Beccas Pace Lap

Bristol Motor Speedway -- 03/22/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Friday Mar 20 2009 9:28pm

Becca's Pace Lap: Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

• Front Row: Mark Martin (P1), Ryan Newman (P2)

• Pole Qualifying Speed: 125.773 miles per hour

• Highest Starting Rookie: Scott Speed - starts 11th

• To the Rear: Michael Waltrip (practice crash Friday)

• Fastest Qualifier by Manufacturer:
Chevy: Mark Martin (1st)
Dodge: Kasey Kahne (5th)
Ford: Greg Biffle (4th)
Toyota: David Reutimann (6th)

• Outside the Top 35 Who Made the Field:
A.J. Allmendinger
Dave Blaney
Todd Bodine
David Gilliland
Travis Kvapil
Sterling Marlin
Joe Nemechek
Tony Stewart

• Outside the Top 35 Who Missed the Cut:
Jeremy Mayfield
Scott Riggs

• Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, 59°F, SW winds at 5-10 mph

• Race Notes:

Last year's race winner: Jeff Burton (March race)

Most recent winner here: Carl Edwards (August night race)

This is Mark Martin’s second consecutive pole, having sat on the pole at Atlanta last race. Martin, who ran 6th in practice Friday, says his ability to roll the center is the key to being fast at Bristol.

David Reutimann had the fastest car in Friday’s practice session at 125.757 miles per hour. Toyota has never been to Victory Lane at Bristol in the Cup series.

Greg Biffle is nursing bruised ribs after a boating accident during the off week. Matt Kenseth is filling in for Biffle in the Nationwide Race, but Biffle will be okay for Sunday and qualified his Cup car 4th. Biffle has an average finish of 7.0 in his last five Bristol races, despite the fact that he did not lead any laps (or win) during that span.

Bristol has two pits roads consisting of 21 pit stalls on the frontstretch and 21 on the backstretch for a total of 42 stalls. With 43 cars in the race, two cars will share the last pit stall.

Chevy leads all manufacturers in Cup wins at Bristol with 41, followed by Ford with 33 and Dodge with 6.

Kevin Harvick has the best average finish among active drivers at Bristol with a 9.6. Along with one win, Harvick has four 2nd-, one 3rd- and three 4th-place finishes.

• Quotes of the Week:

“The track doesn’t run us into each other. We run ourselves into each other. I’ve never seen a race track drive a race car yet - it’s the guys that do it. It was kind of disappointing after we ran the first couple of races here how everybody said, ‘Well, it’s not as exciting.’” If you want to go see people crashing each other all day, wait until fair season - they have demolition derbies at every county fair across the country.” – Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 39, on racing at Bristol since it was repaved in 2007.

“Everybody in this room, and some of you have criticized him yourselves, know how smart a guy he is - truly know that he is a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. He just wanted to do this for a living, just like I do, but I’ll take the fall. I would rather be crucified than him, because every time I read in the paper that people are on his case, I feel like I am sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed.` – Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88, on the criticism of crew chief and cousin Tony Eury Jr.

• Current oddsmakers' favorite:

Jeff Gordon +500

• Long shots to watch:

Matt Kenseth +1800

Dale Earnhardt Jr. +2000

Clint Bowyer +2000

* All information current at press time

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User	Comment
Perdy	What a race! I thoroughly enjoyed today`s race. And I will be turning over a few dollars to my co-worker tomorrow because I lost a bet! I was surprised Kyle did it again.
junkyard	Funny how Kenseth has won a few this year and yet still remains a longshot for this weekend`s race. Jr. needs to get his head right and finally do something this season too.
RIRmama	I`m happy for Mark Martin. He is a great racer and I`m glad to see him where he`s at. Let`s go Gordon! You can do it! I will be watching with my fingers crossed!
brownlee59	Alright Kasey! 5th place as fastest dodge. That`s not too bad. Maybe he has a chance this time. Mark Martin is still amazing me. The pole sitter again.
RaceFan88	I feel for Michael Waltrip. On this track, being at the back of the pack put you alreay one-half lap down. He`s going to need some smart driving all the while having a clean race to move up towards the front. Hopefully, he`ll avoid any crashes that occur.
OGr8ty8	Although Dale is an oddsmakers` long shot, he definitely has what it takes to win but he would need to get to the front and stay there without being involved in a crash.
NapaFave55	Mark Martin continues to show he has what it takes to be at the front of the pack. Bristol has been no different. No matter the betting odds, if he can just stay out front and out of trouble, he has the best chance for a win.
jamming	That`s interesting that you and the other article writer here have differing opinions. You both pick Jeff Gordon but he says it will be a duel with Gordon and Bowyer but you put Bowyer as a long shot. I have to agree with you on Bowyer.