STP 500
Martinsville Speedway
By Richard Tix
The end of last weeks race at Auto Club was entertaining to say the least. Some fans loved it, some hated it, and everyone had an opinion about it. That's because it was a race that finished under controversy.
But, this week I am ready to move on from all of that and focus on the next race. After all, sometimes its just good that people are talking about NASCAR. It shows how passionate fans are, but at the same time brings out some of the negative side in people that tends to happen in sports and competition.
So this week NASCAR heads to Martinsville and four drivers have pretty much locked up a Chase spot. Will Martinsville bring a fifth? Jimmie Johnson has already won this year and will most likely be a favorite, but guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon have not and may all get a chance on Sunday.
Things are sure to heat up here as it is the shortest track on the Cup schedule (0.526 miles). Last year Joey Logano set a new qualifying record that will be interesting to watch this week (18.898 sec, 100.201 MPH). With this being a short track his record may stand this weekend, but it will be a story to watch.
The other interesting thing to watch is NASCAR will now be transitioning back to some shorter tracks in the coming weeks. After starting out the year with mostly intermediate tracks, NASCAR will now see Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond in the coming weeks (Texas mixed in). So, will a different driver not named Harvick start to get on a roll? Who will it be?
But, this week I am ready to move on from all of that and focus on the next race. After all, sometimes its just good that people are talking about NASCAR. It shows how passionate fans are, but at the same time brings out some of the negative side in people that tends to happen in sports and competition.
So this week NASCAR heads to Martinsville and four drivers have pretty much locked up a Chase spot. Will Martinsville bring a fifth? Jimmie Johnson has already won this year and will most likely be a favorite, but guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon have not and may all get a chance on Sunday.
Things are sure to heat up here as it is the shortest track on the Cup schedule (0.526 miles). Last year Joey Logano set a new qualifying record that will be interesting to watch this week (18.898 sec, 100.201 MPH). With this being a short track his record may stand this weekend, but it will be a story to watch.
The other interesting thing to watch is NASCAR will now be transitioning back to some shorter tracks in the coming weeks. After starting out the year with mostly intermediate tracks, NASCAR will now see Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond in the coming weeks (Texas mixed in). So, will a different driver not named Harvick start to get on a roll? Who will it be?
The Good
- Jimmie Johnson- 8 career wins for JJ ties him with Gordon. JJ has 22 top 10's top 10's in 26 career starts at Martinsville to go along with 18 top 5's. So, needless to say, JJ is pretty good here.
- Jeff Gordon- It is still yet to be seen who will win #9 at Martinsville first, Gordon or JJ. Gordon is done running full time after 2015 so these maybe his last two shots at it. Last time NASCAR was here he finished second and has 21 top 10's in his last 24 starts here.
- Clint Bowyer- Bowyer has 6 straight top 10's (including 3 top 5's in that time). He also has 7 top 10's in his last 8 races here. You can almost count on a top 10 from Bowyer if he stays clean at Martinsville.
- Extra Credit- Denny Hamlin
The Middle
- Matt Kenseth- In 30 career starts Kenseth only has 11 top 10 finishes at Martinsville. However, three of those have been in his last three starts and he hasn't finished higher than 14th in his last six races.
The Bad
- Kyle Larson- Only three starts here, but in those three he has had two bad luck occurences. Do I expect him to stay on this list? No. But its still worth noting he has had some bad luck, and his one other race was a 27th place finish. He also has yet to start in the top 15.
- Michael McDowell- I hate putting the "little guys" on this list because being underfunded puts them at a disadvantage, but having 0 top 10's and the worst track average of any current CUp driver (36.6) will not excuse you from the "Bad."
- Casey Mears- In his last 11 starts at Martinsville Mears has only 3 top 20's and 1 top 15. When we are looking at smaller teams its really important to look at the 20-25 finish range to judge them on (because they just don't have the same funding). He has really struggled here since leaving Hendrick Motorsports.
Track Stats
- 8 straight Chevy wins here at Martinsville
- Other then Denny Hamlin (Toyota) Chevy has won 17 straight races. That's 17 of the past 21 races. If you add in Rusty Wallace's win in 2004 (Dodge) its 19 of the past 24.
- The race has been won from the Pole 4 times in the last 13 races.
- Most cautions was 21 in 2004 for 127 laps.
