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When: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 2:00 p.m. EDT, 11:00 a.m. PDT Green Flag Start

Where: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia

Broadcast: FOX-TV Network, 1:30 p.m. EDT Pre-Race, 10:30 PDT

Track facts: Martinsville is NASCAR’s shortest track at .526 miles. The track possesses 12 degree banking in the turns, and it’s flat as a board on the straights. The track is asphalt with concrete corners.

Track History- NASCAR’s oldest track held its maiden race on September 25, 1949. The winner? World War II hero Red Byron. Curtis “Pops” Turner started from the pole. Jimmie Johnson has won the last THREE races at Martinsville, and no doubt he’ looking forward to this occasion to get his 2008 turned around.

The Qualifying Record? “Smoke”- Tony Stewart ran a qualifying lap in 19.306 with a speed of 98.083 m.p.h., October 21, 2005

The record for race speed is 82.223 m.p.h. by Jeff Gordon on September 22, 1996. He ran the race in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds.

“The King” is the King. Richard Petty holds the record for victories at Martinsville with 15. Among active drivers, Jeff Gordon has 7.

Ol’ D.W. is the “King of Qualifying.” Darrell Waltrip has 8 poles. Jeff Gordon must really like it here. “The Rainbow Warrior” has earned 6 poles- making him top of the heap for active drivers.

21 caution flags flew last fall, beating the old record of 19. On three occasions, only one caution waved, the most recent being April 25, 1971.

Other track trivia: “Mr. September,” Harry Gant was the oldest winner at this track at the age of 51 years old in 1991. Richard Petty is the youngest Cup driver to win here, he did so just 2 months shy of his 23rd birthday in 1960. Petty Enterprises is the winningest team here with 19.

Who’s been the best here in recent years? Besides the defending champion Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch have posted the best averages in the last couple of seasons.

What’s Up?: NASCAR Cup action returns after taking an Easter holiday. Crew chief Gene Nead is leaving the #21. Until joining Wood Bros. in November, 2007, he was crew chief for Robby Gordon. There’s also talk of a merge between two Dodge teams- BAM Racing, owned by Beth Ann Morgenthau and Petty Enterprises.

What’s interesting about looking at the list of good runners on this track is that all of the drivers on that list have a reputation for aggressiveness, with the possible exception of Johnson, who in my opinion has a driving style quite similar to the “Silver Fox”- David Pearson. Johnson just lays back, and then….WHAM! He’s on you like a cat on a blue jay.

NASCAR Terminology- A NASCAR for Dummies Primer

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’ve 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.

Thanks for reading everybody! Enjoy the race.

When: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 2:00 p.m. EDT, 11:00 a.m. PDT Green Flag Start

Where: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia

Broadcast: FOX-TV Network, 1:30 p.m. EDT Pre-Race, 10:30 PDT

Track facts: Martinsville is NASCAR’s shortest track at .526 miles. The track possesses 12 degree banking in the turns, and it’s flat as a board on the straights. The track is asphalt with concrete corners.

Track History- NASCAR’s oldest track held its maiden race on September 25, 1949. The winner? World War II hero Red Byron. Curtis “Pops” Turner started from the pole. Jimmie Johnson has won the last THREE races at Martinsville, and no doubt he’ looking forward to this occasion to get his 2008 turned around.

The Qualifying Record? “Smoke”- Tony Stewart ran a qualifying lap in 19.306 with a speed of 98.083 m.p.h., October 21, 2005

The record for race speed is 82.223 m.p.h. by Jeff Gordon on September 22, 1996. He ran the race in 3 hours, 11 minutes, 55 seconds.

“The King” is the King. Richard Petty holds the record for victories at Martinsville with 15. Among active drivers, Jeff Gordon has 7.

Ol’ D.W. is the “King of Qualifying.” Darrell Waltrip has 8 poles. Jeff Gordon must really like it here. “The Rainbow Warrior” has earned 6 poles- making him top of the heap for active drivers.

21 caution flags flew last fall, beating the old record of 19. On three occasions, only one caution waved, the most recent being April 25, 1971.

Other track trivia: “Mr. September,” Harry Gant was the oldest winner at this track at the age of 51 years old in 1991. Richard Petty is the youngest Cup driver to win here, he did so just 2 months shy of his 23rd birthday in 1960. Petty Enterprises is the winningest team here with 19.

Who’s been the best here in recent years? Besides the defending champion Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch have posted the best averages in the last couple of seasons.

What’s Up?: NASCAR Cup action returns after taking an Easter holiday. Crew chief Gene Nead is leaving the #21. Until joining Wood Bros. in November, 2007, he was crew chief for Robby Gordon. There’s also talk of a merge between two Dodge teams- BAM Racing, owned by Beth Ann Morgenthau and Petty Enterprises.

