Sprint Cup Series Race Results From Martinsville

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 6
65TH ANNUAL STP "500"
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Ridgeway, VA - March 30, 2014
.526-Mile Oval
500 Laps - 263 Miles Purse: $5,083,289

Kurt Busch pulled it off and won the STP 500 over Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville.  This win makes Kurt the 6th different driver to win a race this season and thus, put himself in the Chase at the end of the year.

This was his 25th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

Failed to qualify: (1) #35 David Reutimann

TIME OF RACE:3 hours, 38 minutes, 38 seconds       AVERAGE SPEED:72.176 mph     
MARGIN OF VICTORY:0.263 second(s)

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:  Kyle Busch (99.674 mph. 18.998 secs.)

3M LAP LEADER:  Jimmie Johnson (296 Laps)

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE:  Austin Dillon

Caution Flags: 14 cautions for 92 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
3-10 (Car #30 Accident Turn 3 [None]);
42-47 (Competition [7]);
104-109 (Car #17 Accident Turn 2 [83]);
115-119 (Car #7, 32, 38 Accident Turn 3 [78]);
171-178 (Car #13 Spin Turn 2 [83]);
201-207 (Car #1, 88 Accident Turn 2 [23]);
220-225 (Car #23 Accident Turn 4 [17]);
232-237 (Debris In Turn 1 [5]);
251-257 (Car #83 Accident Turn 4 [13]);
316-322 (Car #66 Accident Turn 4 [14]);
341-346 (Car #42 Spin Turn 2 [20]);
350-357 (Debris On Backstretch [83]);
412-417 (Car #78 Accident Turn 2 [51]);
460-465 (Car #99 Spin Turn 2 [38]).

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Lap Leaders:  33 lead changes among 12 drivers.
Ky. Busch 1-16, Kenseth 17-20, Johnson 21-43, Kvapil 44, Johnson 45-55,
Kenseth 56-58, Ky. Busch 59-64, Logano 65-81, Johnson 82-105, Kenseth 106-110,
Logano 111-132, Johnson 133-154, Biffle 155-172, Ambrose 173-194, Kenseth 195-212,
Johnson 213-221, Earnhardt Jr 222-236, Allmendinger 237, Earnhardt Jr 238-242, Ku. Busch 243-244,
Johnson 245-252, Harvick 253, Kenseth 254-259, Earnhardt Jr 260-264, Johnson 265-283,
Bowyer 284-287, Johnson 288-346, Bowyer 347, Johnson 348-449, Bowyer 450-460,
Johnson 461-472, Ku. Busch 473-482, Johnson 483-489, Ku. Busch 490-500.

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Penalties Handed Out for Flying Wrench Debacle at Martinsville

Remember that flying wrench last weekend at Martinsville, when the truth about how Kevin Harvick and Richard Childress feel about each other came out?

Well, it ain't cool to throw wrenches at people folks.  Yes, I know.  Common sense dictates such things, but in the heat of the moment in sporting events, you need your opinion expressed in the most vocal of fashions.  And in this case, the point was being made with what was at hand... a very large wrench.

NASCAR apparently did not take lightly to the pit stall equipment flight pattern and has dealt out some penalties in association with the flying metal:

via press release

{

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 31, 2013) – Penalties have been issued to the No. 3 team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series following last weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

The team has been penalized for violating Sections 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; throwing an object at a competitor’s race truck) and 9-4A: (The Crew Chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his/her Driver, Truck Owner and team members). The infractions occurred during the race on Saturday, October 26.

As a result of these violations, crew chief Paul (Marcus) Richmond has been fined $10,000 and crew member Adam Brown has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR.

}
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Official Race Results - from Martinsville

{NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 33
65TH ANNUAL GOODY'S HEADACHE RELIEF SHOT "500" POWERED BY KROGER
MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Ridgeway, VA - October 27, 2013
.526-Mile Oval
500 Laps - 263 Miles Purse: $5,013,097 }

Jeff Gordon won the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 Powered by Kroger at Martinsville Speedway.  This was his 88th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, no cars dropped to the rear of the field.

TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 44 minutes, 21 seconds       AVERAGE SPEED: 70.337 mph      MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.605 second(s)

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:  Denny Hamlin (99.595 mph. 19.013 secs.)

3M LAP LEADER:  Matt Kenseth (202 Laps)

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Fin	Car			Series	Bonus		Laps
Pos	No	Driver	Laps	Points	Points	Status	Led
1	24	Jeff Gordon	500	47	4	Running	78
2	20	Matt Kenseth	500	44	2	Running	202
3	15	Clint Bowyer	500	42	1	Running	60
4	2	Brad Keselowski	500	40	0	Running
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	500	40	1	Running	123
6	29	Kevin Harvick	500	38	0	Running
7	11	Denny Hamlin	500	38	1	Running	14
8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	500	36	0	Running
9	16	Greg Biffle	500	35	0	Running
10	1	Jamie McMurray	500	34	0	Running
11	31	Jeff Burton	500	34	1	Running	5
12	99	Carl Edwards	500	32	0	Running
13	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	500	31	0	Running
14	22	Joey Logano	500	30	0	Running
15	18	Kyle Busch	500	30	1	Running	12
16	56	Martin Truex Jr	500	28	0	Running
17	10	Danica Patrick #	499	27	0	Running
18	78	Kurt Busch	499	26	0	Running
19	9	Marcos Ambrose	499	25	0	Running
20	43	Aric Almirola	499	24	0	Running
21	13	Casey Mears	499	23	0	Running
22	27	Paul Menard	499	22	0	Running
23	38	David Gilliland	499	21	0	Running
24	93	Travis Kvapil	499	20	0	Running
25	55	Elliott Sadler	499	0	0	Running	6
26	98	Michael McDowell	498	18	0	Running
27	5	Kasey Kahne	497	17	0	Running
28	32	Ken Schrader	496	16	0	Running
29	40	Landon Cassill	495	0	0	Running
30	36	J.J. Yeley	495	14	0	Running
31	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr #	495	13	0	Running
32	47	Bobby Labonte	494	12	0	Running
33	87	Joe Nemechek	493	0	0	Running
34	35	Josh Wise	490	0	0	Running
35	30	Cole Whitt	459	0	0	Running
36	14	Mark Martin	455	8	0	Running
37	83	David Reutimann	451	7	0	Rear Gear
38	39	Ryan Newman	432	6	0	Running
39	7	Dave Blaney	357	5	0	Accident
40	95	Reed Sorenson	275	0	0	Rear Gear
41	33	Tony Raines	220	0	0	Brakes
42	51	Kyle Larson	160	0	0	Engine
43	34	David Ragan	109	1	0	Engine

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Caution Flags: 17 cautions for 111 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
8-19 (Car #31 Spinout (Turn 4) [None]);
89-94 (Car #93 Spinout (Turn 4) [27]);
141-146 (Car #83 Spinout (Turn 4) [27]);
167-180 (Car #51 Fluid On Track (Backstretch) [55]);
183-191 (Car #5, 11, 32, 41, 56 Accident (Turn 1) [83]);
205-209 (Car #1, 14, 78 Accident (Turn 4) [13]);
219-222 (Car #93 Spinout (Turn 4) [10]);
230-234 (Car #83 Spinout (Turn 4) [38]);
285-290 (Car #95 Stopped (Turn 4) [13]);
299-303 (Debris (Turn 1) [99]);
310-314 (Car #5, 40 Accident (Turn 3) [42]);
319-324 (Car #39 Accident (Turn 1) [98]);
328-332 (Car #56 Spinout (Turn 1) [98]);
338-341 (Debris (Frontstretch) [98]);
366-372 (Car #30 Accident (Turn 4) [93]);
381-385 (Car #36 Spinout (Turn 3) [93]);
417-423 (Debris (Turn 1) [98]).

Lap Leaders:  15 lead changes among 8 drivers.
Hamlin 1-2, Johnson 3-24, Ky. Busch 25-36, Kenseth 37-110, Johnson 111-174, Burton 175-179, Johnson 180-216, Kenseth 217-237, Bowyer 238-281, J. Gordon 282-338, Hamlin 339-350, Bowyer 351-366, Kenseth 367, Sadler 368-373, Kenseth 374-479, J. Gordon 480-500.



