Happy Friday everyone. Habbajeeba, we made it through the week! March 26, 1989: Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki and Dale Earnhardt finish 1-2-3 for the second time in three races in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond. Three weeks earlier, Wallace won the Goodwrench 500 from the pole at Rockingham. 187, 109 This week's daily double: 187 -- Starts in the Cup Series it took for Jimmie Johnson to win his first 25 races. 109 -- Starts in the Cup series Johnson needed for his next 25 wins. That's a winning percentage of 22.9. Johnson won his 50th Cup race Sunday at Bristol. Picture yourself cruising in Tony's 2010 Camaro Coupe 2SS. It's a "Summit White", list price at over $35,000! Tony asked Will Castro of Unique Autosports to work his magic and add a few customizations! Buy a ticket for $50 – you'll be entered to win the Grand Prize including the Camaro, A VIP Trip to Stewart-Haas Racing and a personal meet & greet with Tony!!! 70 Early Bird prizes starting March 15th. Get 'em while you can!!!! Just go to www.smokescamaro. Comments from the Peanut Gallery From David S Momma, Since a lot of fans are on Jimmie for winning so much, they should do as we did in the Late 70s 80s . We would go and buy some of the stuff that Old "Sweeney Procer in Charlotte made called "Sweeny Mix" put it in your tank and it would Go or Blow. we use to hide our car over on the side so nobody could smell the stuff. but it did put a little 'sip' in the thing. Maybe we could put up $25.00 and pull a head on Jimmie's Engine, that's what it cost back then. .Let me get out of this, nobody remembers back that far. From Darrel OK I have seen enough about Jimmy winning and other drivers not being allowed to. And what is this bull about putting him into the wall. To me and I am sure other drivers and ex drivers that is the same as saying that he should be punched in the nose or maybe stabbed. It is what you say to, about an enemy not an outstanding driver as he is. Guess we should have Chad tell him on the last laps of a race to slow down so someone else can win. That is Bull He and all of the drivers and teams are there to win that is why it is called RACING. If the other teams cannot get their cars tuned/adjusted so their drivers can beat Jimmy well that also is part of the game called car racing. Another older Guy Darrel LMAO…I've done my job…I have finally wakened the beast called NASCAR fans! Bits and Pieces Stremme back in the #26 at Martinsville: David Stremme, who was out of the Sprint Cup Series since last fall before stepping-into Latitude 43 Motorsports' #26 Ford at Bristol, will get another shot this weekend at Martinsville. Stremme, who scored the new team's best finish in its five-race history, 24th at Bristol; was named Wednesday to replace entered-driver Boris Said in the car tuned by crew chief Frank Stoddard. Stoddard said Stremme did a good job for the team in Bristol, despite the team falling from a locked-in spot in the top 35 in owners' points, which means Stremme is a go-or-go-home qualifier on Friday at Martinsville. Robby plans to run all the races until May...then: A few weeks ago, Robby Gordon was planning on putting another driver in his #7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota while he competed in the MonsterJam truck competition. But the truck didn't get done in time, and so he's now headed to Martinsville where he'll have to qualify on speed after a disappointing start to the season led to him falling out of the top 35 in owner points. "The truck didn't quite get done," Gordon said Wednesday following testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "It probably won't be done until after Phoenix [in April]. We'll miss the monster finals in Vegas this weekend." Gordon, whose team has an affiliation with BAM Racing that has brought some sponsorship this year, said at the beginning of the season that he probably wouldn't run in every race. But now he said it is likely he will compete in every event at least until May. TUMS Racing Returns at Martinsville Speedway: TUMS Racing and the #00 TUMS Toyota return to Martinsville Speedway for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500. David Reutimann's #00 TUMS Toyota will showcase the second of TUMS' five primary paint schemes at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. TUMS also will appear on the #00 TUMS Toyota at Chicago and the fall races at New Hampshire and Phoenix.