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Posted on March 26, 2008
Martinsville 101
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 20th
April 2007 Pole Sitter: #24-Denny
Hamlin, 95.103, finished 3rd
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 1st, 1st
and 1st making his average
finish 1st 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 5th,
2nd and 3rd 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 2nd, 3rd
and 6th making his average
3.7 for the last 3 races.
You can
contact Mike at
mikewells@wellsgatorfan.com
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