Martinsville Mayhem: Hot Picks, Hot Dogs, Clocks and Curbs
NASCAR goes old school at the less than grandiose racing facility in Martinsville for the sixth race of the season at a treacherous short track.
NASCAR racing returns to its roots at the Martinsville track that has hosted a Cup race every year since 1949. The track that currently has seating for 65,000 opened as a dirt track in 1947.
The .526 mile mile track is the shortest on the NASCAR schedule. It is known as the paper clip because it is basically two short dragstrips linked by tight turns at each end.
Due to the shape of the track, braking is a huge factor during each race. The Brembo Brakes Fact website states on the NASCAR page that drivers use heavy braking 35 percent of the time they race.
Drivers feel the need to brake a lot, which can result in overheating of the braking system and that can melt the bead on the tire and cause tire failures. Massive brake ducts are used for cooling.
Points will begin to really matter under the new system. It will be harder to escape the bottom third of the points barrel as the weeks go by.
Drivers will begin showing their true strength this season as they tackle the second short track in six events this year. After the Goody's Fast Relief 500, about a quarter of the races leading to the Chase will be history.
Martinsville is hard on equipment, and horsepower is not as important as survival. It is real easy to see a good day turn bad, and an unexpected pit stop will put you down a lap or two.
In this slideshow we will look at drivers most likely to finish strong and contend for the win. We will also look at things unique to the Virginia short track including a gastronomic delight.
Denny Hamlin
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Denny Hamlin finds himself languishing 21st in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings, a place he didn't expect to be after being runner-up to the reigning champion, Jimmie Johnson, last year.
Martinsville may be the place he makes his big comeback with a win. After all he has won four out of the last six Cup races there.
Hamlin's record at this track shows four wins, eight top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes with an average finish of 6.1. The Virginia native has 16 Cup wins to his credit and will be favored in the Goody's Fast Relief 500.
Jimmie Johnson
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Five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ, Jimmie Johnson, has failed to seal the deal so far this season with his best finish being second at Fontana.
Johnson is ranked fifth in the point standings. His record at Martinsville is pretty darn good with five Cup wins out of the last nine races at the Martinsville track.
Johnson's record at this track shows six wins, 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes with an average of 5.3. In the top series of NASCAR his record shows 53 wins, and one more could well be in the cards at the sixth race.
Jeff Gordon
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The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports currently ranks 16th in the point standings.
Jeff Gordon has a win this year and out of his 83 Cup wins, seven of them have come at Martinsville. In addition, he has 23 top-5 and 29 top-10 finishes with an average of 7.1.
This four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion is certainly a favorite to win at Martinsville as he tries to match the five titles of his teammate, Jimmie Johnson.
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Mark Martin
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Mark Martin is making his 800th Cup start at Martinsville. So far this season his best finish is 10th, and he is ranked 14th in the point standings.
Martin is not a big fan of the Martinsville track, but he does have two wins, 12 top-5 and 24 top-10 finishes with an average of 13.1.
The driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet has 40 career wins and really wants to add to that during his final year with Hendrick Motorsports.
Tony Stewart
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Tony Stewart is an owner/driver at Stewart-Haas Racing. He is ranked sixth in the points, and his teammate, Ryan Newman, is ranked second.
The two-time Cup champion found himself too angry to speak with the media after his last race. He had a second place finish at the Kobalt Tools 400, but has failed to close the deal when the checkered flag drops.
Stewart has two wins at Martinsville with eight top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes that give him an average of 13.1.
The driver of the No. 14 is finding frustration, and it just may drive him to add to his 39 career wins in the Cup series. He is an old-school driver at an old-school track, and that may be a good thing.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making steady progress with his new crew chief, Steve Letarte. He is ranked 12th in the point standings. Though he has dropped a little in the point, his performance is more consistent.
Junior likes to race at Martinsville even though he hasn't won there. His record shows eight top-5 and 11 top-10 finishes with an average of 13.8.
The driver of the Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet will win this year, and he is getting closer. This may be the track that will break his winless streak that has lasted far too long.
Qualifying seems to be problematic, and at a short track it is important to qualify well. Letarte has experience with Jeff Gordon, and hopefully if his driver starts near the front he will add to his 18 Cup victories.
Kyle Busch
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Kyle Busch swept the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at the first short track race this season at Bristol.
Busch, the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, has not won at Martinsville, but has five top-5 and six top-10 finishes with a 16.7 average.
Currently the 25-year-old driver is sixth in the point standings, and his record shows 20 Cup wins to his credit.
Busch has become more subdued and gracious this season perhaps because of his responsibilities as a team owner in the truck series and his status as a married man.
There is no doubt his drive to win is as strong as it has ever been and, quite likely, he could score a victory in the Goody's Fast Relief 500.
The Famous Hot Dog
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No other track on the NASCAR circuit can offer a hot dog quite like the one you will find at Martinsville. Not only fans line up for the gastronomic adventure, but drivers and crews eat a good portion of the special dogs.
Sure it can clog your arteries, but the experience of eating the famous Martinsville Speedway Hot Dog may well be worth it.
The "Red 40" may startle you a bit with the color it exudes, but that is part of what makes it special.
One could certainly get their dog with just mustard on it, but the slaw, chili and other fixins make it a true culinary experience. Perhaps that is why they sell some 50,000 at each race.
The Curbing
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The school bus yellow curbing can really make a driver's day take a turn for the worse. It rises up about six inches, luring drivers to get a wheel just a little too far up on it.
Encounters with the curbing can really mess up the front-end geometry on the car and tear up the all-important brake ducts that try to keep down the incredible temperatures brakes endure.
Getting a wheel over the curb will more than likely send a driver to the garage or in for a very costly pit stop.
It is kind of fun to watch the drivers just barely creep up on the curbing, as you watch to see which car will go just a bit too far.
The Trophy Clock
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One of the most coveted trophies a NASCAR winner can receive is the Grandfather clock awarded at Martinsville Speedway.
The beautiful clocks are made by Ridgeway which is head-quartered in nearby Ridgeway, Va. The Ridgeway company began supplying clocks to the winners in the mid-1960's.
Fred Lorenzen received the first clock, and some drivers have quite a collection like Darrell Waltrip who has 12 and Jeff Gordon with seven.
A win at Martinsville is a good thing, but getting the Martinsville trophy makes it all the better.
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