I watched my first race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August of 2002, amongst a sold out crowd of over 150,000 when I watched Jeff Gordon execute the bump and run on Rusty Wallace with three laps remaining in the Sharpie 500.
It is common for this writer to say I love Martinsville Speedway. Some say it’s because my home is only 150 (give or take) miles from the speedway. Some try to get into my mind and say it’s because it was the first speedway I ever visited, but the truth of the matter is that little paper clip-shaped track is exactly how the whole phenomenon we now call NASCAR started.
From the first short track of the season with the grandfather clock as the trophy, here is what was surprising and not surprising from Martinsville Speedway’s STP 500.
Kyle Larson, the 2014 Sprint Rookie of the Year, fainted during an autograph session at Martinsville Speedway Saturday afternoon and was taken to Martinsville Memorial Hospital for an initial evaluation.
It will be the 133rd time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the .526 mile paper clip in southern Virginia, and the winner of the STP 500 will go home with one of the most unique and coveted pieces of hardware in the sport - a grandfather clock from the Ridgeway Clock Company.
Joey Logano turned in the fastest lap of the day Friday to win the Virginia Lottery Pole Day pole and claim the top starting spot for the STP 500 Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series head to Martinsville Speedway this weekend. The XFINITY Series is off and will return April 10 at Texas Motor Speedway.
So if you haven’t heard, Kevin Harvick is on a pretty decent run. The defending Champion has finished first or second the last seven straight races. The only drivers able to keep up with him this season have been Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano, and even then both have had problems, with Johnson having a miserable Las Vegas and Logano seemingly hitting a metaphoric wall and fading back in the last quarter of most races.
His smile is infectious and his exuberance contagious. Nowhere was that more evident than in victory lane after Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally won at Martinsville Speedway. He’s an unexpected combination of vulnerability and a hidden strength born of tragedy that endears him to not only his fans but his fellow competitors as well. When Earnhardt wins it’s difficult not to get caught up in his joy.
Hosting the first Eliminator race in the Chase, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 66th annual Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
