. Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 718 points: Busch has come out strong so far this season, winning one race and finishing in the top ten all but one race. He holds an average finish of 22nd at Martinsville, posting one win, two top fives, four top 10s, and owns one pole in 17 starts at Martinsville. He finished 36th in October and has led six of 17 races for 358 total laps.
3. Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, 715 points: Bowyer has had a decent history at Martinsville, which includes three top 10s in 6 career starts at the track. He came home ninth last October at Martinsville, tied for his best finish at the track.
4. Kyle Busch, driver of the No.18 M&M’s Toyota, 709 points: Martinsville is one of tracks that he hasn’t visited victory lane in on the Sprint Cup Series circuit. However, he is coming off of a win at Bristol and may just get rid of the statistic this weekend. In his 8 starts at the track, he has posted three top fives and four top 10s for an average finish of 18.3. Busch is coming off of a 29th place finish last October at Martinsville.
5. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, 665 points: Edwards has started nine races at Martinsville Speedway, with an average finish of 17.3, which includes one top five and two top 10s. Edwards scored his best finish at Martinsville last October, after finishing third. Edwards has also never led a single lap at the shortest short-track in the Sprint Cup Series.
6. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge, 639 points: Kahne has an average finish of 18.5 at Martinsville, including one top five and two top 10s. Kahne, who has improved his finish each weekend over the previous’, hopes to continue his up rise in the 2009 season. Kahne’s best finish at Martinsville in 2005, finish second in the race. He finished 33rd last October.
7. Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, 633 points: Stewart hopes to return to victory lane, and win for the first time at his new team, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart has posted two wins, seven top fives, 11 top 10s, and three poles in 20 starts at Martinsville. Stewart has led in Led 10 of his 20 starts for a total of 1,193 laps. Stewart finished 26th last October at Martinsville.
8. Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, 631 points: Hamlin currently holds an average finish of 8.9, posting one win, four top fives, and six top 10s in 7 starts. Hamlin finished fifth in October, and has led in three of seven races for 235 total laps. Hamlin is also the defending Goody’s Fast Relief 500 race winner from last spring.
9. Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 627 points: Johnson has slowly improved his season over the last few weeks, as he begins his trek for his fourth straight Sprint Cup Series championship. Johnson currently stands as one of the best, if not the best, active driver at Martinsville. In 14 starts, Johnson has posted five wins, 10 top fives, 13 top 10s, and one pole for an average finish of 5.6. Johnson, who hopes to repeat his win last October at Martinsville, has led eight of 14 races for 1,345 laps.
10. Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DEWALT Ford, 610 points: Kenseth has made 18 starts at Martinsville, posting two top fives and six top 10s for an average finish of 16th. Last October, he finished 8th and has led in seven of 18 races for a total of 68 laps.
11. David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, 607 points: Reutimann is a pleasant surprise so far in the Top 12. This team has come out of the box strong this season, and they hope to continue their vast improvement over last October at Martinsville, where the came home to a 24th place finish. Reutimann, who has four career starts at Martinsville, has led in one race for a total of three laps.
12. Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, 584 points: Harvick would surely like to do better at Martinsville. He has finish in the top ten just six times in 15 career races, and holds a career-best finish of seventh, which has achieved three times in his career including last October. Harvick has led in four of 15 races for a total of 147 laps.