- The farthest back a winner has started from was 36th (Kurt Busch) in 2002 (10/20/2002). Kurt won in 2014 after starting 22nd (3/30/2014) and Dale Jr won after starting 23 (10/26/14)
Martinsville
Speedway
|
|||||
Race
|
Date
|
Cars
|
Winner(s)
|
St
|
Car
|
1949-06
|
9/25/1949
|
15
|
Red Byron
|
3
|
'49 Oldsmobile
|
1950-04
|
5/21/1950
|
25
|
Curtis Turner
|
'50 Oldsmobile
|
|
1950-17
|
10/15/1950
|
21
|
Herb Thomas
|
19
|
'50 Plymouth
|
1951-08
|
5/6/1951
|
35
|
Curtis Turner
|
7
|
'50 Oldsmobile
|
1951-34
|
10/14/1951
|
23
|
Frank Mundy
|
3
|
'51 Oldsmobile
|
1952-05
|
4/6/1952
|
22
|
Dick Rathman
|
9
|
'51 Hudson
|
1952-31
|
10/19/1952
|
29
|
Herb Thomas
|
2
|
'52 Hudson
|
1953-11
|
5/17/1953
|
35
|
Lee Petty
|
'53 Dodge
|
|
1953-36
|
10/18/1953
|
26
|
Jim Paschal
|
'53 Dodge
|
|
1954-12
|
5/16/1954
|
24
|
Jim Paschal
|
'53 Oldsmobile
|
|
1954-36
|
10/17/1954
|
44
|
Lee Petty
|
1
|
'54 Chrysler
|
1955-15
|
5/15/1955
|
27
|
Tim Flock
|
4
|
'55 Chrysler
|
1955-42
|
10/16/1955
|
28
|
Speedy Thompson
|
17
|
'55 Chrysler
|
1956-18
|
5/20/1956
|
35
|
Buck Baker
|
1
|
'56 Dodge
|
1956-54
|
10/28/1956
|
40
|
Jack Smith
|
23
|
'56 Dodge
|
1957-17
|
5/19/1957
|
24
|
Buck Baker
|
14
|
'57 Chevrolet
|
1957-49
|
10/6/1957
|
40
|
Bob Welborn
|
2
|
'57 Chevrolet
|
1958-12
|
4/20/1958
|
47
|
Bob Welborn
|
20
|
'57 Chevrolet
|
1958-49
|
10/12/1958
|
40
|
Fireball Roberts
|
4
|
'57 Chevrolet
|
1959-13
|
5/3/1959
|
40
|
Lee Petty
|
24
|
'57 Oldsmobile
|
1959-41
|
9/27/1959
|
47
|
Rex White
|
14
|
'59 Chevrolet
|
1960-10
|
4/10/1960
|
37
|
Richard Petty
|
4
|
'60 Plymouth
|
1960-40
|
9/25/1960
|
31
|
Rex White
|
2
|
'60 Chevrolet
|
1961-13
|
4/9/1961
|
27
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
2
|
'61 Ford
|
1961-18
|
4/30/1961
|
30
|
Junior Johnson
|
17
|
'61 Pontiac
|
1961-47
|
9/24/1961
|
29
|
Joe Weatherly
|
4
|
'61 Pontiac
|
1962-15
|
4/22/1962
|
32
|
Richard Petty
|
7
|
'62 Plymouth
|
1962-50
|
9/23/1962
|
37
|
Nelson Stacy
|
3
|
'62 Ford
|
1963-19
|
4/21/1963
|
33
|
Richard Petty
|
8
|
'63 Plymouth
|
1963-48
|
9/22/1963
|
36
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
2
|
'63 Ford
|
1964-19
|
4/26/1964
|
33
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
1
|
'64 Ford
|
1964-56
|
9/27/1964
|
40
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
1
|
'64 Ford
|
1965-12
|
4/25/1965
|
36
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
2
|
'65 Ford
|
1965-50
|
9/26/1965
|
37
|
Junior Johnson
|
3
|
'65 Ford
|
1966-14
|
4/24/1966
|
40
|
Jim Paschal
|
1
|
'66 Plymouth
|
1966-46
|
9/25/1966
|
40
|
Fred Lorenzen
|
2
|
'66 Ford
|
1967-14
|
4/23/1967
|
37
|
Richard Petty
|
2
|
'67 Plymouth
|
1967-45
|
9/24/1967
|
40
|
Richard Petty
|
5
|
'67 Plymouth
|
1968-12
|
4/28/1968
|
40
|
Cale Yarborough
|
3
|
'68 Mercury
|
1968-44
|
9/22/1968
|
40
|
Richard Petty
|
6
|
'68 Plymouth
|
1969-16
|
4/27/1969
|
40
|
Richard Petty
|
6
|
'69 Ford
|
1969-46
|
9/28/1969
|
40
|
Richard Petty
|
6
|
'69 Ford
|
1970-18
|
5/31/1970
|
39
|
Bobby Isaac
|
2
|
'69 Dodge
|
1970-45
|
10/18/1970
|
30
|
Richard Petty
|
4
|
'70 Plymouth
|
1971-15
|
4/25/1971
|
30
|
Richard Petty
|
3
|
'71 Plymouth
|
1971-41
|
