Hendrick Motorsports flexed its muscles Sunday, but Denny Hamlin’s team made the right call in the pits, propelling the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

Taking fuel only to polesitter Jeff Gordon’s four tires and fuel on the final pit stop for both drivers on Lap 388, Hamlin beat Gordon out of the pits for a restart on Lap 394, after Ken Schrader’s Toyota spread oil on the track to bring out the 18th and final caution of the race.

Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Casey Mears stayed on the track during the Lap 388 pit stop, but one-by-one Hamlin picked them off. He passed Burton for the lead off Turn 2 on Lap 427 and held it the rest of the way, as the 500-lap race went green to the finish.

As the frontrunners worked through traffic in the closing laps, Gordon passed Burton for second and finished 0.398 seconds behind Hamlin. Burton held onto third, followed Jimmie Johnson (who rallied from a spin on Lap 296) and Tony Stewart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth and Mears seventh to give Hendrick four of the top seven positions. Jamie McMurray, Edwards and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

“You got a clock, baby, you got a clock,” shouted crew chief Mike Ford as Hamlin crossed the line, referring to the grandfather clock trophy that goes to the winner.

The victory was Hamlin’s fourth in the series in 85 starts and the first in his home state. The win also broke a 24-race dry spell prolonged by a streak of rotten luck, the latest installment of which occurred two weeks ago at Bristol when Hamlin’s fuel pickup faltered with him in the lead on a green-white-checkered-flag restart. Hamlin finished sixth.

“It’s the first Virginia win for me, and well, finally the curse is over -- I hope,” said Hamlin, who notched the second win in the series for Toyota. “We’ve had some bad luck these past few weeks. We’ve been so close so many times, and it feels great to finally break through.”

Like Johnson, Gordon lost track position in a mishap. Gordon’s occurred off Turn 4 on Lap 57 when the nose of his No. 24 Chevrolet was nicked during a four-car melee. Gordon restarted 32nd on Lap 65 and began a charge through the field; he regained the lead on Lap 269.

But the last two sets of tires didn’t work well with Gordon’s car. Handling issues and cold, wet track conditions made overtaking Hamlin impossible in the closing laps.

“It came down to pit strategy, and Denny and those guys definitely did the right thing,” said Gordon, who believed at the time that Hamlin had taken two tires instead of none. “I just couldn’t get going on those
last two sets.

“I was trying to figure out why the car had no grip out there the last few laps. Then I got out of the car and realized that we were racing in the rain.”

Adhesion didn’t seem to be an issue for Hamlin, who won the race on old tires after opting for track position on the final stop. Hamlin also survived a mistake on Lap 215 when his car crossed the pit road commitment line on the backstretch, forcing him to pit from the lead to avoid incurring a penalty.

Hamlin restarted 19th on Lap 219 and, like Gordon, charged to the front.

Unlike Gordon, Hamlin stayed there.

Notes: With series points leader Kyle Busch finishing 38th, Burton took over the top spot in the standings by 39 points over Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick. ... Gordon (ninth) and Johnson (10th)climbed back into the top 12 in points as did Hamlin, who moved up seven spots to eighth. Martin Truex Jr. (13th), Matt Kenseth (15th) and Kurt Busch (16th) fell from the top 12. ... Michael McDowell finished 26th in his Cup debut, beating teammates Michael Waltrip (35th) and David Reutimann (39th).

Race Recap: Kroger 250

For the first time since the late Bobby Hamilton won at Mansfield, Ohio, in 2005, Dennis Setzer took Bobby Hamilton Racing back to victory lane.

"This win right here is for Bobby Hamilton only -- he is the man!" shouted crew chief Marcus Richmond after Setzer, who had run 173 laps since his final pit stop, crossed the finish line with trucks wrecking in his wake.

Setzer's victory in the Kroger 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Saturday at Martinsville Speedway was his third at the .526-mile short track and the 18th of his career. Setzer won for the first time since taking the checkered flag at Mansfield on May 26, 2007.

Hamilton, who posted 10 wins in the truck series before his death from cancer on Jan. 7, 2007, claimed his last victory at that same track on May 15, 2005.

"I ran second to Bobby Hamilton the year he won the championship (2004)," Setzer said. "We raced really hard against each other, but off the track, we were the best of friends. I don't think we ever had a harsh word for one another. I respected him a lot."

The 15th and final caution of the race on Lap 248 necessitated a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took Saturday's race three laps beyond its scheduled distance. As Setzer rounded Turn 3 on the final circuit, Kyle Busch powered his No. 51 Toyota beneath the second-place No. 23 Toyota of Johnny Benson as the trucks entered the corner.

Busch's truck clipped Benson's and both spun out of control. Matt Crafton dodged the wreck to finish second, and Rick Crawford came home third. Ken Schrader inherited fourth place and Erik Darnell fifth, as Benson and Busch dropped to 25th and 26th at the finish, respectively.

"Kyle drove in underneath that 23 and wheel-hopped it and opened the door for me," said Crafton, who had an up-close view of the accident. I kind of shut my eyes and went through the middle. In Kyle's defense, he wheel-hopped and got sideways, and that's why he wrecked the 23."

Setzer took the lead on Lap 128 when Brent Raymer spun in Turn 4 in front of Busch, who had surged past teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 97 and stayed in front until the mishap with Raymer. Setzer remained in the lead the rest of the way, through nine more cautions that helped him stretch his fuel mileage.

Notes: Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell is part of the ownership group for Bobby Hamilton Racing, which relocated from Nashville, Tenn., to Martinsville after Hamilton's death. . . Busch retained the series points lead by 35 over Todd Bodine, who finished 12th Saturday.

Robby Gordon Takes Over No. 22 Dodge In NASCAR Nationwide Series

Effective immediately, Fitz Motorsports will move forward with plans to utilize an array of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veterans throughout the remainder of the 2008 season in its Supercuts-sponsored No. 22 Dodger.

The first driver tapped for the ride is owner and driver of the NASCAR Sprint Cup No.7 Dodge, Robby Gordon. Beginning with the upcoming races at Texas and Phoenix, Gordon will drive the No.22 Supercuts Dodge, with a variety of Dodge drivers scheduled to round out the season.

"I'm excited about this," Gordon said. "The Nationwide Series is a lot of fun and I'm honored to drive for Fitz Motorsports this season. I expect to run for the win every weekend that I’m behind the wheel of this No.22 Fitz Motorsports Dodge."

“We’ve achieved great results over the years in the Nationwide Series,” team owner Armando Fitz said. “In the past, our best results have come with experienced and veteran talent in our cars."

“Drivers like Mike Skinner, David Stremme, Robby Gordon and Mike Bliss have all given us great feedback and different perspectives regarding the operation of our team. We took that into strong consideration while making the decision to continue to put Cup-level talent in our cars for the rest of the year.”

Robby Gordon will not only be helping a fellow single-car team owner, but will also be benefiting from the Dodge Motorsports program as well. "Dodge has been great to me," Gordon said. "I like how all of the Dodge teams are working together. I think you will see all of our effort start paying dividends on the track.

Fitz shared Gordon’s enthusiasm: “We’re excited to have Robby on board with us, and we know Dodge’s support of our programs will pay dividends.”

“It’s been a great start to the season and we want to continue the momentum,” Fitz added. “The plan is to continue with our philosophy of veteran talent in our cars while sticking to our goal of the 2008 owner championship in the Nationwide Series.”

The Supercuts No. 22 currently sits eighth in NASCAR Nationwide Series owner point standings through six of 35 races.

Contact: Sarah Tatum, Fitz Motorsports, (704)799-3500(work), (941)504-6254(cell), pr.fitzmotorsports@yahoo.com

NASCAR Numbers Adding Up To Exciting 2008

The following is the completely falsified transcript of a conversation, which never took place between Mike and Maggie, two people who do not exist. I did not overhear this conversation, or one remotely like it, and probably never will. The made-up names have not been changed.

Mike: "Hey, did you watch 'Lost Idol Survivor Apprentice' last weekend?"