(Tums Racing) McDonald's to sponsor McMurray: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates officially announced an agreement with McDonald's USA to become a sponsor of the team's #1 Chevy driven by Jamie McMurray in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for the balance of the 2010 season. The program, which debuted in Las Vegas earlier this month, will include multiple races as the primary sponsor. The McDonald's paint scheme will appear again, when the NSCS returns to Martinsville Speedway, this Sunday, Mar. 28. As part of the relationship, McDonald's iconic golden arches will grace the hood of Jamie McMurray's red #1 McDonald's Chevrolet for multiple races. They will also receive associate sponsor placement on the #1 Chevy for the remaining events in the 2010 NSCS season. In addition McDonald's will receive primary logo placement on McMurray's firesuit, the pit equipment and crew uniforms. The agreement will also include several activation elements aligned with McDonald's overall marketing and community initiatives. First five races foreshadow how season will unfold Martinsville is where rubbing, lesson-giving takes place By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM Every NASCAR season has significant markers, key points in the journey: Daytona's Speedweeks, Charlotte in May, Richmond's Chase cutoff and Homestead's Ford Championship Weekend. But when a stage is being set for everything coming later, maybe no weekend is more critical than Martinsville in March. It's race six of the new season -- and while it's only six of 36, those first five races have already told us a lot about how 2010 is going to unfold. In no particular order: • Maybe the biggest kudos go to owner Bob Jenkins and his newly-minted three-car Front Row Motorsports team. To have those three cars still locked into the top 35 after five races out-did 98 percent of the garage area's expectations, I'm sure. • My early vote for feel-good story of the year? Paul Menard, hands down. Menard's unfairly been blasted for his family's strong business background but the kid, and father John Menard, are racers -- make no mistake about it. Top 10 in two series is nothing to sniff at and for sure Menard's the most unexpected of the four guys who've achieved it to this point, along with Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch. • Did anyone really, truly, honestly think Jimmie Johnson would not be the biggest, baddest dog to contend with this season? If so, wake up and go back to sleep. Come back in September when JJ, Chad and the boys are on the pole for their fifth consecutive championship run. • Heart-on-a-wire award: It goes to David Stremme and Robby Gordon, who will experience that boiling vat of oil experience that being at Martinsville as a go-or-go-home car is like; for the first time this season. • Boiling oil part II: To Mike Bliss and his Tommy Baldwin Racing bunch, who'd worked through four weeks as go-or-go-homers in four-for-four mode; before falling short at Bristol. Failing for a second week in a row would put the top 35 into serious short-term jeopardy -- but I'm thinking Bliss is the man for the job. • Best old school moments in a long time: Sitting in the stands at Bristol and watching Harry Gant go to the front in the Scotts Legends race. Even better, watching L.D. Ottinger, one of the most low-key hard chargers ever in the Busch Series, sail off into the sunset before a pushing race car got the best of him. • But the best old school moment? Getting to shake the hands of owner Charlie Henderson and driver Rick Wilson after Wilson reprised a Bristol Busch Series victory of about 20 years earlier by putting Henderson's Food Country USA car into Victory Lane at Bristol, "Food City's track." Henderson, who like Ed Whitaker and Hubert Hensley were among the most hard-core racers in the Busch Series, looked like he wouldn't get down from Cloud 9 until sometime next month. • Trust me; there is no way Denny Hamlin is out of contention for a Chase spot. Kyle Busch is just getting warmed-up. You ain't seen the best of Joey Logano yet, by far. And Juan Montoya, Kasey Kahne and David Ragan -- they're just one each of the many stories that will be told this summer. • Kevin Harvick's lead in the Sprint Cup championship, by a point over Matt Kenseth, equals two of the most compelling stories of this short season-to-date. For different reasons both drivers are guys you have to love and even better, their crew chiefs, Gil Martin and Todd Parrott; deserve so much credit and respect it's phenomenal to see the success they're enjoying so far. • Heading to Martinsville, this is where some rubbing and lesson-giving should take place, not where we've already seen it in what's turned into a truly insane time on the race tracks. Short tracks really bring into focus a cute quip earlier this season by German Sascha Maassen, at the Rolex 24 Grand-Am race: "A race driver, when they put the helmet on it's like a fridge closing -- lights out, it's all racing." Think about that when your favorite's gouging somebody this weekend -- or getting gouged. • Strangest take on the top 35 seen this season. Entries for races have to be turned-in well ahead of the events -- by a couple weeks. Front Row, trying to protect rookie candidate Kevin Conway and his high-dollar sponsor, entered him in the car number usually driven by the veteran David Gilliland, 38; and put Gilliland into Conway's typical No. 37. Surprise, surprise -- Conway, in another steady effort, finishes 28th at Bristol and is locked-into the lineup, 35th in