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NASCAR Martinsville Goodyear Tire Test For New Car Bodies

There's a Goodyear tire test going on at Martinsville today (and tomorrow?).  But the tire test will be looking at the new car bodies that will show up in the 2013 season.  They're looking at if they need to bring on new tire compounds for the way the new car bodies for 2013 will be balanced out.

The new bodies will be lighter across the frame, with 60 less pounds of weight on the right side, and 40 less pounds on the left.  This idea is to make the cars more racy at flat tracks.

This tire test is also where clues of Dodge pulling out of NASCAR started, considering they weren't participating in this body test.

Aside from weight differences, they're also looking to give each brand a bit more identity than the basic shell with stickers, that we've been seeing on the track.

Despite the weight change, Goodyear is not expecting any shocking revelations from the test.

Also...

The tire test is free for fans if they want to come watch.  They will also be allowed to bring their own beverages to the event.  (per SiriusXM)

[aol]

Hendrick Power Wins Martinsville 'Goody's Fast Relief 500', But Not Like You Think!

This weekend at Martinsville Speedway saw a few fascinating events take place, where Kevin Harvick destroyed the competition in the truck series and the two guys fully expected to win the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, did not!

First up, the Camping World Series Kroger 250 race had Kevin Harvick lead all but 2 of the 250 laps, setting a track record.  And he did it in the No. 2 Richard Childress entry.  That is a pretty impressive stat!

At one point in the race, he had such a strong entry that Kevin relayed a message back to Ty Dillon to not burn up his equipment since he was running at 80% of his own truck's capacity.  Dang.

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Speaking of Kevin Harvick, he made his 400th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday in the Goody's Fast Relief 500.

Congrats to Kevin on that one.

But on a more excited note, I spent the entire race watching the Goody's Fast Relief 500, KNOWING that the two cars that were up front most of the race will be winning.  It was either going to be Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon.  These two worked their up through the field and dominated.  It was their race to lose!  And it would have been the magic 200th victory for Hendrick Motorsports... which would have been something special, at Martinsville!


But...

Near the end of the race, Johnson had taken the lead with Gordon on his tail.  At times one might have thought that Johnson was spent yet when Gordon made some form of a move, Johnson would goose it and retain his front runner's position.  So it was looking like Johnson would get the win.

But alas, wondering if Johnson was going to beat Gordon became moot, because, yes, Johnson finished the race in front of Gordon...  and crossed the finish line before Gordon did.  But not in the fashion anyone was expecting.

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The Goody's Fast Relief 500 had seven cautions for the day... and it was the last two that impacted NASCAR history that 'was' in the making.

Early on a part broke in Kyle Busch's car, then Dave Blaney at about the midway point had an issue.  Other cautions included Juan Montoya (spin), Kasey Kahne (engine) and Travis Kvapil having issues with physics in the the turns.

But we have two more cautions to account for... the two most important it turns out.

Through the latter half of the day, we had Hendrick Motorsports running up in the top-five spots with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr..

At one point, those three were the lead three cars, and if I were a betting man, I'm guessing that at one point "Jr. Nation" was politely desiring something to go afoul with the No. 48 and 24 cars so Dale Earnhardt Jr. could could scoot past and take the win.

But there were several factors going against the entire group up there.

David Ruetimann was limping the No. 10 Chevy home trying to get points for his car's standings in the owner points because this is the car that Danica Patrick will drive when she returns to Cup series racing.  The team is desperately trying to keep the car in the top-35 in points.  But while limping around his engine then up and died on him.

This brought out a caution on lap 496 and it was going to be a very fateful caution.

Johnson and Gordon stayed out while the rest of the world pitted.  On the restart, Ryan Newman got a slight run from the inside third row spot and Clint Bowyer dove down to block him and goose it into the corner, getting in under Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

This might have been the classic fresh vs. old tires battle.

Bowyer had the spot but had to back off because he entered the corner kind of hot, thumped the inside curb and slid out a bit and Jeff Gordon got out of shape dealing with Bowyer on the inside, and he spun, taking Jimmie Johnson with him.  Then Bowyer got spun out himself.  Through it all, Ryan Newman and A.J. Allmendinger ducked low below the track  self-cleaning accident.



youtube vid link

On the green/white/checkered restart, Ryan took the race lead and won handily... his first win at this track.

Here is the unofficial results:

FIN		DRIVER
1	-	Ryan Newman
2	-	AJ Allmendinger
3	-	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4	-	Matt Kenseth
5	-	Martin Truex Jr.
6	-	Denny Hamlin
7	-	Tony Stewart
8	-	Aric Almirola
9	-	Brad Keselowski
10	-	Clint Bowyer
11	-	Carl Edwards
12	-	Jimmie Johnson
13	-	Greg Biffle
14	-	Jeff Gordon
15	-	Marcos Ambrose
16	-	Regan Smith
17	-	Bobby Labonte
18	-	Brian Vickers
19	-	Kevin Harvick
20	-	Jamie McMurray
21	-	Juan Montoya
22	-	Jeff Burton
23	-	Joey Logano
24	-	David Ragan
25	-	Casey Mears
26	-	Paul Menard
27	-	Travis Kvapil
28	-	David Gilliland
29	-	Landon Cassill
30	-	David Stremme
31	-	Hermie Sadler
32	-	Ken Schrader
33	-	Kurt Busch
34	-	Dave Blaney
35	-	David Reutimann
36	-	Kyle Busch
37	-	J.J. Yeley
38	-	Kasey Kahne
39	-	Joe Nemechek
40	-	Michael McDowell
41	-	Josh Wise *
42	-	Scott Riggs
43	-	Reed Sorenson

-Bruce

The 'Goody's Fast Relief 500' At Martinsville, TV Times and Some Stats

The gang is landing at Martinsville for the 127th time (Cup race) and it's time for some good old fashion fender rubbing fun for the Goody's Fast Relief 500.  And at this track, where wheel-men rule the day, so be it, if their cars can last through the day.

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Martinsville TV Times

Most events will be televised on Speed, but the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be televised on Fox.  (All noted times are ET)

On Friday, March 30th:

12:30 PM First Practice  - Speed
3:30 PM  Second Practice - Speed

On Saturday, March 31st:

QUALIFYING at 11:30 AM - Speed

on April 1st, 2012:

The Goody's Fast Relief 500 at 12:30 PM, on Fox.

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Coming to Martinsville, it's a good bet that by the end of the day, we'll probably be looking at either Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon or Denny Hamlin fighting for that swath of checkered cotton!

In the last seven races at Martinsville, Denny Hamlin has won three of them, Jimmie Johnson snagged two and Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick each had one a piece.

But looking at the average finishing top contenders for the track, these numbers say a lot:

Jimmie Johnson - 3.7
Jeff Gordon - 4.3                   
Denny Hamlin - 6.5
Dale Earnhardt Jr.  - 11.5
Ryan Newman - 12.9
Tony Stewart - 12.9

But don't be fooled...  Jeff Gordon has the most wins at this track, with seven victories to his credit.

{Hey Ryan, aren't you supposed to let the boss win?}

Also if you look at laps led, from the loop data, Johnson leads the pack with 21.5%.  He's followed by

Jeff Gordon (17.7%)
Denny Hamlin (16.8%)
Tony Stewart (12.0%)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5.9%)

Again, though we don't see Greg Biffle at the top of this statistical heap, he's been having a great year so far and I somewhat expect his emotional momentum to carry forward into Martinsville as well.  I mean face it, if you've ever seen some of his saves, he is definitely a wheel-man!

Time to see who Lady Luck will smile or frown upon!

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NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces, on Twitter & Facebook .

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NASCAR Heads to the Paperclip Known as Martinsville, 'The Goody's Fast Relief 500'

So far, no one has talked about reconfiguring this one-mile paperclip shaped track called Martinsville.  And that's good.  I can only handle so much reconfiguration news in a week!  But as it stands, Martinsville is the last of the classic tracks that's flat and tight and still in a shape of a paperclip, forcing the racing to be calm, cool and collected.  Well, that is, if the day went well, that's the attitude that could prevail after beating and banging fenders in an event at the track.

