Posted on March 26, 2008

Martinsville 101

by Mike Wells About The Author	Email   Print

What do you think about when you hear the words “Pretty Paperclip”? I bet it’s not Martinsville Speedway.

The speedway is in the shape of a paperclip and is in the opinion of some people “The Pretty Paperclip Track”.  At 0.526 miles (847 meters) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved "speedways" in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles.

The speedway opened in 1947, with only 750 seats and over the years has grown continuously. In 1951, only 4 cars were running at the finish, the fewest of any race held at the speedway. The track configuration has not changed since it was paved in 1955.

In 2004, the track was sold to the France family for $192 million as a result of an estate sale following the death of Weatherford.

The speedway is located three miles south of Martinsville, Va., and is the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still running Cup Series events.

Richard Petty is the track’s leading winner with 15 victories, but the most recent leader would be Jeff Gordon’s 7 wins since 1996.

The track is known for it’s two unique attributes. One is that the winner of the race receives a Grandfather clock (a nod to Martinsville's famous furniture industry) as their trophy. Another unique trophy is the custom Gibson guitars given as trophies at the Nashville Superspeedway. Second would have to be it’s famous $2 hotdog. These are not just regular dogs, they contain a certain shade of red coloring that stain the buns, but the fans and the race crew members swear by them.

Bad-On-Brakes! Since the track is so short and paperclip shaped, drivers have to drag race on the straight-aways then stand on the brakes in the corners to negotiate the 180 degree turn going back out. It’s not uncommon for a driver to have problems with their brakes overheating or even failure before the race is over. The broadcast crew normally mount a camera on a car under the fender in full view of the glowing red cherry colored brake pads as the drivers are going through the turns.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne will help give race fans the ultimate hospitality experience at Martinsville Speedway prior to the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on March 30.

Jeff Gordon will be in the Pepsi Fan Zone, Stewart will be in the Goody’s Cool Orange Fan Zone and Kahne will be in the Bud Fan Zone.

The drivers will take time out of their schedule the morning of the race to visit the designated hospitality fan areas. Each driver will be under tents in their area. They will not be signing autographs but they will interact in a question and answer session with the fans. Fans wanting to get up close and personal with these drivers, enjoy a continental breakfast, lunch buffet, Pepsi products, beer coupons, souvenirs, and door prizes will have to open their wallets or purses to pay a price of $99.

College football mixes with racing when VT football coach Frank Beamer becomes the Grand Marshall. He will also be giving the command to start engines.

  Track schedule;

Practices:
Friday, March 28, 12:00 - 1:30pm/et, TV-SPEED;
Saturday, March 29, 11:30am - 12:15pm/et, TV-SPEED

Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, March 29, 12:50 - 1:50pm/et on TV-SPEED

Qualifying: Friday, March 28 at 3:40pm/et, TV-SPEED

Race Coverage of the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at                  Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 30, 2008.
TV: Fox in Hi-Def at 1:30pm/et

  Track Stats;

     April 2007 Race Winner: #48-Jimmie Johnson, 70.258, started 20^th

     April 2007 Pole Sitter: #24-Denny Hamlin, 95.103, finished 3^rd

     Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, October 2005, 98.083mph

     Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, October 2005, 98.083mph

     Most Wins - Active Driver: Jeff Gordon, 7

     Most Wins - All Time: Richard Petty, 15

     Most Poles - Active Driver: Jeff Gordon, 6

     Most Poles - All Time: Darrell Waltrip, 8

     Most Top 5s: 30 - Richard Petty

     Most Top 10s: 37 - Richard Petty

     Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 51 years, 8 months, 12 days, 9/22/91

     Youngest Winner: Richard Petty, 22 years, 9 months, 8 days, 4/10/60

     Most Cautions: 19 - 10/23/2005

     Fewest Cautions: 1 - 3 times, most recently 4/25/71

     Most Caution Laps: 125, 10/24/2004

     Fewest Caution Laps: 3, 4/25/71

     Most Running at the Finish: 42 - 4/18/1999 and 4/1/2007

     Fewest Running at the Finish: 4 - 5/6/1951

     Worst Starting Spot to Win: Kurt Busch, Oct 2002, started 36th

     Most Lead Changes: 25 - 9/28/80

     Fewest Lead Changes: 1 - 3 times,recently 4/9/61

     Most Wins by Manufacturer: 43 - Chevy

     Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 4 - John Andretti 4/18/99

     Most Laps Led by a Race Winner: 493 - Fred Lorenzen, 9/27/64

     Races won from the top 10: 85 of 118 - 71.8%

     Races won from the top 5: 62 of 118 - 52.1%

     Races won from starting pos 1: 17 [of 118] 14.4%

Top 3 Drivers in recent years at Martinsville

1| Jimmie Johnson has an average of 6.2 here, but in the last 3 races he has placed 1^st, 1^st and 1^st making his average finish 1^st for the last 3 races. He will be a driver to watch.

2| Jeff Gordon has an average of 6.7, but in the last 3 races he has placed 5^th, 2^nd and 3^rd making his average 5.0 for the last 3 races.

3| Denny Hamlin has an average finish of 11.2, but in the last 3 races he has finished 2^nd, 3^rd and 6^th making his average 3.7 for the last 3 races.

You can contact Mike at mikewells@wellsgatorfan.com

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