Ah the stories this track could tell if it could talk. Researching the history here is like digging into the history at Jamestown or Plymouth Rock. Fantasy fanatics and trivia buffs- we’ve got what you need right here in learning about one of NSACAR’s great historic tracks.
Reach up and pull those belts tight one more time- like Bristol, racin’ here is sure to leave a mark.
What? The 2009 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. A 500 lap, 263 mile race- the 6th of NASCAR’s 36 Sprint Cup races for the season.
Where? Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia- on U.S. Highway 220, just two miles south of town.
When? Sunday, March 29, 2009. TV Time- 1:30 PM Eastern (local time), 10:30 AM Pacific. Race Start- 2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific.
TV Broadcast: FOX. Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip host from the studio. Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip call the action track side.
TRACK DIMENSIONS
Track Length: .526 miles- the shortest on the active circuit. Martinsville started out at an even half-mile, but was reconfigured to .525 in 1969.
Banking In The Turns: 12 degrees. Not nearly as steep as Bristol.
Banking On the Straights: 0 degrees.
Front Stretch: 800 feet.
Back Stretch: 800 feet- you can see now why it’s called the paper clip.
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 65,000.
TRACK RECORDS
Virginia’s own Denny Hamlin won the spring, 2008 race at Martinsville. Jimmie Johnson won in the fall.
First Race: The 1949 “105 Miles At Martinsville.”
First Race Winner: NASCAR’s first champion, Red Byron- in an Oldsmobile owned by NASCAR’s first great team owner- Raymond Parks.
Career Wins Leader at Martinsville: “The King”- Richard Petty, with 15. DarrelL Waltrpi won 11.
Active Wins Leaders: Jeff Gordon- 7, Jimmie Johnson- 5, Mark Martin- 2
The most career poles at Martinsville?: Darrell Waltrip won 8.
The Fastest Qualifying Lap?: Tony Stewart ran a 19.306 second lap in September, 2005 with a speed of 98.083 miles per hour.
The Fastest Race?: It was run by Jeff Gordon in the Sept. 22, 1996 Hanes 500 in a time of 3 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds with a speed of 82.223 miles per hour.
The Most Lead Changes: 25- in the Sept. 28, 1980 Old Dominion 500 won by Dale Earnhardt. The Fewest: 1- that happened 4times, the most recent being the April 9, 1961 Virginia 500 won by Fred Lorenzen.
The Fewest Cautions: 1- on 3 occasions, the last being the April 25, 1971 Virginia 500 won by Richard Petty. The Most: 21- in the October 21, 2007 Subway 500 won by Jimmie Johnson.
26 drivers finished on the lead lap twice. That’s the track record. The most recent being the October 22, 2006 Subway 500 won by Jimmie Johnson. Only 1 finished on the lap lap 27 TIMES! The most recent was the April 27, 1986 Sovran Bank 500 won by Ricky “Rooster” Rudd.
BURNING QUESTIONS
We are seeing the start of another dominant run by Kyle Busch? His second win in the season 5 weeks old raises not only that question, but this too:
Did Rick Hendrick get the short end of the stick when he let Busch go in favor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
Many fans are also asking the question- when will Jeff Gordon’s winless streak come to an end? Like Dale Jr. last year, Gordon keeps coming oh so close every week….and look where we are now?
Fans are also concerned about the quality of racing. A significant number of fans feel as though Bristol did not deliver last week- and I’ll admit (though I am an optimist by nature)- I wasn’t super impressed- though I thought we had some good battles behind the leaders.
Fans of the underdog are also watching racers not driving cars for the Big 4 (HMS, RFR, JGR, RCR) Mega Teams. Can Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann and Tony Stewart keep it up? With HMS motors and proven skill- most believe Stewart will hang around. Kahne improves every week and has had stretches of brilliance. What about Beak? That’s the most intriguing question to me. I’m also watching to see what kind of follow-up performance Juan Pablo Montoya delivers.
NASCAR TERMINOLOGY
Apron: We’re not talking about what grillmasters wear at infield and tail gate parties. In this case, the “apron” is the paved portion of a track that separates the racing surface from the infield.
B-post: This is the post extending from the roofline to the base of the window behind the driver’s head.
Compound: We heard a lot about compounds after the controversial Atlanta race. The compound is the formula or recipe of rubber composing a particular tire. Left-side tires are considerably softer than right-side tires, and it’s against the rules to run left sides on the right. There are four basic components: rubber polymers, carbon blacks, oils and curatives.
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I am not sure if Rick Hendrick really liked Kyle Busch, I think Kyle is much happier at JGR.
On a note about Martinsville I was checking out the martinsville website, they aren’t sold out yet, and the seat prices are pretty good deal =D tickets being at $25, if I loved close to the area, I’d totally go! :)
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