For the upcoming The Goody's Fast Relief 500, looking at the average finishing positions of drivers, the top dog coming into the weekend at Martinsville looks to be

Jimmie Johnson, with an average finish of 5.5, after 20 races.  Behind Jimmie, we have

Denny Hamlin (6.5),

Jeff Gordon (6.9)

Dale Earnhardt Jr., (13).

We all know that statistical performance never matches up when weather and bad luck sit up and take note of our favorite driver, but that's how it's looking for stats, at this early part of the week. 

We'll see how teams unload at Martinsville what what tale the practice and qualifying times will have in store for everyone!

--
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Harvick Wins Truck Race

Kevin Harvick got by the indomitable Kyle Busch for the lead with 10 laps to go Monday and held on to win the Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Driving his own No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, Harvick obtained his fourth career truck win in his 97th start in an event that had been postponed because of rain on Saturday.

"I was able to get to his bumper there and just kind of get him up about half a groove and got up under him." said Harvick, who ran the final 185 laps, including one extra lap because of a green-white-checkered-flag finish, on one tank of fuel.

Busch was subsequently penalized for a commitment line violation when he intentionally ran against the inside backstretch wall under caution in an attempt to straighten out a fender that was bashed in. Busch led a race-high 139 laps and finished 17th.

KHI's Ron Hornaday finished second, and Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson and polesitter Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.

The race had 13 cautions, the first on Lap 1.

After the fifth caution, Busch needed less than three laps to dispose of Jason White and take the lead on Lap 102. Busch held the spot until Harvick moved underneath him in the final laps.

Busch remained the series points leader over Todd Bodine, who finished 18th after being involved in two separate accidents, including one with two laps to go that forced the race to finish under caution.

Busch, who is running a partial schedule, won't compete in the series' next race, April 25 at Kansas Speedway.

Notes: Mike Bliss finished 15th in his 200th truck start. ... Ken Schrader finished 10th for his first top-10 since a fourth-place finish last year at Martinsville. ... James Buescher, who turned 19 last week, finished 11th, the highest finish among the six rookies in the race.

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Truck Series At Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway will host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this weekend. After that, they take a break then head off to Kansas looking for Toto at the Kansas Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 on Saturday, April 25.

Defending race winner Ron Hornaday Jr. led 136 of 167 laps on his way to Victory Lane. He was also the first to win from the pole. NBaP kind of roots for Ron since we hail from the same region!

Fast Facts From Martinsville (Is there any such thing as a slow fact?)

The Race: Kroger 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sat., March 28, 2009
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 250 laps / 131.5 miles
TV: FOX, 2:00 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM. Listen locally on WZBB-FM 99.9.
Track Layout: .526-mile oval
2008 Winner: Dennis Setzer
2008 Pole: Jack Sprague
Schedule:
Friday—Practice, 11-11:50 a.m.; 1:45 - 3:30 p.m.
Saturday—Qualifying, 9:10 a.m.

2009 Driver Standings Truck Series
Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 560
2 Todd Bodine 535
3 Mike Skinner 441
4 Ron Hornaday Jr. 436
5 Chad McCumbee 426
6 Matt Crafton 423
7 Terry Cook 413
8 TJ Bell 412
9 Timothy Peters 406
10 David Starr 384

Are There Any Takers At Martinsville?

Statistically, the Jimmie Johnson-Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports tandem is the clear favorite to outperform most others this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

But statistically, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin – are no slouches at the Virginia short track either.

Of the two, Earnhardt has scored top-10 finishes in three of the last four races there, and since the inception of Loop Data, ranks high in a number of key statistics.

Earnhardt has the 4th best Driver Rating of 102.4, and an Average Running Position of 10.4, which is also 4th on the list. But I'm not too worried about him this week. NBaP doesn't think he's got it together to conquer this track. At least not from the way things are looking lately.

Though Earnhardt has never won here, Martin has two Martinsville wins, but has finished out of the top 10 in his last three Martinsville races, with his last top five finish coming in the spring race of 2005.

Since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 78.2, an Average Running Position of 17.0.

Stats say look out for Tony Stewart though.

Stewart has a Driver Rating of 113.7, and an Average Running Position of 7.4.

Stewart won in 2006, breaking up the win streek that Gordon and Johnson were buliding.

Actually, Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Rusty Wallace are the only other drivers to win since 2003.

Kyle Busch Still Has To Beat The Paperclip

Kyle Busch won last week at the mini-superspeedway called Bristol. He's now fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. But Martinsville looms over him like Jason from Friday the 13th does over most of his victims.

Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota has had three top fives and four top 10s in eight Cup starts there.

NASCAR Loop Data statistics for Martinsville says Busch has an Average Running Position of 14.9, with his best finishes a pair of fourths in 2007.

He finished 38th there last spring and 29th last fall, both due to brake problems. They've done some testing over at Little Rock to "get our brakes squared away" and they believe they ahve fixed the problem.

THat's bad news for the rest of the field.

If he masters this place, and NBaP has no doubt he will, then we be headed for trouble.

Who Is Mr. Martinsville

So do you think is Mr Martinsville? Jimmy Johnson, the reigning three-time series champion or Jeff Gordon, the four-time series champion.

They both love the place and both have fond memories of the place.

NBaP thinks that they should have a 25 lap trophy dash with just those two on track. Hmm, maybe even mix in a little Kyle Busch and see who wrecks who!

But seriously, more than likely we'll see any of these three up front at Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500.

Gordon and Johnson have won the last 9 of 12 races here at Martinsville. I don't think we'll ever forget that finish in the spring of 2007. I mean how can we, we see it every week in ads.

They rank one-two in the NASCAR Loop Data category, Driver Ratings.
Johnson is ranked at 124.7.
Gordon is ranked at 124.0.

But Gordon leads all active drivers with seven wins and seven poles at Martinsville.

Do you dare hit the betting window on this one?

Kroger 250 Truck Race Look At Martinsville

Next Race: Kroger 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sat., March 28, 2009
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 250 laps / 131.5 miles
TV: FOX, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM. Listen locally on WZBB-FM 99.9.
Track Layout: .526-mile oval
2008 Winner: Dennis Setzer
2008 Polesitter: Jack Sprague
Schedule: Friday—Practice, 11-11:50 a.m.; 1:45 - 3:30 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying, 9:10 a.m.
Track Contact: Mike Smith, (276) 956-7232 or mksmith@martinsvillespeedway.com

2009 Driver Standings
Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 560
2 Todd Bodine 535
3 Mike Skinner 441
4 Ron Hornaday Jr. 436
5 Chad McCumbee 426
6 Matt Crafton 423
7 Terry Cook 413
8 TJ Bell 412
9 Timothy Peters 406
10 David Starr 384

Tums QuikPak 500 - All About The Brakes and Tires

Martinsville was as I expected with the occasional spin, bump and spin, spin and bump, tire issues, brake issues and brake and tire issues. But the tires seemed to be the attention getter again this weekend.

The last few weeks the right side tires have been the issue of focus. With the brakes baking the tire beads, I don't think we should be too quick to castrate Goodyear, but it's hard not to.

Eh, let's!

The broadcast booth from ESPN says the heavier cars are harder on the brakes, and hence, more brake heat. More stress on the tires from that heat.

The early part of the race saw an array of normal race issues:
Electrical system issues for Kasey Kahne on lap 62;
Brake fluid leak on the RR for Kurt Busch on lap 70. His day gets worse;
Jamie McMurray got spun off of the front bumper of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 82. Jr seems to be using his bumper with a liberal ease of use as he moved up through the field.
On lap 89 Regan Smith spun it and his RF tire / brake combo erupt in flames.

The interesting tire behavior kicked in around lap 162 when Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish, Tony Raines all got flat RF flat tires in the same lap, same corner. Wacky. Then Kyle's luck got worse as he was held 2 laps for intentionally bringing out the yellow flag.

Lap 196: Elliott Sadler makes like a top and spins out.

Lap 351: being 4 laps down, Kyle Busch has to pit for a RF flat.
Lap 362: RF for Stewart
Lap 380: RF for Kurt Busch 3rd time for Kurt today and he wants to park it.
Lap 437: Another LF for Kyle Busch?

It's a bad day to be a Busch.

Lap 453: RF for Stewart, again.

Green flag with 8 to go saw Jimmie Johnson lead them to the green, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie pulled away while Dale and Carl played tag spot for 2nd then Ragan spins with 3 to go, setting us up for the Green/White/Checkered finish.

Jr didn't even have a chance. Jimmie just pulled away, end story.

This is Jimmie Johnson's 5th win at Martinsville. He led the most laps today. 339 laps. The most he's ever led in any race in his career. (The Sprint girl was different than the usual one and wasn't nodding in the background as if she was in a conversation she didn't understand.) That was a nice change.

In a post interview question, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he wanted it to go green the rest of the race with 100+ to go, but he said that wouldn't happen with how NASCAR tends to find cautions near the end of the race to make it exciting. Huh?

I'm thinking there might be some interesting media on that one, and Brad Dougherty pointed it out in addition a few minutes later, so ESPN wasn't going to let that rest either!

Let's see if we get public retractions or explanations, depending who has to speak up first. (Gee, I wonder who that will be.)

TOP 10 TODAY at Martinsville:

1 Jimmie Johnson
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3 Carl Edwards
4 Jeff Gordon
5 Denny Hamlin
6 Casey Mears
7 Kevin Harvick
8 Matt Kenseth
9 Martin Truex Jr.
10 Clint Bowyer

Complete, unofficial Cup Series Results

(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)

Line Up for the TUMS Quik Pak 500 at Martinsville

With qualifying having been rained out, the line up at Martinsville is lined up by driver points. That would mean that the favorite driver at Martinsville wil be leading the pack to the green flag... if there is no rain and weather reports say it will be fine. Clear and a high of 61 degrees.

1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	AT&T Mobility	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	DISH Network Turbo HD	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Office Depot	N/A	N/A	N/A
5	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	N/A	N/A	N/A
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	20	Tony Stewart	Toyota	The Home Depot	N/A	N/A	N/A
8	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	N/A	N/A	N/A
9	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's	N/A	N/A	N/A
10	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	AMP Energy / National Guard	N/A	N/A	N/A

See the rest at NASCAR.com
Weather: Wunderground

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR
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Rudd at Martinsville

Ricky Rudd will be testing his shoulder out at Martinsville during practice to see if he can tackle additional action in qualifying and the race.

He survived Lowe's with a sore shoulder but nothing he couldn't handle, but Martinsville is a more aggressive track for the driver to tackle.

No word on if any replacements are standing by.

scenedaily.com

Upcoming Events At Martinsville

This weekend, we'll be watching the paint scraping action at the classic paperclip short track, Martinsville Speedway.

The Nextel Cup action will take place on Sunday at 1pm on ABC.
The Craftsman Truck Series action will be on Saturday 2:30 pm, on SPEED.
ALL TIMES EASTERN.

There are 48 entries for the Cup race, and 40 entries slated for the Truck race.

Franchitti makes NASCAR debut

IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti is making his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. (What an introductory race to be a part of!!)

Franchitti, who also won the Indianapolis 500 this season, is moving to NASCAR next season. He made his stock-car debut in the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend and finished 17th.

Franchitti signed a multi-year deal last week to drive the No. 40 Dodge for Ganassi next season.

foxsports

MARTINSVILLE Fender Banger

It was a great finish as Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson banged and bumped the last 5 laps away, as Gordon tried to get past Johnson. The finish was fun to watch and pretty tight.

After a number of yellow flags, a few tire failures, Kevin Harvick had the same fuel pump line problem Tony Stewart did last week, then after they got that fixed, they came back out and a few laps later the protective foam in the right door cuaght on fire.

A few other drivers were oveheard noting the excessive heat in the cars.

The total results are HERE

MARTINSVILLE QUALIFYING Top 10

Here's the pole sitter and the following 9 drivers to round out the top 10 for Sunday's start.
Denny Hamlin
Jamie McMurray
Jeff Gordon
Ken Schrader
J.J. Yeley
Kevin Harvick
Tony Stewart
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Carl Edwards
Johnny Sauter