|
 Back to SOZ's Main Page &
VOTE for the best driver MUG SHOT!
Martinsville Race Recap 10 Years 1998/2008
4/2/08: SOZ Studios, MI - By Gregg Shultz (RaceFanVote.com)
The Old…
In 1998, the spring Martinsville race was run April 20th and was named the "Goody's Headache Powder 500" with 49,000 fans in attendance. There was a full field of 43 cars with Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Dave Marcis and Gary Bradberry failing to qualify for the event which was number 8 of the 33-race season.
Bobby Hamilton was the pole sitter as well as the race winner. The margin of victory was 6.376 seconds with six cars on the lead lap.
There were 14 cautions for 96 laps with only 4 being labeled as an "accident", 8 "spins" although several times multiple cars were involved and 2 back to back debris cautions.
There were 16 lead changes with 6 different lap leaders.
The top ten finishers (Sponsor-Owners) were:
Bobby Hamilton (Kodak Max Film Chevrolet-Larry McClure)
Ted Musgrave (Primestar Ford-Jack Roush)
Dale Jarrett (Quality Care/Ford Credit-Yates)
Dale Earnhardt (GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet-Childress)
Randy Lajoie (Budweiser Chevrolet-Hendrick)
Rusty Wallace (Miller Lite Ford-Penske)
Jeremy Mayfield (Mobil 1 Ford-Michael Kranefuss)
Jeff Gordon (DuPont Automotive Refinishes Chevrolet-Hendrick)
Ernie Irvan (Skittles Pontiac-Nelson Bowers)
Ken Schrader (Skoal Bandit Chevrolet-Andy Petree)
The biggest story of the weekend was the weather with a rain delay during qualifying and Sunday's race being rescheduled for Monday. There was some controversy amongst drivers about the track conditions being very different during qualifying because of the delay. The topic was reported on because of how important qualifying is at Martinsville.
The Track…
Martinsville still holds the distinction of being a single line race track same as it has always been. It is also well known for having one of the toughest pit lanes on the circuit. The same configuration still exists today and even with the new style cars the action is nearly the same.
The New…
The "Goody's Cool Orange 500" Sunday March 30th, 2008. The race for track position started Friday with qualifying at the .526 low-banked short track known as the "paperclip". Tickets sales reflected a nearly sold out race, but the weather conditions prompted some not to attend. The reported attendance numbers were 63,000 which means that to the fans they sold 126,000 Martinsville (Jesse Jones) hotdogs. To the crews, media, drivers and track workers… 127,000.
The pole Winner was Jeff Gordon, with Denny Hamlin on the outside front row qualifying 2nd. That also happened to be the 1-2 finishers with the order reversed.
The drivers that failed to qualify were Joe Nemechek, John Andretti, Tony Raines and the biggest name missing the show was Kyle Petty.
17 cars finished on the lead lap, there were 20 lead changes with 8 different lap leaders. The margin of victory was .398 seconds.
There were 18 cautions for 89 laps, 7 listed as "spins" sometimes involving multiple cars, 9 accidents, and 2 for debris & oil on the track.
The top ten finishers (Sponsor-Owners) were:
Denny Hamlin (FedEx Freight-Gibbs)
Jeff Gordon (DuPont-Hendrick)
Jeff Burton (AT&T Mobility-Childress)
Jimmie Johnson (Lowe's-Hendrick)
Tony Stewart (Home Depot-Gibbs)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Amp Energy/National Guard-Hendrick)
Casey Mears (Kellogg's/Carquest-Hendrick)
Jamie McMurray (Irwin Industrial Tools-Roush)
Carl Edwards (Claritin-Roush)
Clint Bowyer (BB&T-Childress)
The team owners with cars in the top ten were:
Joe Gibbs Racing-2 (Race Winner & 5th)
Hendrick Motorsports-4 (all 4 teams, 2nd, 4th, 6th & 7th)
Roush-2 (8th & 9th)
Richard Childress Racing-2 (3rd & 10th)
Regan Smith was the highest finishing rookie (14th)
The highest finishing "Dark Horse" would have to be listed as Jamie McMurray for needing to qualify his way into the race and not only did he manage a 5th place starting position, but hung on for a top ten finish coming in 8th. His efforts moved him up to 31st in owner's points guaranteeing him a start in Texas.
The Comparison…
The difference today is that the front and rear bumpers of the new style cars match up better and does not allow for the rear wheels to get lifted up off of the ground when the `bump and run' move is attempted.
It's been replaced by sticking the nose of your car under the car that you are trying to pass and `rooting' them out of the way. Do it too aggressively though and you will spin yourself in the process or check up too much trying to do it and you'll get spun from behind.
Another big difference is in the attrition rate being lower today in that the COT is built pretty tough. There were no cars running around missing the entire front clip and the cars that failed to finish were due to mechanical failure and not from being too "tore up" to race.
Even missing the front splitter, drivers like Matt Kenseth were still able to guide their cars with pinpoint accuracy even if it was to get retaliation for an earlier incident.
What's Your Point?
Martinsville seems to be the closest thing on the circuit that the fans have that still closely resembles what the ever popular `old school' racing was like in the past. The action that we saw on Sunday should endear the fans even more to a track that we have been racing on since 1949.
The major differences in the race overall is barring major circumstantial differences, when you compare the race from ten years ago to the one last Sunday you have to say that the finishes are closer and the competition more even based on the margin of victory and no. of cars on the lead lap.
Although 15 different drivers got at least one lap back via the "Lucky Dog" rule [which is what a lot of people contribute is the reason for the increased no. of cars finishing on the lead lap] only one of the "Lucky Dogs" managed to maintain lead lap status at the end of the race. Having more evenly matched teams probably is the reason for the increase which is what NASCAR has been trying to accomplish with some of the rules that haven't been very popular with the fans.
What The Fans Think…
I heard a caller to a radio show on Monday proclaim that Martinsville is the new Bristol. Not for the location or the track configuration so much as the way the drivers had to race, the beating & banging, flared tempers, retaliation, hard passing all in a semi-controlled chaotic state.
Whether or not to call it the new Bristol is up in the air, but I think most fans would agree that it's still the "good-ol' Martinsville" and with all of the changes that have been happening, that's a good thing for the sport.
|
  RaceTalkRadio.com's
Official Newsletter
  Want to listen to RTR
Shows? Click the listen live button!
 The New ARCA Thunder
presented by
Rockingham Speedway
Tuesday's at 8pm on RTR
    |
NASCAR® is a registered trademark owned by National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
The Spin Out Zone is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR® or ARCA®.
The Spin Out Zone is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CBS Sports, ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, SPEED, FX Networks, TNT,
MRN, PRN or Sirius.
The Spin Out Zone owned and operated by RaceTalkRadio.com in association with Spin Out Zone Enterprises.
Images on SpinOutZone.com are used for entertainment purposes only.
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 © Spin Out Zone
All Rights Reserved