9/26/1971
|
30
|
Bobby Isaac
|
1
|
'71 Dodge
|
1972-10
|
4/30/1972
|
36
|
Richard Petty
|
3
|
'72 Plymouth
|
1972-27
|
9/24/1972
|
36
|
Richard Petty
|
4
|
'72 Plymouth
|
1973-09
|
4/29/1973
|
34
|
David Pearson
|
1
|
'71 Mercury
|
1973-26
|
9/30/1973
|
36
|
Richard Petty
|
6
|
'73 Dodge
|
1974-09
|
4/28/1974
|
30
|
Cale Yarborough
|
1
|
'74 Chevrolet
|
1974-27
|
9/29/1974
|
30
|
Earl Ross
|
11
|
'72 Chevrolet
|
1975-09
|
4/27/1975
|
30
|
Richard Petty
|
6
|
'74 Dodge
|
1975-24
|
9/28/1975
|
30
|
Dave Marcis
|
7
|
'74 Dodge
|
1976-09
|
4/25/1976
|
30
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
1976-25
|
9/26/1976
|
30
|
Cale Yarborough
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
1977-09
|
4/24/1977
|
30
|
Cale Yarborough
|
5
|
Chevrolet
|
1977-25
|
9/25/1977
|
30
|
Cale Yarborough
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1978-09
|
4/23/1978
|
30
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1978-25
|
9/24/1978
|
30
|
Cale Yarborough
|
6
|
Oldsmobile
|
1979-09
|
4/22/1979
|
30
|
Richard Petty
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
1979-26
|
9/23/1979
|
30
|
Buddy Baker
|
7
|
Chevrolet
|
1980-09
|
4/27/1980
|
32
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
1980-27
|
9/28/1980
|
31
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
7
|
Chevrolet
|
1981-09
|
4/26/1981
|
31
|
Morgan Shepherd
|
12
|
Pontiac
|
1981-26
|
9/27/1981
|
30
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
1
|
Buick
|
1982-08
|
4/25/1982
|
31
|
Harry Gant
|
3
|
Buick
|
1982-27
|
10/17/1982
|
31
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
3
|
Buick
|
1983-07
|
4/24/1983
|
32
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1983-25
|
9/25/1983
|
29
|
Ricky Rudd
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
1984-08
|
4/29/1984
|
31
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
6
|
Chevrolet
|
1984-25
|
9/23/1984
|
31
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
1985-08
|
4/28/1985
|
30
|
Harry Gant
|
13
|
Chevrolet
|
1985-23
|
9/22/1985
|
31
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
11
|
Chevrolet
|
1986-08
|
4/27/1986
|
31
|
Ricky Rudd
|
4
|
Ford
|
1986-24
|
9/21/1986
|
30
|
Rusty Wallace
|
8
|
Pontiac
|
1987-08
|
4/26/1987
|
31
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
1987-24
|
9/27/1987
|
31
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
14
|
Chevrolet
|
1988-08
|
4/24/1988
|
32
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
14
|
Chevrolet
|
1988-24
|
9/25/1988
|
32
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
20
|
Chevrolet
|
1989-08
|
4/23/1989
|
32
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
10
|
Chevrolet
|
1989-24
|
9/24/1989
|
32
|
Darrell Waltrip
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
1990-08
|
4/29/1990
|
32
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
1
|
Ford
|
1990-24
|
9/23/1990
|
31
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
14
|
Ford
|
1991-08
|
4/28/1991
|
32
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
10
|
Chevrolet
|
1991-24
|
9/22/1991
|
32
|
Harry Gant
|
12
|
Oldsmobile
|
1992-08
|
4/26/1992
|
32
|
