Whose Title Is it? Gordon, Johnson Battle For “Mr. Martinsville”
Together, they own seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles, but for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) only one matters this weekend:
Mr Martinsville.
Johnson, the reigning and three-time series champion, and Gordon, the four-time series champion, both excel at the famed .526-mile short track. But even the word “excel” may be too bland.
They ace the place.
As such, Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 could be a duel for dominance.
Gordon and Johnson have combined to win nine of the last 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Martinsville — the highlight their bumper-banging, one-two finish (Johnson first, Gordon second) in the spring 2007 event.
Johnson has won five of those nine races, Gordon four. They also rank one-two (Johnson first, Gordon second) in a crucial pre-race NASCAR Loop Data category, Driver Rating. Johnson leads at 124.7. Gordon is next at 124.0.
More crazy-good numbers for Johnson: He averages a top-10 finish at 10 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ 22 tracks. Martinsville ranks second on that list, with Johnson’s average finish there at 5.6. His best (5.5) is at Phoenix International Raceway. He also leads two other pre-race Loop Data categories for Martinsville — Average Running Position (6.4) and Laps in the Top 15 (3,579, or 89.3%).
Gordon leads all active drivers with seven wins and seven poles at Martinsville. He also has 20 top fives and 26 top 10s in 32 starts there. He’s finished in the top five in the last eight Martinsville events. His average finish there — 6.9 — is nearly two positions better than his second-best track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (8.6).
Kyle Busch Seeks To Master Martinsville
After winning last week at Bristol Motor Speedway and climbing to fourth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) faces down one of his racing challenges this week at Martinsville Speedway.
The historic half-mile has held one of the series’ hottest drivers at bay, with Busch posting three top fives and four top 10s in eight series starts there. According to pre-race NASCAR Loop Data statistics for Martinsville, Busch has an Average Running Position of 14.9, with his best finishes a pair of fourths in 2007.
He finished 38th there last spring and 29th last fall, both due to brake problems.
“The first race locking up rear brakes and eventually breaking the rear gear, and then the second race overheating the front brakes and popping right-front beads,” Busch said. “We went and tested at Little Rock to try and get our brakes squared away and we found out how to pop right-front beads over and over. We fixed that problem. We used to pop them in 46 to 50 laps and now we can go 80 laps straight and not see a darn issue.”
Busch heads into this weekend at Martinsville with momentum, having won a national series race in each of the last four weeks. Last Sunday, it was the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Bristol. Two weeks ago, he won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Atlanta. Three weeks ago, he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at his hometown track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and a month ago, he swept both the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events at Auto Club Speedway.
Don’t Forget Denny: Defending Martinsville Winner On A Quiet Roll
With much focus given to the Jeff Gordon-Jimmie Johnson dominance at Martinsville Speedway, and Kyle Busch’s recent hot streak, Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota) has crept up the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings largely unnoticed.
He finished second to Busch, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, an effort that propelled him into the top 12 for the first time this season.
Now comes Martinsville, which wears a big bulls-eye on Hamlin’s schedule.
“This is a great track, with a ton of history and special style of racing,” he said. “I think it’s where I am at my best and I know the entire No. 11 FedEx team circles the Martinsville races on the calendar.”
Hamlin’s quiet climb has been a season-long effort.
Starting with a 26th-place in the Daytona 500, he moved to 15th after a sixth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway. A 22nd-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway moved him to 14th in the standings, before last week’s runner-up effort.
The Bristol finish vaulted Hamlin six spots, to eighth in the series standings. And now he anticipates Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500, of which he — a Virginia native — is the defending winner.
“The experience of winning a Cup race here, at a Virginia track where I raced Late Models a few years ago, and in front of great racing fans and in front of my family, was something I will never forget,” Hamlin said. “And to have a Martinsville clock sitting in my home that I see everyday – it reminds me of that day and also how much went into getting to that point.”
Hamlin ranks fifth in pre-race Driver Rating for Martinsville (101.3), per NASCAR Loop Data statistics.
His average finish of 8.9 ranks third best behind Johnson (5.6) and Gordon (6.9), respectively.
Gilliland, No. 71 Chevrolet In 35th As 2009 Car Owner Standings Take Effect At Martinsville
Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 marks the season’s first event where competitors who are not in the top 35 of the 2009 car owner standings must qualify for a starting position.
Prior to this week, the final 2008 car owner standings were used to “lock in” the top 35.
For the rest of the season, the top 35 in each week’s owner standings are guaranteed a starting spot. Everyone else must qualify on time.
Top-35 positioning is crucial to those teams hovering just above or below the “bubble”. The team occupying the 35th position this week is the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by David Gilliland and owned by Kevin Buckler.
The No. 71 was 34th in owner points heading into last week’s event at Bristol. Gilliland managed to stay in the top 35 with a 36th-place finish there.
“Being 35th in owner points is like having the last seat in the last life boat on the Titanic,” Buckler said. “You breathe a sigh of relief, but you are still out in the freezing ocean waiting for a life line.”
Now comes Martinsville, with its tight confines and little room for error.
“We will be able to go to Martinsville and unload the car in race trim and run,” said Gilliland of the advantage for his team and crew chief Slugger Labbe. “Slugger and the guys will be able to work on it and get it a little closer to what we need in the race. It will definitely help us in our situation to be better on Sunday. I am excited to be able to work on the race setup when we unload.”
The No. 82 Team Red Bull Toyota driven by Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Scott Speed and owned by Dietrich Mateschitz, is 36th, 21 points out of 35th.
The No. 8 Guitar Hero Chevrolet driven by Aric Almirola and owned by Chip Ganassi is 37th, also 21 points out of 35th; the No. 82 earns the 36th spot due to a tiebreaker. Both drivers have a season-best finish of 21st; Speed won the tiebreaker with a higher second-best finish to date, a 28th compared to Almirola’s 30th.
Close behind — by one point — is the No. 98 Energizer/Menards Ford driven by Paul Menard and owned by Max Jones. The 96 is 26 points out of 35th.
Above the “bubble,” the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet driven by another Raybestos Rookie contender, Joey Logano, and owned by Joe Gibbs, is 34th, 14 points ahead of Gilliland.
Further ahead, in 33rd, is the No. 34 Taco Bell Chevrolet driven by John Andretti and owned by Teresa Earnhardt. The No. 34 is 41 points ahead of the 35th-place No. 71 driven by Gilliland.
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