Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500
Martinsville Speedway
By Richard Tix
Now that NASCAR is mid week some of the drama has settled down in the racing community. The angry tweets that were included to DeLana Harvick have slowed down (which might I add is totally uncalled for and embarrassing. It is not ok no matter how upset you are to go after Harvicks wife. It is bad enough the stuff "fans" tweet to driver, but to include someone who is not involved is down right pitiful. It is the downfalls of a social media world that is normally a great place to get information and reach out to fan bases).
NASCAR ruled that they found nothing on the incident and would not punish anyone with no evidence. Now, I will still stand by my statements in the Talladega Review, but I also noted that if nothing is found that NASCAR can not do anything, so we need to move on.
That Talladega race will always be remembered for the finish, but this week a new Chase round starts and only 8 drivers have a shot at Miami. Gordon is actually a favorite this weekend as he could lock himself in with a Martinsville win (8 career wins), but guys like Johnson, Hamlin, and Kenseth could wreck the party. Not to mention strong runs from Logano, Harvick, or Keselowski (all Chase drivers).
Martinsville is also a track that bad blood brought up in the last round could come back out. Kenseth or Hamlin (still upset about the Harvick incident) could retaliate. So, plenty of story lines follow NASCAR into this weekend and it will be fun to see which, if any, play out.
If you need more to get excited about, check out some Martinsville Finishes in this Video Article.
NASCAR ruled that they found nothing on the incident and would not punish anyone with no evidence. Now, I will still stand by my statements in the Talladega Review, but I also noted that if nothing is found that NASCAR can not do anything, so we need to move on.
That Talladega race will always be remembered for the finish, but this week a new Chase round starts and only 8 drivers have a shot at Miami. Gordon is actually a favorite this weekend as he could lock himself in with a Martinsville win (8 career wins), but guys like Johnson, Hamlin, and Kenseth could wreck the party. Not to mention strong runs from Logano, Harvick, or Keselowski (all Chase drivers).
Martinsville is also a track that bad blood brought up in the last round could come back out. Kenseth or Hamlin (still upset about the Harvick incident) could retaliate. So, plenty of story lines follow NASCAR into this weekend and it will be fun to see which, if any, play out.
If you need more to get excited about, check out some Martinsville Finishes in this Video Article.
The Good
- Jeff Gordon- Gordon has been around Martinsville, just a few times... In his 45 starts he has 36 top 10's and 28 top 5's. Gordon also has 8 career wins, so maybe he can lock himself into the Finale at Miami this weekend?
- Jimmie Johnson- 27 career starts and 22 top 10's. He does have back to back 30+ finishes, but that doesn't mean he has lost his touch, he still has 8 career wins here.
- Denny Hamlin- This Springs Martinsville winner, Hamlin now has 5 career wins that just trail's the two above drivers for most wins of a current driver. He could steal a win from a Chase contender.
- Matt Kenseth- Martinsville has become a much better track for Kenseth as of late. He comes in with four straight top 10's including two top 5's. In the last 7 he has 5 top 10's and 7 top 15's. He has yet to win here, but if he runs like he has been he could be a threat.
The Middle
- Kyle Busch- His last three finishes at Martinsville have all fallen between 11th and 15th. In his last six starts here he has an average finish of 18.33.
The Bad
- Ryan Newman- Newman has had his share of good finishes here, but lately that hasn't been the case. Newman has 4 finishes of 20th or worse in his last 5 starts here. In the last 10 here he only has 3 top 10's.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr- Five starts and no top 10's, one top 15, and two top 25's. Stenhouse also has three finishes of 31st or higher here.
- Kyle Larson- Is it that Kyle just can't keep it clean here? I am not sure, but Kyle has three starts here and all three are 27th or worse. He also started 26th or worse two of the three starts which does not help his cause.
Track Stats
- 8 straight Chevy wins here at Martinsville before Denny Hamlin won earlier this year.
- Other then Denny Hamlin (Toyota) Chevy has won 17 straight races. That's 17 of the past 22 races. If you add in Rusty Wallace's win in 2004 (Dodge) its 19 of the past 25.
- The race has been won from the Pole 4 times in the last 14 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)
- Since 2003 Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, or Denny Hamlin have won 18 of 25 races.
- Richard Petty has the most career Martinsville wins: 15 to go along with 30 top 5's and 37 top 10's.
- Darrell Waltrip has the most career pole awards at Martinsville with 8.
Martinsville
Speedway
|
|||||
Race
|
Date
|
Cars
|
Winner(s)
|
St
|
Make / Model
|
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
|
2000-08
|
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
|
2015-06
|
3/29/2015
|
43
|
Denny Hamlin
|
15
|
Toyota
|
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