Mark Martin
|
14
|
Ford
|
1992-24
|
9/28/1992
|
31
|
Geoffrey Bodine
|
7
|
Ford
|
1993-08
|
4/25/1993
|
34
|
Rusty Wallace
|
5
|
Pontiac
|
1993-25
|
9/26/1993
|
34
|
Ernie Irvan
|
1
|
Ford
|
1994-08
|
4/24/1994
|
36
|
Rusty Wallace
|
1
|
Ford
|
1994-26
|
9/25/1994
|
36
|
Rusty Wallace
|
7
|
Ford
|
1995-08
|
4/23/1995
|
36
|
Rusty Wallace
|
15
|
Ford
|
1995-26
|
9/24/1995
|
36
|
Dale Earnhardt
|
2
|
Chevrolet
|
1996-08
|
4/21/1996
|
36
|
Rusty Wallace
|
5
|
Ford
|
1996-26
|
9/22/1996
|
36
|
Jeff Gordon
|
10
|
Chevrolet
|
1997-08
|
4/20/1997
|
42
|
Jeff Gordon
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
1997-27
|
9/28/1997
|
42
|
Jeff Burton
|
10
|
Ford
|
1998-08
|
4/20/1998
|
43
|
Bobby Hamilton
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
1998-27
|
9/27/1998
|
43
|
Ricky Rudd
|
2
|
Ford
|
1999-08
|
4/18/1999
|
43
|
John Andretti
|
21
|
Pontiac
|
1999-28
|
10/3/1999
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
5
|
Chevrolet
|
2000-8
|
4/9/2000
|
43
|
Mark Martin
|
21
|
Ford
|
2000-28
|
10/1/2000
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
1
|
Pontiac
|
2001-08
|
4/8/2001
|
43
|
Dale Jarrett
|
13
|
Ford
|
2001-30
|
10/15/2001
|
43
|
Ricky Craven
|
6
|
Ford
|
2002-08
|
4/14/2002
|
43
|
Bobby Labonte
|
15
|
Pontiac
|
2002-32
|
10/20/2002
|
43
|
Kurt Busch
|
36
|
Ford
|
2003-09
|
4/13/2003
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2003-32
|
10/19/2003
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2004-08
|
4/18/2004
|
43
|
Rusty Wallace
|
17
|
Dodge
|
2004-32
|
10/24/2004
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
18
|
Chevrolet
|
2005-06
|
4/10/2005
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
16
|
Chevrolet
|
2005-32
|
10/23/2005
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
15
|
Chevrolet
|
2006-06
|
4/2/2006
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
3
|
Chevrolet
|
2006-32
|
10/22/2006
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
9
|
Chevrolet
|
2007-06
|
4/1/2007
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
20
|
Chevrolet
|
2007-32
|
10/21/2007
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
2008-06
|
3/30/2008
|
43
|
Denny Hamlin
|
2
|
Toyota
|
2008-32
|
10/19/2008
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2009-06
|
3/29/2009
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
9
|
Chevrolet
|
2009-32
|
10/25/2009
|
43
|
Denny Hamlin
|
17
|
Toyota
|
2010-06
|
3/29/2010
|
43
|
Denny Hamlin
|
19
|
Toyota
|
2010-32
|
10/24/2010
|
43
|
Denny Hamlin
|
1
|
Toyota
|
2011-06
|
4/3/2011
|
43
|
Kevin Harvick
|
9
|
Chevrolet
|
2011-33
|
10/30/2011
|
43
|
Tony Stewart
|
4
|
Chevrolet
|
2012-06
|
4/1/2012
|
43
|
Ryan Newman
|
5
|
Chevrolet
|
2012-33
|
10/28/2012
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2013-06
|
4/7/2013
|
43
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
1
|
Chevrolet
|
2013-33
|
10/27/2013
|
43
|
Jeff Gordon
|
9
|
Chevrolet
|
2014-06
|
3/30/2014
|
43
|
Kurt Busch
|
22
|
Chevrolet
|
2014-33
|
10/26/2014
|
43
|
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
|
23
|
Chevrolet
|
Martinsville Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment