Goody`s Fast Relief 500 Race Preview

Martinsville Speedway -- 03/29/2009

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Tuesday Mar 24 2009 9:14pm

NASCAR drivers say that at some tracks, the key to going fast is to go slow. It sounds counterintuitive, but Martinsville is one of those tracks, as Jeff Gordon explains: “You must have a lot of patience here. Just to run a single lap by yourself, you have to be patient and not overdrive the car - and you certainly need to be more patient when it comes to traffic. From an observer’s vantage point, it’s probably just one constant flow of cars, but for me, it’s just that one, two or three cars ahead of me that I’m focusing on.`

Though Bristol – the site of last week’s race – and Martinsville are often compared to each other, there are as many differences as there are similarities. One of the differences between the two tracks is the degree of banking, which also affects the average running speeds. At Bristol, the high 36-degree banking in the turns generates much faster speeds than the relatively flat 12-degree banking at Martinsville. At last weekend’s Bristol race, for example, the average race speed was 92.139 miles per hour. At Martinsville last spring, the race averaged just 73.163 miles per hour. Even qualifying here doesn’t exceed 100 miles per hour.

Among the similarities, according to Pat Suhy, GM Racing NASCAR Group Manager, is the importance of qualifying well, and the difficulties of negotiating pit road: “Pit road is always a challenge as well, with some of the smallest pit stalls our teams have to deal with all year. Qualifying is always important, but at Martinsville a good qualifying effort is critical in order to pick the ‘best of the worst’ pit spot and have the ever-important track position to get out ahead of early race wrecks that are frequent there.” In fact, 75% of the Martinsville races have been won from a top-10 starting spot, including 18 from the pole.

Martinsville is just 0.526 miles around and is often described as paperclip-shaped. The track opened in 1947 – a year before NASCAR was formed. A NASCAR-sanctioned race was first held here in 1948 and the first Strictly Stock race at Martinsville took place in 1949.

In all, there have been 120 Cup races at Martinsville, and you can’t begin to talk about the track’s recent history without bringing up the record of Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team. Johnson has won four of the past five Martinsville races and five of the past nine – though four of those five were October races and just one (2007) was a March race. Aside from his inaugural race here in 2002, Johnson hasn’t finished lower than 9th in 13 subsequent starts and currently has a string of seven top-5 finishes.

Likewise, Chevy in general has dominated this track in recent years, with GM winning 10 of the past 12 outings including both spring and fall dates. The only non-GM drivers to win here in the past six years have been Rusty Wallace in a Dodge in 2004 and Denny Hamlin in a Toyota in 2008. Chevy has 45 victories overall to Ford’s 26.

Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in Martinsville wins with seven, to Johnson’s five, though Gordon’s came in 32 starts and Johnson’s in just 14. Mark Martin and Tony Stewart have two wins each, while single race winners include Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch.

Johnson also leads all drivers in the average finish category with an impressive 5.6, followed by Gordon, Hamlin, Stewart, and Juan Pablo Montoya. Gordon won the March race in 2005, Stewart in 2006, Johnson in 2007, and Hamlin in 2008.

Not surprisingly, Johnson also leads all drivers in total points accumulated at this track, whether you look at the data for the last two races here or the last ten including both March and October dates. Over the last five races, Johnson is followed in this category by Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Tony Stewart. Rounding out the top 10 are Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton.

Looking solely at their performance on the circuit’s three short tracks combined - Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond - Jeff Gordon leads active drivers in points accumulated over the last ten races (both fall and spring dates), followed by Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Surprisingly, the drivers with the lowest accumulated points totals during that period include Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth.

Current odds for select drivers for the Goodies Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway:

Jimmie Johnson +350
Jeff Gordon +450
Kyle Busch +500
Denny Hamlin +500

Carl Edwards +1500
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +1500
Kurt Busch +1500
Kevin Harvick +1800

Tony Stewart +2000
Kasey Kahne +2000
Clint Bowyer +2000

Matt Kenseth +2500
Greg Biffle +2500
Mark Martin +2500
Jeff Burton +2500

Please check back before the race for our practice and qualifying update.

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User	Comment
GordaFan24	I`m glad Jeff is in the front row but this is so often Jimmie`s race to win or lose. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I hope the weather doesn`t play a factor on Sunday. It would be disappointing if it got cut short like the Daytona 500.
brownlee59	Hey 2nd place, That`s great! Your gonna love it. I learned something new here today. I didn`t know that the degree of the bank affected the speed. The first time I went to Daytona I couodn`t believe the degree of thier bank. Wow!
Nascar Groupie	I`ve always loved this race. Me and my husband have been watching Nascar for years now and this is one of our favorites. Looks like Jeff Gordon will pick up a win here in my opinion
2nd Place	Looks like were going to have good weather for the race this weekend. I`m planning on going to a Nascar Race for the first time here.
Ted	Some are fine here in Martinsville but not all and that makes me think there is going to be a wipe of some sort. Its just a gut feeling but I got it so what can I say.
Karlee	I`ve got to say, the shorter tracks are not that thrilling for me. I feel like they`re "taking it easy" and the excitement is lacking. I will submit that Johnson and Gordon will indeed lead in this one. I wish Edwards was doing a bit better though.
junkyard	The odds are in favor of Kyle Busch, Gordon and Johnson. Of those three I`m betting on Busch, as much as I hate to. I would like to see Stewart or Bowyer but it probably won`t be either of them.
Perdy	Who doesn`t like watching the short tracks? They`re a ball of fun to watch! Can Busch pull it off again this weekend? He`s running on adrenaline right now so it`s possible.
OGr8ty8	Dale Earnhardt Jr should place well or even win this weekend. I will put money on him to win as I think it`s his time. If it`s not him, consistency votes for Jimmie Johnson. If either of them qualify in the top-10, it will be an exciting race to the end.
NapaFave55	For me, the odds are right on because I think it`s definitely between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. It`s not surprising to me that Jimmie, first, and then Jeff lead for points earned at the track. They bring their "A" game to every race. I hope qualifying goes well for both.
RaceFan88	It`s amazing that the speed average last spring was 73mph. That`s slow compared to many race track standards. It`s interesting that with a speed such as that, 75% of the races have been won by someone in the top 10 starting positions. I think any driver would be able to move up easily from back to front. I get passed pretty easily on my local freeways by people going faster than that. I would like to think that Dale Jr has a good chance here but I`m going to put my money on Jimmie Johnson. I`ve missed seeing him in the winner`s circle.
TrafficJam	Any of the top four in odds could win this easily depending on their starting position. Like the writer said, this track is all about starting positions and we will have to wait till the qualifiers are over to see how that is going to line up
FastTrack	Jimmie Johnson seems to do very well on this track or has done so in the past. Jeff Gordon does pretty well here too. I think were looking at a face off between these two top contenders here.
Cal	Many end up eating it in Martinsville so its going to be hard to tell who has practiced enough to try and take this. If its someone from the way back they are going to be working it hard to get caught up with some of these other guys.
jamming	I really think it`s too early in the season to see Jimmie Johnson take this race. Maybe Kyle Busch, though. Not that I`m a big Busch brothers fan but I think he looks promising this year, at least for this race.
crosby	This week I have a feeling it`s going to be either Johnson or Gordon for a win. They both run strong in Martinsville and they both need a win. I`d like to see Johnson before Gordon though. Should be a good race.
RIRmama	We were supposed to be going to the race this weekend but it doesn`t look like it`ll happen now. I love Martinsville! It`s a fun track and great race to watch. I didn`t realize the track was quite that old though.
ryder_29	I bet that Jeff Gordon could make it at the Martinsville race since he knows his driving style at that track but I wouldn`t blame him speak "you have to be patient and not overdrive the car..." if Kyle Busch won the race. Maybe safety driving is his main concern.
jade06	Paper-clip shaped? Wow, I`ve never witnessed a track like that. I wonder how the stock cars would react while driving on that track. How I wish I could come see the race but the place is too far away.
brix12	What an exciting track! When you view the track from the air, it is actually paper-clip shaped. I just hope that Martinsville track is safer than other oval tracks, and no more car wrecks would happen.
Tetchie	It sounds like Jeff Gordon memorizes driving at the Martinsville from the way he spoke about being patient while driving on the track. I`ve never heard him having engine issues lately so maybe that`s why he`ll go slow when driving at every race track.