What’s interesting about looking at the list of good runners on this track is that all of the drivers on that list have a reputation for aggressiveness, with the possible exception of Johnson, who in my opinion has a driving style quite similar to the “Silver Fox”- David Pearson. Johnson just lays back, and then….WHAM! He’s on you like a cat on a blue jay.

NASCAR Terminology- A NASCAR for Dummies Primer

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’ve 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.

Thanks for reading everybody! Enjoy the race.

I had this headline picked out two days ago. The boys at NASCAR didn’t disappoint with a track pounding war at Martinsville. A record setting 20 caution flags tell you all you need to know about what happens when you stack up 43 cars on a half-mile track with a championship and pride on the line.

For all intents and purposes, it’s a two horse race to the finish to Nextel glory with teammates and buddies Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon running neck and neck. Gordon led the way early on, but once again, regardless of some good short runs by Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and even a few moments for Juan Pablo Montoya- one had the feeling that eventually the Lowe’s #48 Chevy would sieze a lead and wouldn’t let go of it. Jimmie and Jeff traded leads and paint, but it was Jimmie Johnson prevailing for win number seven (making J.J. number one in the series for wins in 2007) at Martinsville.

The wrestling match for the 2007 Nextel Cup will continue next week at Atlanta, where Gordon has four wins, Johnson two (including a March 18 this year).

Other observations:

The Pinball Wizards. If this were football, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex Jr. would be doing serious time in the whirlpool tomorrow. These guys collected more bruises on their cars than a train wreck. If I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn I heard a collective cheer when Junior gave Montoya a little “love tap” to take the lead. I’d also swear that nearly every wreck in the second half of the race had Truex in the middle of it. If rubbin’s racin’, then Truex and Montoya were racin’ hard.

The Race For Pride. Give credit to Ryan Newman. He’s got nothing to lose, and he’s driving like it. It would be real easy for Rocket to mail it in, but now he has two consecutive top fives to his credit. Junior gave it all he had too. Once again, Lil “E” battled bad equipment, but still put himself in a position to finish well. A tip of the cap also goes to chasers whose title hopes have faded away. I thought Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, among others, raced hard and raced like professionals- though it was less than ideal day. Happy qualified well for this race, and Kenseth had the best finish he’s had in over a month.

Green, white, checkered. Now I am a little tired on this. today was the 6th finish of this type in 2007. I am going wonder out loud if one unintended consequence of the more durable Car of Tomorrow is that perhaps cars that would have been parked in the old days are still out limping along cluttering up the the track at the end. At times- I honestly think there are a few too many guys out there at the end that shouldn’t be. It’s be nice to see a cleaner finish- Pepsi 400 style.

To fans who dislike Jimmie and Jeff, I kinda feel for ya. Yet, let us not forget Clint Bowyer still has a slim shot, and anything can happen.

That’s why we keep watchin’.

Oh boy! Good old fashioned racing will be the order of the day when the NASCAR roadshow comes to Martinsville, Virginia this weekend. They’ll be on the short track spinning like a top on one of NASCAR’s great old race sites.

Early word is that Champion-In-Waiting Jeff Gordon is the odds-on-favorite to win here as he has seven times before. As a fan of the #24 Chevy, I think another win or two would be a fitting exclamation point on his quest for a 2007 Cup championship. No sense in making a nail biter out of this. I mean, Jimmie Johnson’s a good guy in my opinion, but he won it last year, and he’ll have several more seasons left to claim more titles. I really think Gordon’s pushing the finish line and may be out by the time he’s 40. things he’s said just gives you the feeling that he has no magic number of championships to win or races, and he’ll hang it up when he’s good and ready. As a fan, it would be cool to see him win seven, so he could have his name up there with Petty and Earnhardt, but there’s too many variables that play a part in getting there. Like he may never get there. It’d also be nice to see him break 100 wins, and he only had 19 more to go. But as good as he is now, he’s won six, so at this rate, it would take a while. Some time soon Gordon’s racing “passion tank” will run out of gas. If you ask me, it won’t be long before Ingrid and Ella win out over his Chevy.

Gordon aside, there’s a number of guys running well right now. It’s been nice to see Bobby Labonte running well with better cars. Kasey Kahne is showing signs of life. I wouldn’t go shoveling dirt on Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, or Tony Stewart for their title hopes just yet. This kind of track is also one on which you’d expect Junior to run well. Hey- Mark Martin could do well here…if he’s running.

I just hope they don’t get all conservative on us like they did at Talladega. However- it’s a different car on a different track, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.