Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson (my pick to win) for adding yet another win to his already impressive resume at Martinsville. I thought the racing was excellent. Here's a few observations before I get to the caution breakdown:
-- Since when do they show the starting lineup on television backwards? That was quite odd. Did you catch that?
-- The big buzz on twitter yesterday was all about Ingrid cutting all her hair off. How did I miss this? I am going to have to go searching for a picture now...
-- I'm delighted that Clint Bowyer had another solid run yesterday. He ended the day in fifth.
-- Jeff Gordon did not break his losing streak even though at one point I was thinking that maybe he was going to.
-- Joey Logano managed to stay 34th in the point standings. Good job, Joey. He definitely had his ups and downs with blowing a tire and getting penalized for entering the pits too fast during a pit stop.
-- Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally had a solid finish. Plus, he didn't need to utilize a lucky dog to acheive his solid finish of eighth place.
-- Several drivers had tires blow during the race: Eric Almirola (twice), Kyle Busch, Jeremy Mayfield, Carl Edwards, Robby Gordon (twice), and Scott Speed. I'm sure I missed a few. If you'd like to add to the list, please feel free to do so.
-- What a great race for Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart and Newman both had top-ten finishes, third and sixth respectively.
There were twelve cautions during yesterday's race. Let's take a peek at what happened to bring out each caution:
There should be no surprise that the first caution was brought out by none other than Michael Watrip. He got loose going into a corner, spun and went up and kissed the wall.
Competition yellow came out on lap 40 which was the second caution.
Kyle Busch drove into the corner a bit too hard and got loose driving up into Scott Speed who went spinning for caution number four.
The fourth caution of the race was due to Robby Gordon having a tire go down and spinning on the racetrack. There was no contact with any other car during his spin.
Robby Gordon had another tire go down. This time he went up the track and had contact with David Reutimann which brought out the fifth caution.
Scott Speed and Eric Armirola both blew tires on the same lap and there was debris on the track bringing out the sixth caution of the race.
A beverage can got thrown out on the track bringing out the seventh caution.
Jeremy Mayfield smacked the wall for the eighth caution.
David Stremme sent Eric Almirola spinning for the ninth caution.
Bobby Labonte and Martin Truex got into one another with about 28 laps to go bringing out the tenth caution. Labonte had spun and Truex had no place to go and smacked right into him.
Martin Truex Jr. spun David Reutimann bringing out the eleventh caution of the day.
I missed the twelvth caution. Or at least I think it was the twelvth caution. I have to admit my notes got a bit scrambled between cautions nine and twelve. So if you're sitting there scratching your head thinking, "what the hell is she talking about?" Then it was just my note taking during that time frame. Please do correct me...
Martinsville preview and pick/Lucky Dogs/Joey Logano
Here's the NASCAR Newscast: Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 Preview:
I'm not so sure about the weather for today and tomorrow. Hopefully they can get qualifying in, which is scheduled for today at 3:30 p.m. on SPEED. At least it looks clear for race day.
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson who won yesterday's TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He's now won two races in the Chase. Good job, J.J.!
Here are some observations of the race:
-- Kurt Busch could not catch a break. How many blown tires did the guy have? Seriously. He had rear brake issues early on in the race. I think, he blew three tires during the race. How about when he actually asked if he could just park the car? I bet his sponsors would have loved that.
-- His brother Kyle Busch had his share of bad luck as well with tires. One of the times that he blew a tire, two other drivers blew tires at almost the same time, the 70 car of Tony Raines and the 77 car of Sam Hornish Jr. NASCAR officials said that Busch intentionally stopped on the track to bring out the caution and they penalized him two laps.
-- Tony Stewart also blew a couple of right front tires. He ended the day with a 26th-place position.
-- The announcers at one point during the race said that six drivers had been caught speeding down pit road but I don't think they ever said who. Did I miss something?
-- The heartbreaker of the race? Jamie McMurray breaking an axle. He was running in 4th position when it happened. He had a very good car all day long and was looking like he was going to have a top-five finish for sure.
-- Jeff Burton had some bad luck in the pits. He had to check up while trying to get in his pit stall so that he wouldn't hit Jeff Gordon. They did work to his car while he was outside of his pit stall and NASCAR officials held him a lap because of it. He finished 17th despite going a lap down.
-- The biggest loser in the point standings was Kyle Busch who fell three positions back to the 12th position.
Here's a look at the Chasers going into the race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway(stats provided by NASCAR):
1 - Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) 5878 points, 2008 Rundown:
Five wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s
Average finish of 11.1
Led 25 races for 1,369 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 121.2
Four wins, nine top fives, 12 top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 6.0
Finished fourth in March
2 - Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) 5809 points, 2008 Rundown:
Two wins, seven top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 11.4
Led 11 races for 140 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 85.3
One win, 10 top fives, 14 tops 10s
Average finish of 14.5
Finished third in April
3 - Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) 5792 points, 2008 Rundown:
Two wins, 11 top fives, 14 top 10s
Average finish of 13.1
Led 16 races for 446 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 64.4
One top 10
Average finish of 23.6
Finished 20th in March
4 - Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) 5710 points, 2008 Rundown:
Six wins, 14 top fives, 22 top 10s
Average finish of 10.7
Led 18 races for 815 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 72.4
One top 10
Average finish of 19.1 in eight races
Finished ninth in March
5 - Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet) 5693 points, 2008 Rundown:
One win, five top fives, 14 top 10s
Average finish of 14.7
Led five races for 152 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 75.0
Two top 10s
Average finish of 15.0 in five races
Finished 10th in March
6 - Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) 5671 points, 2008 Rundown:
Six top fives, 15 top 10s
Average finish of 13.2
Led seven races for 191 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 87.4
Five top 10s
Average finish of 18.8
Finished 12th in March
7 - Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota) 5650 points, 2008 Rundown:
One win, 10 top fives, 15 top 10s
Average finish of 14.4
Led 14 races for 622 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 116.3
Two wins, seven top fives, 11 top 10s; three poles
Average finish of 11.9
Finished fifth in March
8 - Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) 5633 points, 2008 Rundown:
10 top fives, 15 top 10s
Average finish of 14.9
Led 17 races for 359 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 124.5
Seven wins, 19 top fives, 25 top 10s; seven poles
Average finish of 7.0
Finished second in March
9 - Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M's Toyota) 5552 points, 2008 Rundown:
Eight wins, 16 top fives, 18 top 10s
Average finish of 12.3
Led 23 races for 1,671 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 93.3
Three top fives, four top 10s
Average finish of 16.7
Finished 38th in March
10 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) 5524 points, 2008 Rundown:
One win, nine top fives, 14 top 10s
Average finish of 13.7
Led 20 races for 894 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 100.7
Seven top fives, eight top 10s
Average finish of 14.3
Finished sixth in March
11 - Matt Kenseth (No. 14 DEWALT Ford) 5518 points, 2008 Rundown:
Eight top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 17.1
Led 17 races for 395 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 77.8
Two top fives, five top 10s
Average finish of 16.5
Finished 30th in March
12 - Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota) 5498 points, 2008 Rundown:
One win, nine top fives, 15 top 10s
Average finish of 16.5
Led 14 races for 710 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Driver Rating of 100.6
One win, three top fives, five top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 9.5
Won the March Martinsville race
Congrats to Denny Hamlin on his victory yesterday. I'm not much of a Hamlin fan though. He's a bit boring if you ask me.
Here are a few random thoughts of the race...
-- Jeff Hammond did a great job waving the green flag for the start of the race.
-- I would be very happy if I never heard them talk about Digger, the gopher cam. I think its ridiculous.
-- I said it after the last race and Ill say it again: I hate it when they only scroll the top ten in the rundown.
-- Could Matt Kenseth have had a worse day? Seriously, how many incidents was he involved in?
-- Some things havent changed since last season. The No. 8 car blew up. Only this year, I didn't care.
-- The one and only time that Kyle Busch could have been a hero in my eyes, he failed. He was Hamlins wing man and instead of trying to block Jeff Gordon, he got right out of the way. I was a bit surprised by that considering Hamlin is now his teammate. Maybe he had a flash back of last year and thought Gordon was his teammate?
-- Clint Bowyer is Mr. Consistent. Every time I looked, he was in the top ten. Hes having a pretty good season this year. Here are the unofficial point standings after yesterday's race.
What did you think of the race?
On a different note...
I was asked if I had heard anything about Ryan Moore and whether he is still racing.
I got an e-mail from his father Kelly Moore and he says: "Ryan will not be running the East Series, he works at Everham Motorsports in Statesville N.C., he heads up the brake department for the Cup cars."
Jimmie Johnson's win at Martinsville is his seventh victory this year. It also gave him some bragging rights in joining an elite few that have won 3 or more consecutive races there: Fred Lorenzen, winning 4, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace and now Johnson, all winning three in a row.
As a matter of fact, this victory gives Hendrick Motorsports a total of 15 wins this year, nearly half of all the races run. It's no wonder I am sick of seeing Gordon or Johnson celebrating in victory lane.
Ten of the Chasers finished in the top 15. Not bad, considering it is the shortest track on the circuit and there was a record number of cautions, 21.
Kurt Busch was the biggest loser in the Chase, finishing 31st and I'm not even clear on what happened to him. I guess I missed it. Can anyone fill me in? Martin Truex Jr. couldn't keep his car going straight. He spun around a handful of times. He managed to finish 19th.
Just an observation a bit off topic: Maybe it was nerves, but during one of the last cautions of the day the camera went to Jeff Gordon's wife, Ingrid Vandebosch. It looked to me like she would rather have been anywhere other than at that race. She didn't look all that enthused at all. Like I said, it was just a thought that crossed my mind when I saw her on the television. Did anyone else think that or was it just me?
As we head into this weekend's race at Martinsville, I thought I would share some stats that I recieved from NASCAR.
1 Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) The File:
36 years old, Vallejo, Calif., 81 career wins
Six wins, 19 top fives, 25 top 10s this year
Six poles
Average finish of 7.5
Led 21 of 31 races for 1,112 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Seven wins, 17 top fives, 23 top 10s; five poles
Average finish of 7.3
Finished second at Martinsville in April
Led 21 of 29 races for 2,298 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-best Average Running Position of 9.2
2 Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet) The File:
32 years old from El Cajon, Calif., 29 career wins
Six wins, 16 top fives, 19 top 10s; three poles
Average finish of 12.1
Led 19 of 31 races for 1,069 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Three wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 6.6
Won the Martinsville race in April
Led five of 11 races for 724 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 819 Fastest Laps Run
3 Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet) The File:
28 years old from Emporia, Kan., one career win
One win, five top fives, 15 top 10s; two poles
Average finish of 13.4
Led 12 of 31 races for 386 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 18.7 in three races
Finished 11th in April
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fifth-best Closer 46 positions improved over the last 10% of races
4 Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) The File:
36 years old from Columbus, Ind., 32 career wins
Three wins, 10 top fives, 22 top 10s
Average finish of 12.4
Led 20 of 31 races for 980 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two wins, six top fives, 10 top 10s; three poles
Average finish of 12.2
Finished seventh in April
Led 10 of 17 races for 1,193 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
589 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
5 Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) The File:
28 years old from Columbia, Mo., seven career wins
Three wins, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
Average finish of 13.4
Led 11 of 31 races for 428 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 22.2 in six races
Finished 17th in April
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
6,449 Laps in the Top 15, sixth-most
6 Kyle Busch (No. 5 Kelloggs/CARQUEST Chevrolet) The File:
22 years old from Las Vegas, Nev., four career wins
One win, nine top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 14.5
Led 16 of 31 races for 300 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two top fives, three top 10s
Average finish of 15.0
Finished fourth in April
Led one of five races for 10 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fifth-fastest average Green Flag Speed
7 Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) The File:
29 years old from Las Vegas, Nev., 17 career wins
Two wins, five top fives, 11 top 10s
Average finish of 15.7
Led 18 of 31 races for 760 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One win, two top fives, four top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 19.6
Finished 12th in April
Led six of 14 races for 358 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 1,664 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green flag conditions)
8 Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) The File:
31 years old from Bakersfield, Calif., 11 career victories
One win, four top fives, 12 top 10s
Average finish of 16.1 this season
Led 11 of 31 races for 270 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Four top 10s
Average finish of 20.1
Finished 41st in April
Led four of 12 races for 147 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fourth-best Closer 51 positions improved over the last 10% of races
9 Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet) The File:
26 years old, Chesterfield, Va., three career wins
One win, 11 top fives, 16 top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 13.7
Led 15 of 31 races for 839 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two top fives, three top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 12.5
Finished third in April
Led two of four races for 153 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
422 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
10 Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) The File:
40 years old from South Boston, Va., 19 career wins
One win, eight top fives, 14 top 10s
Average finish of 14.7
Led six of 31 races for 28 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One win, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
Average finish of 15.0
Finished sixth in April
Led six of 26 races for 574 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
2,542 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
11 Martin Truex Jr. (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) The File:
27 years old from Mayetta, N.J., one career win
One win, six top fives, 11 top 10s
Average finish of 16.9
Led 13 of 31 races for 355 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 28.0
Finished 29th in April
Led one of three races for one lap
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 2,795 Green Flag Passes
12 Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford) The File:
35 years old from Cambridge, Wis., 15 career wins
One win, eight top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 14.6
Led 17 of 31 races for 561 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One top five, four top 10s
Average finish of 16.3
Finished 10th in April
Led six of 15 races for 60 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
8,166 laps run on the lead lap, second-most
As much as I hate to say it, I have to go with Jeff Gordon for the win this weekend. He has won here 7 times, so I don't know how you couldn't pick him.
The other driver I will be watching is Ricky Rudd who has won here three times and finished just outside the top 10 in April .
Jennifer is the newsroom
administrative assistant and
executive
assistant to the editor for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She is married, lives in Pownal with her husband and son, and has been following NASCAR for many years.
About this blog:
I am hopeful that this will be a place where people can air their two cents' worth about a race, catch up on the gossip and share their opinions on the rules and regulations of NASCAR. I have always felt that there has been a need for such a place in Maine and that this blog helps to fill the void.
Here's a few observations before I get to the caution breakdown:
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