Maggie: "Of course I did. I never miss one. What did you think about that ending?"

Mike: "Fantastic. I never saw it coming; definitely a wild finish."

Maggie: "I know. I'm just relieved my favorite did okay for another week. He's looking good for the finals, I think. I was a little worried about him at first. Some of the other guys looked really strong in the early episodes."

Mike: "Well, you know how these season-long competitions work. Some guys just like to bide their time early on and then come on strong at the end."

Maggie: "Did you happen to see the TV ratings? They were actually higher than the numbers for the installment that aired last year on the same date."

Mike: "I did see that. Think it means anything?"

Maggie: "Oh, yeah. It means this is a great show that people want to watch ... and these are just the early episodes. We haven't seen anything yet. Wait until things get cranked up at the end!"

This doesn't really sound like a conversation between a couple of ordinary, average television viewers, does it? Of course not. While hit shows become hits for a reason – something about them captures the attention and devotion of the masses – no one really gets terribly hung up on the actual numbers. We like what we like, and it is no more complicated than that.

Sounds a lot like NASCAR fans.

This seems somewhat contradictory on the surface, as NASCAR is a sport literally driven by numbers. Qualifying speeds. Series standings. Starting and finishing order. The Top 35. The Top 12. And these things just barely scratch the surface of what is probably the most numbers-oriented sport in the world.

There is a phrase, often used in business settings, postulating that you "Live by the numbers; die by the numbers." Of course, this refers to things like gross revenues, asset inflow versus outflow, adjustable versus fixed rates, mandatory convertibles (That's a car I really, really need to have, right?) and lots of other cool financial catch phrases that verbally oriented people don't really comprehend.

Sometimes this mindset can dig a whole big well of worry, which, if we allow it to, can have a detrimental effect on one of the most major areas of our lives -- FUN.

In South Carolina, they have a statewide lottery system. Once a week people stop by the corner convenience store and buy a single Powerball ticket. The numbers aren't necessarily in their favor – in fact, they're roughly 32 million-to-one against me – but still there is a chance that my single-dollar investment could one day net the 15 million bucks or more. You never know, but it's fun to speculate.

The bathroom scale and my blue jeans – an evil and conniving couple, definitely in cahoots – sometimes inform me that I have deviated a couple of pounds from my ideal weight. (This particular number is only made public on a need-to-know basis.)

Whether this is the result of too much sodium in last night's pad Thai, leaving the jeans in the dryer a few minutes too long, or an ill-advised second slice of Key Lime Pie is an answer not worth agonizing over. A couple of days at the salad bar and a couple of hours on the treadmill can cut that five right back to a three. Why worry about it?

I'm hearing a fair amount of grousing lately over the fact that Tony Stewart hasn't won a race yet, or that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver currently in the Top 12 (for the completely uninitiated, this means that Jeff Gordon and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson both sit below the number 12 mark in the standings and would not make the Chase, if the season ended today).

But let's be realistic. We’re just getting started here. We’re not even 25 percent done with the 2008 race season yet. A single day can, and probably will, change all those numbers, turn them completely around and upside down. Then the next week, the same thing will happen all over again.

I guess the point is that whether my bank account is 50 dollars on the low side, my jeans are a little snug or "my" driver starts the next race in 31st position rather than first, numbers, like so many things in life, have a way of balancing themselves out. This is all accomplished with, or without, my personal "worry ticker" constantly punching its buttons and running its tape to dampen my enthusiasm and foul up my fun.

It's all the proverbial tempest in a teapot (or storm at the speedway) anyway, because in the end, only a single digit matters, and it never changes.

For fans of the sport, NASCAR is always number one

Kevin Harvick Atop Washington Post’s Online March Madness Celebrity Challenge Standings After First Two Rounds

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (RCR), leads a power-packed field of athletes, political personalities and media in The Washington Post’s Online March Madness Celebrity Pick standings after the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Brendan Gaughan, who drives the No. 10 MaxxForce Diesel Ford in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and played college basketball for the Hoyas of Georgetown University, is currently in fourth position to give NASCAR a big presence atop the standings.

Also participating from NASCAR is Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley Tools/Best Buy Dodge, and Jeff Burton, Harvick’s teammate at RCR and driver of the No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, who are in 16th and 21st place, respectively.

Others in the field include pro tennis player Serena Williams, Washington Wizards all-star forward Antawn Jamison, political commentator Tucker Carlson, political strategist James Carville, DC blogger Dan Steinberg and Washington Post columnist and co-host of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Michael Wilbon, who is currently in third place.

“I am pretty excited to be leading the Washington Post celebrity NCAA tournament pick challenge,” said Harvick. “Having last weekend off gave me a chance to watch a lot of basketball and keep up with my bracket. If North Carolina can win this deal, I will be sitting pretty. However, I can’t believe my teammate Jeff Burton, is among those bringing up the rear. He must have picked Duke to win.”

In fact, Burton, a devout Duke fan, played with his head rather than his heart in picking Kansas, not Duke, to have that one shining moment, but lost Pittsburgh, his other finals team, in their loss to Michigan State. He also has North Carolina and UCLA in the final four in San Antonio.

Although Harvick is in good position for the time being, Sadler should not be overlooked as he is the only driver to have all his final four picks still intact (North Carolina, UCLA, Texas and Kansas – with North Carolina as his national champion overtaking UCLA in the final game). Harvick picked Memphis to bow to North Carolina in the final game and also picked UCLA in the final four, but saw one of his final four teams eliminated.

Although Gaughan got off to a fast start, his hopes of besting the field were dealt a fatal blow when his alma mater, Georgetown (also Harvick’s lone final four pick to be ousted), who he picked to win the national championship, was eliminated by cinderella Davidson this past weekend. Said Gaughan (Hoyas basketball member from 1993 – ’97), “The good news is that I’m sitting in fourth right now. The bad news is that there’s only one way for me to go now – down. My Georgetown Hoyas got beat by a very strong Davidson team. I’ve said from the get-go of these brackets that’s there’s one team that I was worried about through the tournament. I didn’t think that Kansas would be a problem for us, but I felt that if Davidson got by Gonzaga, that that was going to be tough game from for us. The boys from Davidson – which I now live five minutes from that campus – I’m very proud of what they’ve done. Dell Curry did a great job of teaching his boy how to step us when he needs to. Go Davidson.”

“You will most likely see me in a lot of Davidson garb this weekend at Martinsville because everyone at Circle Bar Racing wants to make sure they get their dig in.”

To view the overall standings heading into Thursday’s Sweet 16 action and track the celebrity picks until the end of the tournament, go to: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/ncaa/madness/standings/celebs/

In The Loop’ At Martinsville Speedway

Gordon, Johnson Poised For Top-12 Launch


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 26, 2008) – Odds are either Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson (or both) will slide into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series top 12 after this Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

The statistics suggest a probable vault into the top 12 for either the former or current “Mr. Martinsville” – seven-time winner Jeff Gordon (currently 14th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings) and four-timer Jimmie Johnson (13th).

The two have combined for eight of the last 10 Martinsville wins, with Johnson visiting Victory Lane in the last three.

Add that to the Martinsville struggles of Martin Truex Jr., currently 12th in the series standings, and you have a recipe for a top-12 shake-up.

Gordon and Johnson vs. Truex at Martinsville (Head-to-Head)
Avg. Avg. Avg.
Driver Races Start Mid-Race Finish ARP DR QP # FL LT15% Led Pts.
Jeff Gordon 4 3.5 10.3 3.0 5.4 123.3 96 221 92.5 425 680
Jimmie Johnson 4 8.5 6.8 1.5 4.0 133.6 108 274 98.2 700 740
Martin Truex Jr. 4 14.0 26.3 25.8 25.3 58.3 30 20 21.9 1 348
ARP: Average Running Position
DR: Driver Rating
QP: Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green)
# FL: No. of Fastest Laps
LT15: Laps in the Top 15

Truex can take solace in his last race at Martinsville, which was by far his best showing at the paperclip-shaped short track. It was the first Martinsville race that Truex completed all the schedule laps and he earned his highest Martinsville Driver Rating (81.4).

* * * * * * * * * * * *

This weekend, Johnson attempts to become only the second driver to win four in a row at Martinsville (Fred Lorenzen from 1963-1965). His streak is an amazing one.

Combining the statistics from the three-win streak, Johnson peppers the leaderboard – and is usually ranked No. 1 (not surprisingly, teammate Gordon is right behind him in many of the stats).

Below are the top fives in some key Loop Data stats over the last three races at Martinsville:

Driver Rating
1 Jimmie Johnson 134.8
2 Jeff Gordon 127.1
3 Denny Hamlin 111.4
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 109.0
5 Kyle Busch 106.7

Average Running Position
1 Jimmie Johnson 4.621
2 Jeff Gordon 4.771
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6.760
4 Kyle Busch 8.011
5 Denny Hamlin 8.309

Fastest Laps Run
1 Jeff Gordon 211
2 Jimmie Johnson 198
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 163
4 Denny Hamlin 92
5 Tony Stewart 42

Percentage of Laps in the Top 15
1 Jimmie Johnson 97.6
2 Jeff Gordon 93.0
3 Kyle Busch 89.9
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 87.9
5 Tony Stewart 83.9

Despite the pair’s dominance, two drivers in particular are likely to steal some of that glory – Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart won there in 2006 (the last driver not named Johnson to do so) and Earnhardt tallied the top stats in last year’s spring Martinsville race en route to a fifth-place finish.

Check out the track-best figures at Martinsville since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:

Driver Rating
Driver Date DR
1. Tony Stewart 4/06 147.5
2. Jimmie Johnson 10/06 143.5
3. Tony Stewart 10/05 142.6
4. Jimmie Johnson 10/07 139.0
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4/07 133.1

Average Running Position
Driver Date ARP
1. Tony Stewart 4/06 1.6
2. Tony Stewart 10/05 1.9
3. Jimmie Johnson 4/06 2.0
4. Jimmie Johnson 10/06 3.5
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4/07 3.6

Jenna Fryer calls out Jamie McMurray

AP racing writer Jenna Fryer calls out Jamie McMurray in her weekly "In the Pits" column. She makes some valid points ... mainly that something isn't right with the guy. After all, Roush Racing has invested a lot of money into this talented driver and he's yet to provide a substantial return.

Click below to read all of Jenna's column.





By JENNA FRYER


AP Auto Racing Writer


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The pressure is officially on Jamie McMurray, a one-time Chase contender who now finds himself in jeopardy of missing races.

A disastrous start to the season — his best finish was a 22nd at California — sent McMurray into NASCAR’s first off weekend ranked 36th in the points standings. It had to have made for a miserable break for McMurray.

He heads into Martinsville Speedway, where he must qualify on speed to make Sunday’s race. It’s an agonizing position for any driver, but must be particularly difficult for the self-loathing McMurray — a guy who was so despondent over his first season at Roush Fenway Racing, he couldn’t sleep and was convinced he had to relearn how to drive.

A personal trainer and a sports psychologist helped him rebuild his confidence, and the work seemed to pay off last season when McMurray snapped a 166-race winless streak and showed flashes of the skill that had once anointed him NASCAR’s next superstar.

A replacement driver for an injured Sterling Marlin, McMurray set a NASCAR record by winning in his second start in October 2002.

With just two victories in 191 career starts, he’s never lived up to that early billing. Even now, in his topflight Roush ride, McMurray is struggling to get the job done.

With the pressure mounting to solidify a spot inside the top 35, McMurray instead finished 40th or worse in the past two races. His last-place finish two weeks ago in Bristol dropped him five spots in the standings, and put him officially outside the top 35.

And there’s no relief in sight.

McMurray hasn’t notched a top-10 finish since Texas last November and that snapped a streak of five consecutive finishes of 24th or worse. He hasn’t been inside the top five since his last-lap victory at Daytona last July, his second and last win.

McMurray finished 13th in the points during his 2003 rookie season, and just missed out on making the Chase in 2004 when he wound up 11th when the 10-driver field was set. He was 12th the next season.

Recognized as a promising driver in underperforming equipment, car owner Jack Roush took a chance on him in summer 2005 by signing him to a contract that initially wasn’t supposed to being until McMurray’s deal with Ganassi ended after the 2006 season.

But McMurray used the early signing as leverage, often wondering why Ganassi would hold him to a contract McMurray clearly didn’t want to fulfill. The two car owners negotiated late into the season before Roush finally secured McMurray’s early release.

It didn’t come cheap, and Roush’s investment has yet to pay off. McMurray ran through three different crew chiefs in 2006 while finishing 25th in the standings driving for the same team that had won a championship two seasons earlier.

It led McMurray to see a sports pyschologist, and Roush allowed him to handpick his own crew chief for 2007. McMurray settled on Larry Carter, and the early results were positive as he showed flashes of the potential Roush and so many others had seen in him.

Somehow, the wheels have again fallen off. This time, they might not be so easy to put back on again.

For as much as racing depends on equipment, a driver also must have the right mental frame to find success. Situations change in the blink of an eye, and it takes total focus to adapt to everything being thrown at a driver at nearly 200 mph.

And confidence plays a heavy part in the equation. A driver must have the guts to make a split-second decision and never doubt his instincts.

That’s all currently in question now for McMurray, who has proven through five-plus seasons to be extremely sensitive to the highs and lows of his career.

He’ll never be called the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, but McMurray is still an above average driver in the fortunate position to be piloting superior equipment. All things being equal, he should be running with teammates Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, who are all ranked inside the top 12 right now.

Even David Ragan, the perceived weak link at Roush coming off a horrid rookie season, is 21st in the standings with a top 10 finish this season.

It can only mean something is off with McMurray, and it’s something only he can fix. Until he gets his head back in the game, he doesn’t stand a chance at saving

There From The Start: Martinsville Part Of Inaugural NASCAR Schedule In 1948

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at 22 tracks, only one of which was part of the sanctioning body’s historic first season in 1948.

Martinsville Speedway.

The .526-mile oval is located in relatively tiny Martinsville, Va. (population approximately 15,000). But in truth, it resides in the very heart and soul of NASCAR, a status resulting from a 60-year history that has run concurrent with NASCAR.

Martinsville Speedway represents everything NASCAR was – and everything NASCAR is today.

They started with 750 seats in 1947. (Yes, Martinsville actually got a year’s head start on NASCAR. Today, there are 65,000, encircling a paper clip shaped configuration that places a premium on braking – and not breaking, be it mechanically or mentally.

Martinsville is tough – on car and driver. That will be evident once again on Sunday, as the track hosts the Goody’s Cool Orange 500.

“It’s long, and it really is one of the hardest races that we do,” said Jeff Burton, winner two weeks ago at another storied short track, Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Martinsville is both a physical and emotional race. I think it’s the ‘longest feeling’ race that we run all year.”

Fonty Flock won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville, a July 4 event that featured primarily Modifieds but also featured NASCAR founder and president Bill France Sr., who finished eighth.

In 1948, “stock cars” were few and far between, over the course of a 52-race season. The division known as “Strictly Stocks” became viable in 1949, and an eight-race schedule resulted in Red Byron winning the first championship of what would evolve, through the years, into today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Martinsville was on that 1949 schedule too. Byron won that year’s race, a 100-miler.

In 1950, NASCAR‘s premier series started racing twice yearly at Martinsville – and so it remains that way today, with its second race part of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the 10-race “playoff” that determines the series champion.

How important is the place to NASCAR history?

Richard Petty won there 15 times, Darrell Waltrip 11.
Fred Lorenzen won four races in a row at Martinsville and five out of seven between 1963 and ’66. In the midst of that run, Lorenzen morphed into the perfect NASCAR storm – leading 493 of 500 laps in September of 1964.
Petty Enterprises has won 19 races overall, the last coming in the spring of ’99, with John Andretti taking the legendary No. 43 into Victory Lane.
Junior Johnson won twice as a driver – and 13 times as a car owner.
In present-day terms, history is being made still. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have won eight of the last 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup events.
“By being one of the first tracks and running as long as it has, I think it represents the very core of what Big Bill France wanted at the very start,” said Hal Hamrick, a veteran auto racing journalist who did the first radio broadcast from Martinsville, in 1952.

“Martinsville is the very essence, the very backbone of what the thing is all about. That’s why you have the big crowds every year. The drivers have to truly master the race track at Martinsville, instead of just driving the car around.

“It’s one of the premium tracks.”

The late H. Clay Earles was one of the premium individuals in NASCAR. He founded Martinsville, nurtured it. His grandson, W. Clay Campbell, now serves as track president – and caretaker of tradition.

“We’ve achieved a lot,” Campbell says, “but we can achieve much more.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series News & Notes - Martinsville

Time For A Rebound: Johnson, Gordon In Half-Mile Comfort Zone
Fifth-Place Earnhardt After First Martinsville Victory
Michael McDowell Steps In As Dale Jarrett Retires
The Bubble: Top 35 Guarantees Based On 2008 Points
60th Anniversary Season: NASCAR Returns To One Of 1948’s Tracks
Second-Straight Short-Track Week Bodes Well For Johnson, Gordon

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 25, 2008) – 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.

On The Line: Trio of Guests Set For Weekly NASCAR Teleconference … This week’s NASCAR Teleconference is scheduled for Wednesday, from Noon-1 p.m. (ET), with three special guests. Leading off will be Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell, followed at 12:15. by former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Todd Bodine and Greg Biffle (No. 16 Jackson Hewitt Ford) — currently second in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points — at 12:30. Media should call (888) 699-8040 to participate. Approximately one hour after completion, audio files and a transcript of the teleconference will be available on NASCARMedia.com.

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
2008 Points
Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 782
2 Greg Biffle 752
3 Kevin Harvick 749
4 Jeff Burton 745
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 686
6 Kasey Kahne 674
7 Tony Stewart 656
8 Ryan Newman 635
9 Clint Bowyer 606
10 Kurt Busch 605
11 Matt Kenseth 604
12 Martin Truex Jr. 595
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.
Track Contact: Mike Smith, (276) 956-1543; mksmith@martinsvillespeedway.com

To Bires And Keselowski, Everything Old Is New Again

In this 60th anniversary season of NASCAR, short tracks like Richmond International Raceway are recognized as having laid the foundation for the sport.

Classic racing, beating and banging, no apologies … those are the words drivers use to describe competing at the .75-mile oval.

If it sounds old school, it is.

But as the NASCAR Nationwide Series approaches its first open weekend of the season following its lone short-track test of the year at Richmond, there are fresh names popping up in the top 10 standings looking to add their own history to the series.

Kelly Bires (No. 47 Clorox Ford), 23, and Brad Keselowski (No. 88 U.S. Navy Chevrolet), 24, are two of the five series regulars who dot the top 10 rankings this week. Keselowski is a career-best sixth in the standings while Bires jumped from 11th to eighth. Both were among the top-five finishers at Nashville Superspeedway last Saturday.

Both drivers forged similar paths to this stage in their career. Keselowski was named to take over the No. 88 for JR Motorsports last July while Bires got the nod in the No. 47 JTG Racing entry last June.

Now, in their first full year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, they’re able to build on the information gained during their partial season in 2007.

“Testing is really important for us to get working together and build chemistry with our team,” Keselowski said at a press conference prior to going on track Tuesday afternoon.

“I think if we can find a little more speed with our cars we have a shot at it (the series championship),” he said. “We need to get better at these types of tracks if we want to run with Clint (Bowyer – series points leader) and Carl (Edwards – defending series champion) to have a shot at the championship come November."

"We've had a great start to the season,” Bires said. “Consistency has been there, which is really what you need. It's a long season and if you're consistent, the top 10s, the top fives and the wins are going to come with that.

"We're here to try to gain as much information as we can for our short-track program. I ran one race here last year and struggled. That's one of our big priorities this year, to improve on that program – and it's starting here today and yesterday."

NNS TESTING ETC.

Crew Chief Departure Leaves Ambrose Scrambling … The JTG Racing camp was expected to have one of its two teams challenging for a top-10 standing this year, but most figured it would be the No. 59 Kingsford Ford of Marcos Ambrose as opposed to the surprising start of his teammate Kelly Bires. Ambrose, who finished eighth in the 2007 final standings, comes to the open week 16th in the rankings and now has to search for a new crew chief in addition to finding more consistency.

Ambrose’s fellow Australian Walter Giles left the team after last Saturday’s event at Nashville. “(Giles) decided to part ways with us and that has put us on the back foot,” Ambrose said. “We've had a tough start to our year, and today it’s about Gary Cogswell, a crew chief who was working with us in the truck series in 2006. We’re just trying to learn each other again.”

Lone Short-Track Test Gets Thumbs Up From Balash … Cloudy and cold weather on Monday gave way to sunny skies and warmer temperatures on Tuesday for the two-day test at Richmond. The combination of the weather – dry after postponements of practice at some races to start the year – and information gained was a plus for the teams according to Joe Balash, NASCAR Nationwide Series director. “From a NASCAR perspective, we’re pleased to see the mix of drivers on top of the leader board,” he said.

“The teams have been working with busy schedules. Drivers have had to modify their driving styles based upon past experience at this track due to the new engine package. Overall, the teams have been happy with the amount of track time they’ve logged as well as the results.”

More than 30 drivers representing more than 20 teams participated in the two-day test and gathered notes for the remaining three short tracks on the 2008 series schedule. The .75-mile facility will host the NASCAR Nationwide Series 250 on May 2.

Pit Stops … Mid-way through Tuesday’s afternoon session, Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 25 Smithfield Foods Ford) topped the speed chart at Richmond with a fast lap of 21.733 seconds/124.733 mph. Reigning series champion Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford) was the fastest of the two sessions on Monday topping the chart in the evening at 21.600 seconds/125.0 mph. Mike Wallace (No. 7 GEICO Toyota), posted a quick lap of 21.535 seconds/125.377 mph during the afternoon session on Monday. Log on to www.NASCARMedia.com for all NASCAR Nationwide Series testing speeds from Richmond. Audio from testing press conferences as well as photos from the sessions may also be accessed at NASCAR’s media-only website.

Open Week Up Next … With this test behind them, NASCAR Nationwide Series teams look toward the first open week on the schedule this weekend. They’ll return to the track April 5 for the O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Fast Facts

What: NASCAR Nationwide Series testing at Richmond International Raceway.

Track Layout: .75-mile oval.

When: Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25.

Times: 1-5 p.m.; 6-9 p.m. each day.

Who’s Scheduled: Kertus Davis, Clint Bowyer/Steven Leicht, Landon Cassill, David Ragan, Mike Wallace, Chase Miller, Sam Hornish, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Johnny Benson, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte/Stephen Leicht, Mike Bliss, Eric McClure, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Brad Coleman, Scott Wimmer, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick/Cale Gale, Jason Leffler, Dario Franchitti, Bryan Clauson, Kelly Bires, Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, David Stremme, Steve Wallace, Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, Jason Keller, Kevin Lepage, Mark Green, Morgan Shepherd, Jeff Green.

Track Contact: Aimee Turner (804) 228-7645; aturner@rir.com

Statistical Advance: Analyzing The Goody’s Cool Orange 500 At Martinsville Speedway

With six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships between them, it’s hard to say Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are “quietly” lurking in the shadows of the top 12.

But both are without a win and have suffered finishes below 25th this year – so, yes, it’s been a quiet season.

Still, Johnson and Gordon are in 13th and 14th place, respectively. And both are ridiculous at Martinsville Speedway.

Some of the more astounding Martinsville accolades:

• The two have a combined 11 wins.
• The two account for eight of the last 10 wins.
• The two have finished inside the top 10 in every race since 2003.
• They have both finished in the top five in the last five races (Gordon has a string of six consecutive top-five finishes).
• They’ve combined to lead 930 laps in the last three races – 62% of the total laps.
• Since 2005, they both rank in the top three in the following statistics: Driver Rating, Average Running Position, Fastest Laps Run, Average Green Flag Speed and Laps in the Top 15.

In other words, look for both drivers to make a strong play for a spot in the top 12 after the checkered flag flies after Martinsville.

But if not Gordon or Johnson, who?

Figure Tony Stewart the best bet to disrupt the Hendrick dominance. He won the spring race in 2006 (the only non-Hendrick driver to win in the last seven races), and since 2005, has the top Average Running Position (5.9) and the most Laps in the Top 15 (2,700).

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 Top 12 at Martinsville Speedway


Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating



1
Kyle Busch
6
0
0
3
4
1
13.2
98.0

2
Greg Biffle
10
0
0
0
1
0
24.0
65.2

3
Kevin Harvick
13
0
0
0
5
0
19.3
89.0

4
Jeff Burton
27
0
1
9
13
4
14.9
81.0

5
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
16
0
0
7
7
2
14.8
95.8

6
Kasey Kahne
8
0
0
1
2
1
16.9
80.5

7
Tony Stewart
18
3
2
6
10
1
12.3
119.3

8
Ryan Newman
12
2
0
5
6
2
14.0
89.1

9
Clint Bowyer
4
0
0
0
1
0
16.3
69.8

10
Kurt Busch
15
1
1
2
4
1
20.3
88.5

11
Matt Kenseth
16
0
0
2
5
2
15.6
81.8

12
Martin Truex Jr.
4
0
0
0
0
0
25.8
58.3



Selected Driver Highlights – Martinsville Speedway-specific
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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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

At Martinsville Speedway:
History
• Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles.
• The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 25, 1949.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held March 28, 1982.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville was Sept. 25, 1995.
• The track was paved in 1955.
• The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.
• Concrete corners were added to the asphalt track in 1976.

Notebook
• There have been 118 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, one in the inaugural year and two races per year since 1950.
• Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.
• Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville.
• 56 drivers have posted poles at Martinsville, led by Darrell Waltrip with eight.
• Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record at Martinsville, each with three.
• Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six poles at Martinsville.
• There have been seven different pole winners at Martinsville since Jeff Gordon scored three straight (2003-04).
• 44 different drivers have won races at Martinsville, led by Richard Petty with 15.
• Fred Lorenzen holds the consecutive win record with four.
• Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven victories.
• Petty Enterprises has won 19 races at Martinsville, more than any other car owner.
• A sweep has occurred nine times at Martinsville, but only twice since 1994: Jeff Gordon (2005) and Jimmie Johnson (2007).
• Seventeen races at Martinsville have been won from the pole – but none since Jeff Gordon swept both races from the pole in 2003.
• Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
• There has been one race at Martinsville extended by a green-white-checkered finish: Oct. 21, 2007 (506 Laps).
• Jimmie Johnson has won the last three races at Martinsville. The most recent driver to win four consecutive races at a track was Johnson who swept Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 2004 and 2005. Johnson finished 35th in his first Martinsville appearance (April 2002) – his only DNF there. Since then, he has posted 11 straight top-10 finishes, including four victories. Johnson has finished third or better in his last five Martinsville races. He has completed all but 54 laps in his 12 appearances – with all his incomplete laps coming in that first appearance.
• There were 11 different race winners at Martinsville from the fall of 1997 through 2002 – one short of the record for active tracks held by Texas Motor Speedway. In the nine races since, only four drivers have visited the Martinsville Victory Lane: Jeff Gordon (four), Jimmie Johnson (four), Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace (one each).

The Local Flavor

• There have been 258 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Virginia.
• 135 NASCAR drivers (all-time) have their home state recorded as Virginia.
• There have been 18 race winners from Virginia in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver

NSCS
NNS
NCTS

Joe Weatherly

25
0
0

Ricky Rudd

23
1
0

Jeff Burton

19
27
0

Curtis Turner

17
0
0

Ward Burton

5
4
0

Glen Wood

4
0
0

Elliott Sadler

3
5
0

Denny Hamlin

3
5
0

Emanuel Zervakis

2
0
0

Lennie Pond

1
0
0

Wendell Scott

1
0
0

Tommy Ellis

0
22
0

Jimmy Hensley

0
9
2

Rick Mast

0
9
0

Hermie Sadler

0
2
0

Elton Sawyer

0
2
0

Stacy Compton

0
0
2

Jon Wood

0
0
2



Martinsville Speedway Data
Race #: 6 of 36 (3-30-07)
Track Size: .526 mile
Race Length: 500 laps/263 miles
• Banking/Corners: 12 degrees
• Banking/Straights: 0 degrees
• Frontstretch: 800 feet
• Backstretch: 800 feet

Driver Rating at Martinsville
Jeff Gordon 124.5
Jimmie Johnson 120.8
Tony Stewart 119.3
Kyle Busch 98.0
Denny Hamlin 96.5
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 95.8
Ryan Newman 89.1
Kevin Harvick 89.0
Kurt Busch 88.5
Jamie McMurray 83.5
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2007 races (6 total) at Martinsville Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Denny Hamlin (95.103 mph, 19.911 seconds)
2007 race winner: Jimmie Johnson, 70.258 mph, 4-1-07)
Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart (98.083 mph, 19.306 secs., 10-21-05)
Race record: Jeff Gordon (82.223 mph)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 140-150 laps, based on fuel mileage.

STORYLINES: Martinsville

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Johnson, Gordon Welcome Return To Martinsville:
Much has been made of the early-season struggles of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, although in their respective cases, "struggle" is a relative word. After all, coming into Sunday's Martinsville event, Johnson is 13th in the series standings while Gordon is 14th.
Martinsville would appear to offer the perfect remedy for both. Here's why:
• Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, has won the last three races at Martinsville.
• Four-time series champion Gordon leads all active drivers in Martinsville wins, with seven.
• Combined, the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won eight of the last 10 Martinsville events.

He's A Contender:
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series reaches its sixth race of the season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking more like a Chase contender all the time. After starting the year with victories in two non-points events – the Budweiser Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500 – Earnhardt has posted three top-five finishes, one of only three drivers to do that in the season's first five weeks. That is the sort of consistency that produces championships.
Earnhardt finished fifth in the series' last race, at Bristol; he's fifth in the series points, surprisingly the highest standing among Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
On the other hand, he's trying to defy some personal history this weekend; he has never won at Martinsville.

Regarding The Top 35, The Bubble Has Burst:
Five races are in the books. That means the weekly guaranteed starting spots to the top 35 teams in car owner points are based on CURRENT standings.
Sam Hornish Jr., the former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion driving the No. 77 Dodge for Roger Penske, has the 35th and final guaranteed spot going into Martinsville.
There are some surprises, regarding those on the outside looking in.
Looking up at Hornish – and having to qualify on time at Martinsville:
• Jamie McMurray, in 36th
• Dave Blaney, 37th
• Last year's Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, in 38th
• Regan Smith, 39th
• Kyle Petty, 40th

Competitive Balance The Rule, Thus Far:
Chevrolet's 2007 dominance has become a distant memory very quickly. Thus far, all four manufacturers have posted victories, with Chevrolet finally getting its first, at Bristol. In addition, Toyota posted its historic first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series three weeks ago at Atlanta.
Furthermore, all four manufacturers are represented in the top 12 of the NSCS standings. Here's the breakdown:
• Chevrolet – 5 teams
• Dodge – 3
• Ford – 2
• Toyota – 2

60th Anniversary Season Coming To Martinsville,
Which Was There At The Start
This season marks NASCAR's 60th anniversary. This week, the sport comes to the only track that was on the very first schedule back in 1948 – Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Va.
The Goody's Cool Orange 500 on Sunday will continue a tradition that started on July 4, 1948.
That's right.
Martinsville, not Daytona, was the first race track to celebrate the Independence Day tradition, NASCAR-style.
Martinsville then was on the inaugural schedule in 1949 for the Strictly Stock Series, the precursor to what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Michael Waltrip Racing – One Year Later:
A year after the early-season problems that doomed Michael Waltrip Racing to a disappointing 2007 season, things are looking up. All three MWR Toyota teams are in the top 35 of car owner points going into Martinsville.
That's one part of the story. The other involves the domino effect on the driving lineup, caused by the retirement of Dale Jarrett. Starting this week, David Reutimann takes over the No. 44 previously driven by Jarrett and first-year driver Michael McDowell steps in the No. 00 previously driven by Reutimann.
Michael Waltrip remains in the No. 55 Toyota.

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Breakthrough For Bowyer
Clint Bowyer is the new leader of the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings, after his second-place finish over the weekend at Nashville – marking the first time in his career he has led the standings in a NASCAR national series.
This seems like a status that is surprisingly overdue, considering Bowyer was the 2005 NASCAR Nationwide series championship runner-up – and finished third in last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

Open Week Leads To Short-Track Test
The first open week of the season for the NASCAR Nationwide Series features the series' lone short-track test session, Monday and Tuesday of this week at Richmond International Raceway.
More than 20 teams and 30 drivers are expected.

Tough Competition Evidenced By Standings' Top 10
Five of the current top 10 drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings race exclusively in the series. Those five:
• Mike Bliss (5th);
• Brad Keselowski (6th), running for Dale Earnhardt Jr's JR Motorsports operation;
• Kelly Bires (8th), coming off his first top-five finish, at Nashville;
• Mike Wallace (9th);
• Jason Leffler (10th).

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

Another Wallace:
Chrissy Wallace, 19, will attempt to become the latest member of the famed Wallace family to make a start in a NASCAR national series, Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Her father, Mike, will spot for her in the Kroger 250.

Short Track Means Big Opportunity For Skinner:
On Saturday, Mike Skinner will attempt to become the first driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at the same short track. Skinner swept both Martinsville races in 2007 and is the track's only three-time winner. No driver in the series has won four times at the same short track.
In this race last season, Skinner scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

BBM Hunting for Owners' Title
Billy Ballew Motorsports continues to chase the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners' championship with Kyle Busch and other drivers. In 206 starts prior to the 2008 season, the team never has ranked higher than fifth in the points.

A Martinsville Homecoming
Martinsville is becoming a hub of NCTS activity with two teams (H-T Motorsports and Bobby Hamilton Racing VA) and a top engine builder (Joey Arrington) calling the southern Virginia city home. BHR VA's Dennis Setzer, a two-time Martinsville Speedway winner, ranks ninth in current points while H-T's Ted Musgrave, a former NCTS champion, is a single point out of the top 10. The activity has been brought a number of local residents into NASCAR including graduates of Patrick Henry Community College's motorsports program, who have joined BHR VA in shop and over-the-wall capacities.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series News And Notes – Martinsville

Chrissy Wallace Ready For NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Debut
Skinner Bids For Record, Third Consecutive Win At Martinsville
Same Track, Different Seat For NASCAR Mod Champion Donny Lia


First Female Driver From Wallace Clan Debuts At Martinsville

Chrissy Wallace (No. 03 Toyota) hopes to follow her father Mike’s footsteps into NASCAR national series competition.

If she’s successful in qualifying for Saturday’s Kroger 250, both father and 19-year-old daughter will have made their debuts at Martinsville Speedway.

Mike Wallace, a four-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck winner, finished second in his maiden NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Martinsville on Oct. 28, 1990.

He’ll also spot for his daughter, who in 2007 became the first female driver to win a late model stock car race at historic Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

The younger Wallace would become the ninth female to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Rookies don’t always benefit from having top equipment. Not Chrissy, whose team has 14 wins and the 2006 championship with Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota).

“Obviously, this is a big opportunity for me. I have to thank the Germains, Mike Hillman and Toyota for putting this deal together,” she said. “Our goal is to go out there and run a smart race and finish.”

Her father is happy to be going along for the ride.

“When I got the call from Chrissy after the test, It was very nice. She just wanted to tell me ‘thank you,’” said Wallace. “She said everything I told her on the radio made her run faster and she said she realized I really did know what I was talking about.

“She asked me to spot for her. I don’t even need to say it, I’m sure, but yes, I’m very proud.”

Skinner Looks For Yet Another Record

Three have tried; none succeeded.

This week, Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) looks for a way to win an elusive, third consecutive short track race at the same track.

Dennis Setzer (No. 18 Dodge) was the last before Skinner to score back-to-back victories at a short track. Setzer won at Martinsville in 2002-03 and came tantalizingly close to a third victory the following April, finishing second to Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford).

Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 VFW Chevrolet) had two shots at win No. 3 in 1998 and 1999, but failed both times to even crack the top 10.

Skinner has been in this position once before at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in 1997. A broken oil line at mid-race ended the streak.

Martinsville’s only three-time series winner, Skinner, isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“Well, the first thing we have to do is win,” said Skinner, who’ll be aboard the BDR Chassis 5-76 that carried him to both Martinsville wins in 2007.

“Our goal this weekend is to definitely win, but we will take what we can get,” he said. Skinner, ranked seventh in points following top 10s in California and Atlanta, adds it’s too early for an “all in” strategy.

“We’ve got to catch back up in the points and this would be a good weekend to do it,” Skinner said.

Consecutive Victories On NCTS Short Tracks
Driver Track Years
Mike Skinner Martinsville 2007
Dennis Setzer Martinsville 2002-03
Ron Hornaday Jr. Bristol 1997-98
Tony Raines I-70 1997-98*
Ron Hornaday Jr. Louisville 1996-97
Mike Skinner Mesa Marin 1995-96*
Mike Skinner Indianapolis 1995-96
* Did Not Compete In Following Season’s Event

A Different Kind Of Martinsville For NASCAR Whelen Modified Champion Lia

Donny Lia (No. 71 TRG Chevrolet) seemingly has an advantage this week over his Raybestos Rookie of the Year classmates.

Lia has won at Martinsville Speedway before.

The question is whether winning last September’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race provides Lia with insights beyond knowing the location of Victory Lane.

The New York native, following two days of testing at Martinsville last week, isn’t sure driving a 3,400-pound truck will be markedly different from guiding his lighter modified around the track’s paperclip layout.

“It was surprising to me just how hard you drive the trucks into the corners, pretty much as hard and deep as I would drive a modified there,” said Lia, the modified tour’s 2007 champion. “However, you do tend to pick the throttle up a little bit later in the corner and smoother than you would a modified.”

What’s more familiar about Martinsville is how the track fits Lia’s eye. He’s been there many times – just not at Martinsville, Va.

“It is a lot like the track I cut my teeth at, Riverhead Raceway in (Long Island) New York, just bigger,” he said. “So it is like going home for me.”

Lia and his fellow Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates obviously benefited from testing – something that hasn’t previously happened.

“We learned a lot about our truck and were very competitive,” said Lia, who posted third, fourth and seventh-fastest speeds during three of the test’s four sessions.

His speed topped out at 94.941 mph, slightly more than a tenth-of-a-second slower than Jack Sprague’s (No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet) top speed of 95.675.

Lia, who got a late start and has ground to make up in the rookie derby, thinks the Kroger 250 is a great opportunity to score points.

“If we can qualify in the top 10 and play the strategy game just right, I think we have a shot to win this race,” he said.

Etc. and Quotable

Six Winners In Kroger 250 Field … Six drivers with a combined nine of the track’s 18 wins will compete in Saturday’s race. They include Skinner, Setzer, Sprague, Crawford, David Starr (No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota) and Jon Wood (No. 21 Barnhill Ford).


ACS Relay Noted … Wood’s truck will carry the logo of the American Cancer Society in honor of his mother, Carol Wood, participating in the May 17 Relay for Life being held in Stuart, Va.


VFW To Ride With Hornaday … The Kroger 250 marks the first of four races the No. 33 VFW Chevrolet of Ron Hornaday Jr. will honor the Veterans of Foreign Wars. His crew has been wearing “Support Our Troops” wristbands.

“You have to be tough. You can’t let guys punt you around because if you do that, they will take advantage of you all day long.” – Brian Scott, No. 16 Shark Energy Drink/Albertsons Chevrolet, 16th in his 2007 Martinsville Speedway debut.

“Martinsville is just one of those old-school places. It is good, old hard-nosed short track racing. Martinsville is a place where you can beat, bang, root and gouge and it is acceptable.” – Jack Sprague, who has a win among seven finishes of third or better and third-best Driver Rating of 107.7.


Schrader Returns … Ken Schrader will run his own No. 52 for the first time since 2005. The Federated Auto Parts Toyota finished second at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2007 driven by Skinner.
Rookies At Martinsville: 0-For-18

The list of Martinsville winners is a NASCAR Hall of Fame-worthy roster and includes Jimmy Hensley, the late Bobby Hamilton and Bobby Labonte.

Conspicuously absent is any Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate.

Yet it would be wrong to suggest it can’t happen in 2008 because a rookie nearly broke through on three previous occasions.

Travis Kvapil finished second in 2001; likewise Carl Edwards in 2003 and Todd Kluever in 2005.

The trio shares one common distinction. Each won Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

So while the .526-mile layout hasn’t produced any freshman winners, Martinsville Speedway definitely identifies the best in class.

A top five or top-10 finish under the circumstances will go a long way toward establishing a favorite in this year’s rookie competition.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Point Standings After 3 Races
Justin Marks 30
Phillip McGilton 29
Brian Scott 29
Colin Braun 24
Marc Mitchell 22
Andy Lally 22
Donny Lia 15

Up Next:

Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) will defend his 2007 Kansas Speedway victory on April 26 .

The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 will be the eighth held at the 1.5-mile facility in Kansas City, Kan.

This is a track where young drivers have made a huge impact. Four of Kansas Speedway’s previous seven winners were under the age of 25: Darnell, Wood, Carl Edwards and the late Ricky Hendrick.

In The Loop:

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regulars make it known they hold their own quite nicely against the double-duty drivers when racing at Martinsville Speedway. The regulars are the clear class at Martinsville, often trumping the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars. It should be interesting to see if the trend continues this Saturday.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup regulars in the field: Kyle Busch (No. 51 Toyota), Denny Hamlin (No. 15 Toyota) and Schrader. And all three have had struggles in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks at Martinsville.

In two starts there, Hamlin has finishes of eighth (October 2006) and 19th (October 2007). In the two starts combined, he has an Average Running Position of 11.6, a Driver Rating of 90.0, 76.8 percent of the laps in the top 15 and seven Fastest Laps Run. His stats are solid, but not near the top of the charts.

The same can be said for Busch. In three Martinsville starts, he’s finished fifth (October 2005), sixth (October 2006) and 31st (October 2007). In the three races, Busch has an Average Running Position of 10.6, a Driver Rating of 95.5, 81.0 percent of the laps in the top 15 and 19 Fastest Laps Run. Again, solid, but un-Busch like. Schrader, though failing to crack the top 10 in any of his last five Martinsville races, has been consistent over the last three. Since 2005, Schrader has a Driver Rating of 78.5 and an Average Running Position of 15.6. His last three finishes were 14th (April, 2005), 11th (October 2005) and 13th (March 2007). Schrader’s best Martinsville finish – eighth in October 2004 – is the Missourian’s only top 10.

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders
(Through three races of the 25-race season)

Points leader – Kyle Busch (555)
Driver Rating – Kyle Busch (126.7)
Winnings – Kyle Busch ($175,800)
Laps led – Ron Hornaday Jr. (97)
Victories – Kyle Busch (2)
Keystone Light Poles – Erik Darnell, Ron Hornaday Jr. (1)
Top-five finishes – Kyle Busch (3)
Top-10 finishes – Kyle Busch, Todd Bodine (3)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Brian Scott (1 point over 3 drivers)
Races led – Erik Darnell, Ron Hornaday Jr. (18)
Weeks in Top 10 – Seven drivers (3)
Director’s Take: Wayne’s Words

Fans love Martinsville Speedway for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the bumper-to-bumper, fender-to-fender rubbing that makes for some of the most exciting races of the season.

And the competitors enjoy the racing as well. Aerodynamics isn’t an issue; it’s all about driving the truck.

That’s easier said than done – especially with 36 trucks on a tight track.

Drivers who can make his or her truck roll through the turns, stay off the curb and keep the brakes working from start to finish are going to have a very good chance of winning at Martinsville.

That said, it’s not all in the driver’s hands. The crew chief is very much a part of the equation from the time the truck is unloaded through the running of the race.

Strategy plays a big part in winning at any NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series short track race, but especially at Martinsville. Having the right setup is one thing. A crew chief also has to know when to call the driver to pit road to protect or gain track position.

That may not be quite as easy to call as in the past. There may be additional stops required due to the smaller, 17.75-gallon fuel cell that should shorten the fuel window.

Our teams had a great, two-day test last week to acquaint themselves with our 2008 engine package requiring a tapered spacer mounted between carburetor and intake manifold. The Kroger 250 marks its introduction to short track racing where a power reduction (around 70 horsepower) should help competitors with wheel spin and allow them to drive off the corners earlier and quicker. – Wayne Auton, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Director

Martinsville Becoming NASCAR Hub

It’s not yet Charlotte, N.C., but with two teams, a top engine builder and a junior college motorsports program, Martinsville, Va., is becoming a hub of NASCAR in southern Virginia.

Jim Harris’ HT Motorsports and Joey Arrington Engines set up shop near Martinsville Speedway several years back. Bobby Hamilton Racing VA relocated from the Nashville area a few months ago.

Patrick Henry Community College has sent several students to BHR VA including Darin Goins, tire specialist for Stacy Compton (No. 4 Dodge Dealers Dodge); John Sowder, a general mechanic and tire carrier in training and Chad Martin, tire specialist on the No. 18 Dodge of Dennis Setzer.

2008 Manufacturers' Championship Point Standings
Toyota 27
Chevrolet 15
Ford 14
Dodge 10

Did You Know?

NASCAR is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008 but Martinsville Speedway’s first race pre-dated the organization by a year.

Martinsville is one of four tracks to host a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in all 14 seasons beginning in 1995.

FAST FACTS

The Race: Kroger 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: March 29, 2008
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 250 laps/131.5 miles
TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .526-mile paved
2007 Winner: Mike Skinner
2007 Pole: Mike Skinner

Rank Driver Points
1 Ky. Busch 555
2 T. Bodine 483
3 R. Hornaday Jr. 433
4 C. McCumbee 415
5 J. Benson 413
6 R. Crawford 411
7 M. Skinner 393
8 D. Starr 384
9 D. Setzer 383
10 P. McGilton 376

Schedule: Friday: Practice, 11 - 11:50 a.m. and 1:45 - 3:30 p.m.
Saturday: Qualifying, 10:10 a.m.
Track Contact: Mike Smith, (276) 956-1543, mksmith@martinsvillespeedway.com

For more information, contact:
Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR, (661) 663-8770, okearns@nascar.com

NASCAR Nationwide Series Tests At Richmond International Raceway

WHAT: NASCAR Nationwide Series testing at Richmond International Raceway for the NASCAR Nationwide Series 250 race. Grandstands will be open to fans who wish to watch the test sessions.

WHEN: Monday, March 24 & Tuesday, March 25.
Testing is from 1 - 9:00 p.m. each day, with a dinner break from 5 - 6:00 p.m. Please see the schedule below for driver availability in the media center.

WHO: NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers and teams. Note: there are some drivers who are running both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

MONDAY – The garage will open to the media at 4:00 p.m. with driver interviews scheduled from 5 - 6:00 p.m. in the infield media center. The infield media center will be open with internet access from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

TUESDAY – Driver interviews will take place from Noon – 1:00 p.m. in the infield media center. The garage will open to the media at 4:00 p.m. with additional driver interviews scheduled from 5 - 6:00 p.m. n the infield media center. The infield media center will be open with internet access from 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Media can shoot from sections A and B of the Sprint Grandstands at anytime each day. The grandstands can be accessed through Gate 70 near Turn 4.

ETC: Dinner will be provided Monday and Tuesday, as well as lunch on Tuesday courtesy of Richmond International Raceway.

CREDENTIALS REQUIRED: Media wishing to attend either day of testing must request credentials through Aimee Turner, Director of Public Relations at aturner@rir.com or 804-228-7645 no later than Noon Monday, March 24.

PICK UP CREDENTIALS: Credentials can be picked up at the red trailer on the left as you approach the infield tunnel. A photo I.D. is required to pick up credentials.

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE: Some of the drivers are making themselves available according to the schedule below. Please note, the interview schedule is subject to change. Other drivers may be available at their haulers as well. If you need to speak with a driver that is not participating in the media availability, please contact Aimee Turner, Director of Public Relations at aturner@rir.com or 804-228-7645 to schedule an interview. Do not approach the driver in the garage without scheduling a time with Aimee Turner first.

Monday, March 24
5 – 5:15 p.m. Scott Wimmer
David Reutimann

5:15 – 5:30 p.m. Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
Jason Keller
Brad Keselowski

5:30 – 5:45 p.m. Carl Edwards
David Ragan

Tuesday, March 25
12:00 – 12:15 p.m. Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch

12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Marcos Ambrose
Kelly Bires
Mike Bliss

12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Dario Franchitti
Sam Hornish, Jr.
Jason Leffler

5 – 5:15 p.m. Clint Bowyer
Cale Gale

5:15 – 5:30 p.m. Steve Wallace
David Stremme

Drivers Scheduled to Test Include:
Car No. Driver(s)
01 Kertus Davis
2 Clint Bowyer/Steven Leicht
5 Landon Cassill
6 David Ragan
7 Mike Wallace
9 Chase Miller
12 Sam Hornish, Jr.
17 Matt Kenseth
18 Johnny Benson
20 Denny Hamlin
21 Bobby Labonte/Stephen Leicht
22 Mike Bliss
24 Eric McClure
25 Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
27 Brad Coleman
29 Scott Wimmer
32 Kyle Busch
33 Kevin Harvick/Cale Gale
38 Jason Leffler
40 Dario Franchitti
41 Bryan Clauson
47 Kelly Bires
59 Marcos Ambrose
60 Carl Edwards
64 David Stremme
66 Steve Wallace
88 Brad Keselowski
99 David Reutimann
111 Jason Keller
161 Kevin Lepage
170 Mark Green
189 Morgan Shepherd

Reutimann Feels Pressure Of Replacing Dale Jarrett At Martinsville Speedway

David Reutimann understands the pressure of racing. He felt it heavy on his shoulders for more than a decade as he ran his own cars on short tracks throughout the Southeast, eking out a living race to race.

But he's probably never experienced the pressure that's in store for him when he crawls through the window of the UPS Toyota for the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on March 30. That day he officially takes over for Dale Jarrett.

"There's always a certain amount of pressure no matter what you drive, but to step in that 44 car, knowing UPS and Dale Jarrett were instrumental in getting me behind the wheel of that car, you don't want to go out there and do anything stupid," said Reutimann. "It's a pretty daunting process. But hey, I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

Reutimann began the season in the Aaron's Toyota, the same car he drove for Michael Waltrip Racing a year ago, but the plan was already in place for him to move into Jarrett's seat when the veteran stepped aside after Bristol. Rookie Michael McDowell will fill the opening left by Reutimann in the Aaron's Toyota.

"Driving the 44 car …that's a huge deal," said Reutimann. "There's always that uncertainty in racing and you're never going to know what's going to happen next, so this is something I could have never envisioned happening.

"I'm happy to be associated with UPS and be part of their program, but it still really bums me out that Dale Jarrett's stepping away from driving full time because he's done a lot for me.

"As happy as I want to be about having UPS as a sponsor and the relationship I have with them, I'm sad because he's not going to be over in that trailer for me to run over and ask a bunch of stupid questions which he always answered. He's always taken time for me."

And Reutimann admits, Martinsville could be one of the tracks he could still use a few of Jarrett's pointers. He finished 17th in last fall's Cup race at the tough half-mile track and was 33rd in last year's Goody's Cool Orange 500.

"Martinsville is, quite honestly a race track I've never done very well at and so hopefully we're going to change that," said Reutimann, who had one top-15 finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville. "It's a tough place and you have to have a really good car and things have to go your way.

"Coming to Martinsville makes you feel different than any other race track we go to. The pressure is definitely there, even it there's not a sponsor change and driver change. Hopefully I can turn it around and make it one of my better race tracks."

And he's always got a friend to turn to if he still needs help.

"I have his (Jarrett's) cell phone number, even his home number. As long as he doesn't change his numbers on me, I'll be in good shape," said Reutimann.

Tickets for both the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on Sunday, March 30, and the Kroger 250, on Saturday, March 29, are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Ticket prices for the Goody's Cool Orange 500 range from $42 to $77.

Tickets for the Kroger 250 are $37 in advance, $42 on race day. Kroger 250 tickets for children ages 6 to 12 are $5.

The Goody's Cool Orange 500 weekend kicks off on March 28 with Carilion Clinic Pole Day with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying.

Martinsville Speedway's ticket office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Wimmer Wins First NASCAR Nationwide Series Race In Nearly Five Years

Kyle Busch's loss was Scott Wimmer's gain.

Busch dominated Saturday's Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway but lost control of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota off Turn 4 after leading 125 of the first 162 laps.

That handed the lead to Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer, but RCR teammate Wimmer passed Bowyer for the lead with 20 laps to go to notch his first win in nearly five years.

Wimmer is also the first non-NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series race this season and the first since Jason Leffler won at O'Reilly Raceway Park last July.

"Stepping down and running a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series is not what I want to be doing, but those are the cards that are dealt to me right now," Wimmer said. "I'm with a great team with Richard
Childress Racing and have great teammates. You can struggle in a single-car operation or a lower-budget team, but that's not where any driver wants to be.

"I'm just trying to do the best I can for Richard right now, and hopefully, it'll fall that someday I can get back to racing Nationwide full time or Sprint Cup full time. But right now, I'm having a good time."

RCR has won the last two Nationwide Series races and swept the top three positions in last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer finished second Saturday, with the third RCR driver, Stephen Leicht, finishing 12th.

Wimmer, who helped RCR's No. 29 Chevrolet team to the owners championship last year, was winless in his last 57 races in the series and last scored a win in the series July 26, 2003 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Behind Wimmer and Bowyer were Carl Edwards in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth and Kelly Bires in fifth.

Sixth through 10th were David Stremme, Denny Hamlin, Cale Gale, David Reutimann and Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Reutimann was running third when he had to pit for fuel with eight laps remaining. Wimmer, too, was close on gas, as his engine sputtered while he did celebratory burnouts.

"Extremely close," Wimmer's crew chief, Pat Smith, said. "We knew when that last caution came out, immediately when we went back [to green], I told Scott to start saving fuel then because I knew there was a chance [we were going to run out]. We were three laps short."

Busch led the first 61 laps after winning the pole by more than two-tenths of a second earlier in the day.

He lost the lead in the pits, with Bowyer's crew getting the No. 2 out first on Lap 62. Busch whipped into the lead two laps after the green flag waved, but Bowyer stayed with Busch and then passed him for the top spot on Lap 66.

Bowyer's Chevrolet was able to stay out front for 29 laps before Busch's car ran him back down, and he retook the lead on Lap 100.

Busch has now led 345 laps this season, yet is still without a victory.

"Just a stupid mistake on the driver's part," Busch said as he headed to his hauler.

btw sorry this is a little late Computer troubles