the owners' points. But it's too late to change back to the No. 37. No worries, ExtenZe will still get its play. • After spending a four-day weekend on a road trip to Bristol with three Argentines, getting a crash course in Spanish tempered with pure love for racing -- and road trips -- a couple highlights emerged. The first was making three in-motion driver changes in the RV. I hadn't witnessed that since I was doing it 30 years ago. I thought that was an art only practiced by jackass teenagers! • Second, I needed a break after two days of juggling English and Spanish, so I visited friends in another camping area at BMS. I got a golf cart ride back to the RV just after 11 p.m., and when I arrived, four-year-old Luis di Palma was still awake. I had brought him a copy of Pit Road Pets, the second lap as a gift. He read it with father Marcos di Palma for 15 minutes, chattering away about the animals and the pilotos -- the drivers. Then he climbed up into his bed and fell asleep. Twenty minutes later, Marcos told me "Luis no sleep [he said] 'Dave's not home yet.'" That, my friends, erased any thought of a language barrier. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
Hamlin hopes for jump-start By Jenna Fryer - The Associated Press Denny Hamlin stared silently at his race car, his hands in his pockets, his hat pulled low on his head. He smiled, made a quick joke, then quickly turned serious with his crew chief. Hamlin has no more time to waste, and everyone knows it. The popular preseason pick to unseat four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is off to a disappointing start in what everyone predicted would be a breakthrough season. This was going to be the year that Hamlin separated himself from the crowded pack of top drivers who win a race here or there, but never make the leap into superstar status. Instead, through the first five races, he's failed to meet expectations. Hamlin is winless, hasn't scored a top-10 finish and is ranked 19th in the points. He's led just 39 laps all season, 32 of which were at Atlanta. "He's a little disheartened. A little concerned," crew chief Mike Ford admitted. "But I would say optimistic." With good reason. The Sprint Cup Series shifts this weekend to Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin has two victories and eight top-10 finishes in nine career starts. He ran a frustrating second to six-time Martinsville winner Johnson last spring, then flipped the finishing order last October for a gratifying victory. So Hamlin goes home to Virginia, to a short track where he figures he can run top five "in reverse, blindfolded, Although team owner Joe Gibbs pointed out Thursday that Hamlin traditionally starts slow each year, he was only half-kidding about the importance of this weekend. "I'll say this," Gibbs said, smiling, "if we have problems at Martinsville, you're going to see panic city." In fairness to Hamlin, he's not had a great deal of luck this season. His strategy in the Daytona 500 was to be in position to race for the win at the end, and if not for three late restarts, he probably would have left the season opener with at least a top-10 finish. Instead, he and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch were shuffled out of traffic in the chaotic final laps, and Hamlin finished 17th. Ford admits the No. 11 was off at Fontana, where a tire issue contributed to the 29th-place finish, and the car was just bad at Las Vegas, where Hamlin was 19th. But Atlanta was encouraging, and if not for another tire problem, Hamlin figures he would have been top three instead of 21st. His third tire issue of the season last week at Bristol never gave him an opportunity to see how good his car was, and he was 19th again. Three tire problems in five races gives Hamlin hope that he's not that far off despite what the record book reflects. "Other than Vegas, where we ran completely terrible, I haven't had a clean week," he said. "I need just a clean week with nothing breaking, no tires blowing, things like that. That's when we can assess where we're at." That's why Martinsville is so critical. The event Sunday will reveal the truth about Hamlin's season because if he runs poorly, and doesn't have a mechanical issue to blame, then he's got a much bigger problem than anyone imagined. "If we run sixth-to-10th, we know we're not bringing good enough cars to the race track," Hamlin said. "If we're leading and we get caught up in a wreck, then we know it's another week of we just need a week without problems. I think it will be a telling race for sure, because it is a race you can typically stay out of trouble, and usually the top performers perform well there." Still, there's a mental aspect to this sport that must be considered, particularly when dealing with drivers who are trying to keep Johnson out of their heads. The most dominant driver in NASCAR has won three of the season's first five races, success that can play mind games with everyone in the garage. Hamlin is a prime target. His strong closing effort last season moved him to another level, and the confidence Hamlin gained contributed to a celebrity status that began to inch outside the confines of the NASCAR industry. He celebrated with a bash in Las Vegas, a whirlwind trip through Southern California, the opening of a glitzy Charlotte nightclub and a spread in Sports Illustrated that announced his arrival. It was maddening attention for Ford, a quiet crew chief who prefers his team operates off the radar. "For a crew chief, that's what's bothersome," Ford said. "You'd rather take all the media and all the hype and just isolate your guys from it, but you know you can't do that." So Ford tried to manage Hamlin's psyche, warn his driver of the dangers of getting too high too early. After all, it's an 11-month season, and under the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format, the final 12 weeks are the most important stretch of the year. The challenge for Ford is keeping Hamlin focused on what they need to improve and having the momentum when it matters most. "He gets wrapped up in it, and he worries about it, but again, no matter how hard you worry about it, the more you worry about it, the more it screws you up," Ford said. "We've talked about it several times. I think he's getting more in-tune with the nuts and bolts of what actually matters. But I know it does affect him quite a bit." Hamlin, for his part, has not lost his confidence. He's only 86 points out of 12th, and there's a long stretch of racing in front of him. So there was no hesitation when he was asked this week if he'll make the Chase. "Yeah," he said, nodding. "Yeah. We're gonna make the Chase." Then he admitted the work he's got cut out for him. "If we're going to make the Chase, we have no choice but to be better every single week from here on out," he said. "One maybe encouraging thing is (Johnson) has never started out this strong. So is he going to be able to maintain that all year long? I don't see how. It's possible, I guess. Nothing is impossible with those guys. "But usually when you start out very, very strong, people catch up. We'll see if that's the case or not." Connecting on finer points, fighting for every fraction By Dustin Long - The Roanoke Times, Va.
The idea that Gordon could receive a stream of instant messages, texts and e-mails from work could jeopardize the boundaries he developed between his professional and personal life. So he resisted. Eventually, Gordon got a Blackberry, acknowledging he needed to be more open-minded or risk falling behind the sport's next generation. That philosophy guides Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte through various changes this season. ''This year is probably the first year that we're really focused on the second half of the season than we are the first half of the season," Gordon said. "We're focused on trying new things, testing, getting outside the box, being more aggressive with our setups." That's why Gordon isn't worried that he enters this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway 11th in the points. A year ago, he led the points but said that he and the team "just flattened out and didn't continue to improve." One of the hallmarks of four-time champion Jimmie Johnson has been how he and his team improve as the season progresses, particularly in the Chase. Thus, Gordon needed to make some changes this year. He now receives e-mails and messages from his engineer that recap the previous race and notes compiled. In a typical week, Gordon receives information from the last two races at the upcoming track, his comments from those weekends, adjustments they made and areas they need to improve. It helps remind Gordon of what worked and what didn't, better preparing him for the next race. ''I know they've put pressure on him with the other things that have just sort of been standard procedure for me and (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) like post-race reports and layers of communication so that when you come back, you have something to look at," teammate Johnson said. ''In Jeff's defense ... the sport has changed so much. We have so few opportunities to separate ourselves as an organization now unlike when Jeff was racing, that those fine details are valuable now. Before, you didn't care about a tenth of a second, you were looking for a half second." With NASCAR limiting the areas on the car teams can work, communication between driver and crew chief becomes more critical. Gordon has not fared as well with this car. While he won three races with car when it debuted in 2007, Gordon has one win in the 77 races since. ''This car has created a lot more frustrations for a lot of drivers, but for me in particular just because it doesn't do the things the old car did," Gordon said. "To get this car to really be the way you want it, it's almost impossible. So, if you're day is not going well, that's frustrating and when you get frustrated you don't give good information. That makes it more difficult for the crew chief to make the right adjustments as the race progresses. While Gordon ranked fourth in laps led last season, he was only ninth in laps led in the second half of race. Thus, when it mattered most, Gordon was not taking the lead. The issue has been more pronounced at Martinsville where Johnson and Denny Hamlin have combined to win each of the last seven races. During that stretch, Gordon has led 754 laps but only 143 laps (18.9 percent) came in the second half of the race. ''I just feel like (Johnson's team has) done a better job throughout the race staying on top of the conditions and putting themselves out front when they need to," Gordon said of his teammate's dominance at the short track. ''I feel that we've qualified great, we've had good solid pit stops, we've led plenty of laps but we're not leading the right laps. I think that one of the things we've worked on a lot in the offseason for this year is how we, not only throughout the weekend but our in-race communication about what kind of details and information I'm giving as well as questions that Steve is asking on the radio." Should Letarte or any of the team members have any questions about how to do that, they can always text or call Gordon. Jimmie Johnson not worried about new spoiler, sees change as opportunity to increase his advantage By Jeff Owens/scenedaily. Jimmie Johnson admits that he enjoyed watching Kurt Busch's frustrations bubble to the surface Sunday after he beat Busch to win the Food City 500 at Bristol. "To see him get out and throw stuff at his car, punch his car, it's comical. I'm glad that we are doing this to these guys," Johnson says. Johnson, the defending four-time Cup champion, has left numerous drivers frustrated and demoralized the past four years, and he doesn't believe that will change with NASCAR's switch from a wing to a spoiler on its Sprint Cup car. While drivers such as Carl Edwards admitted to being frustrated with their car during the spoiler test at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday, Johnson didn't seem the least bit concerned about the change. While most teams were experimenting with the spoiler, adjusting to the increased drag and downforce, Johnson and his team were more concerned about a new tire and finding new setups for a track he has dominated over the years. "There is nothing big jumping out at us, saying that the spoiler is a lot different," Johnson says. "We've just been kind of working on our race car like this was just a normal test and there wasn't any change." Johnson, who won more races than any driver with the wing, has won three of the five races this season and will be a heavy favorite this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where he has won six times. Instead of worrying that the change might take away part of his advantage, Johnson looks at the spoiler as an opportunity for his dominant team to get even better. "I'm not really worried. I think we're viewing this as an opportunity," he says. "We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry. The fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months worth of opportunities. We saw that with the wing coming along. "The start of any rules change, you have your largest separation, and as time goes on, the teams that are behind catch up, that's just part of the NASCAR garage. … In the short term, I think there will be some opportunities, and I think our team will be able to find some things to take advantage of." The spoiler has added both drag and downforce to the cars and is expected to make them easier to drive in traffic, especially during side-by-side racing. Johnson believes that favors him. "I feel I do a very, very good job working through traffic," Johnson says. "That's just something I have always done well. "The longer the races, the more cars I need to pass, the more passing that needs to take place, I do a better job at that. So I'm hopeful this will give me more opportunity in traffic, to get through traffic, than with the other situation." That could translate into more wins as Johnson attempts to win a fifth straight championship. It could also help him keep his mental advantage. "I think we have a small mental advantage [but] that can be very short-lived if we don't perform. … Right now, we are in a good position," Johnson says. "Hopefully we can maintain it, especially when the Chase comes around. I felt like last year [that mental advantage] was helpful to us." Dale Earnhardt Jr. determined to continue progress, has strong track record at Martinsville Speedway By Jeff Owens/scenedaily. When the Hendrick Motorsports drivers meet to share notes or compare their performances every week, it is always Dale Earnhardt Jr. who tries to lighten the mood. "He still gives me a hard time and makes our debriefs and all that pretty colorful and lighthearted like he always has," four-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson says. But Johnson has also noticed that Earnhardt Jr. is serious when it's time to get down to business. He sees Earnhardt Jr.'s determination to improve his performance, which has lagged behind the other Hendrick drivers his first two years. "The last couple years, I know the results haven't been there, but he wants this," Johnson says. "I mean, he wants to do well, and he is applying himself. "There's always a question of can you do more, can you do more, and that's what every driver fights every year, and you've got to show up each year and figure out a way to apply yourself more. But he's been there. He has the desire. It's good to see the results coming for him." After a dismal 2009 season in which he slumped to 25th in points, Earnhardt Jr. and his Hendrick team are starting to show some progress. His seventh-place finish Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway – his second top-10 of the season – vaulted him to eighth in points. Perhaps more importantly, his profanity-laced tirade over a speeding penalty on pit road demonstrated that Earnhardt Jr. is intensely focused on improving his performance. "When we're running pretty good and you can almost reach that top five or see yourself almost in a position to get a win and it gets snapped away from you that quick, man, it's hard to bite your tongue," he said. "It's hard to sit there and just take it and not show any emotion." Earnhardt Jr. will try to build on last week's solid run this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, another short track where he has a strong record. Though he has never won there, he has eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 20 starts. He has also led 758 laps at Martinsville, a personal best, and has completed 98.5 percent of the laps he has run there. His eight top-five finishes there also matches a personal best. Perhaps most impressive though is his 98.8 driver rating, a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. He is fifth among all drivers at Martinsville. He also has the sport's best team at Martinsville behind him. Hendrick drivers have 18 wins at Martinsville – including six by Johnson and seven by Jeff Gordon – and is second behind Petty Enterprises. While Martinsville is entirely different from Bristol, Earnhardt Jr. is confident entering this weekend. For now, he's just happy to be making progress and climbing up the points standings after missing the Chase last year. "It feels good. It's more of a relief than anything," he said. "We've got five races in the bank. We just need to keep working on one after another and do the best that we can. "The real, real important thing is to get everything we can out of every week. Even if you are having a bad day, you need to get everything you can out of it, even if it does sound cliché." Retro Racing Mark Aumann Marlin's career full of surprising twists, turns After four decades, family and the farm are calling By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM With Sterling Marlin recently deciding to hang up his helmet for good after driving in NASCAR for four decades, it's a good time to look back at a career marked by some surprising twists and turns. According to a story written by Larry Woody last week, Marlin has decided to spend more time with his family, his farm in Tennessee and dabble a bit as co-owner of a team that hopes to compete in one of NASCAR's lower-tier series. "Between the farm and the grandkids and all the chores that [wife] Paula gives me, I've got about all I can handle," Marlin said to Woody. "[Racing in the Cup Series] was fun, but like everything else it had to end sometime." Sterling Marlin starred in both football and basketball in high school, and could have chased other athletic pursuits. But his first love was racing, and he decided to follow his father Coo Coo into the family business. When his dad was injured in the spring of 1976, 19-year-old Sterling was the logical choice as replacement driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet, making his Cup debut at hometown Nashville Speedway and finishing 29th in the 30-car field. Seven years later, Marlin landed his first full-time ride, driving for Roger Hamby. He scored a top-10 finish at Dover and wound up 19th in the standings, earning rookie of the year honors. But after finishing 15th in the 1984 Daytona 500, Marlin and team parted ways, and he found himself picking up rides here and there over the next three seasons. Marlin's next big break came in 1987, when Billy Hagan hired him to drive the No. 44 Oldsmobile, and over the course of the next four seasons, Marlin recorded a total of 19 top-five finishes and was 10th in the final 1988 point standings. Switching to Junior Johnson's operation in 1991, Marlin began to display the talent on superspeedways that would ultimately lead to that elusive first victory. He finished second to Ernie Irvan in the Daytona 500, then won poles at Daytona and Talladega later in the season. He added five more poles in 1992, including one in the Daytona 500. But after a disappointing season with the Stavola Brothers in 1993, Marlin's career path seemed to be heading for a dead end. That's when Larry McClure came calling. When Ernie Irvan left the No. 4 Chevy team in midseason, McClure had one name on his list as a replacement: Sterling Marlin. "Sterling can run fast," McClure said at the time. "He's had several poles in the past and he had the skill to keep the car up front, even though he hadn't won a race. "An added feature with Sterling is that he's a very personable guy. Most people like him, and all the other race teams like him. I felt like he's been a victim of circumstances throughout his career, and I felt like maybe if we gave him the support we had to give him, we'd all be successful." And from the moment Marlin joined the team, he felt confident in his chances of snapping a personal 278-start winless streak. "They're a great race team," Marlin said. "All the guys in the shop are really dedicated. [They] really work hard. I had a good feeling when I joined the team, and when we came here and tested and went to Talladega and tested. "I told them, 'We're going to win the Daytona 500.' " And Marlin made good on that promise. He pitted for a full tank of fuel with 59 laps to go, and when the rest of the contenders stopped six laps later to top off their tanks, he stayed out. When Irvan immediately grabbed the lead on the restart, Marlin ducked in behind and went into fuel conservation mode. He finally made his move, passing Irvan on Lap 180 and literally coasting to victory. "We started to come in to pit on that last caution to top off the gas tank, but the crew told me I had enough," Marlin said. "I just concentrated on running a good line. I got under Ernie there in Turn 4 when he got loose. I got by him and my car was handling the best it did all day. That was the key to victory." Marlin made sure nobody thought that was a fluke with a dominating win in the 1995 Daytona 500, then tacked on victories at Darlington and Talladega later in the season. He won twice more in 1996, then left following the 1997 season to drive for Felix Sabates. The team was purchased by Chip Ganassi Racing in 2001 and switched to Dodges, but Marlin's first race that season was marred by tragedy when he was involved in the last-lap accident that claimed the life of Dale Earnhardt -- leading to hate mail and death threats against him. He wound up winning twice that year on the way to a third-place finish in the points. Daytona was once again the scene of another odd incident involving Marlin in 2002. Leading the Daytona 500 with a handful of laps remaining, Marlin climbed from his car during a red flag and tugged the fender he damaged after making contact with Jeff Gordon. That violation of the rules put him at the tail end of the lead-lap cars and he could only make it back to eighth at the checkered flag. "I saw Earnhardt do it at Richmond one time in 1987, he got out and cleaned his windshield, so I thought it was OK," Marlin said. "I don't guess it was. Never read the rule book, so maybe I should. But it's the Daytona 500 and you got to do everything you can to win it." Marlin followed with wins at Las Vegas and Darlington and led the point standings for most of the summer before an early-race crash at Richmond wiped out his lead. However, he still was in the thick of the championship chase heading into Kansas. But midway through the race, Marlin made contact with Jeff Burton and slammed hard into the concrete wall. "It was just hard racing,and that's part of it," Marlin said. "I thought today with the way the car was running, we had a good top-five car and we could have gained back a good bit." Sadly, the neck injury Marlin suffered as a result of the accident was more severe than first feared and he wound up missing the rest of the season. He wound go on to record four more top-fives over the next three seasons but never regain that championship form. He made seven starts in 2009 for James Finch, finishing 35th at Martinsville in his final Cup appearance. Junior Should Go Backward to Go Forward Rick Minter | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com I read with great interest an article on the 'Net the other day in which Darrell Waltrip told the Virginian Pilot that he believes Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs to go run some Camping World Truck Series races. "He needs to get somewhere where he can win, and I'd get him in a truck," Waltrip told the paper. "Not a Nationwide car, a truck. They're fun to drive… "I'd go out, and I'd win me a couple of races. I think that's what he needs, it would really help his confidence, and I think his fans would enjoy seeing him do that. I think it would be a win-win." That story brought to mind a night back in October, 2001, when I accompanied Bill Elliott on a trip to Sugar Creek Raceway, a small 3/8-mile dirt track hidden away on a winding back road in the north Georgia Mountains. At that time Elliott hadn't won a NASCAR race since the Southern 500 in September of 1994. He was in his first year driving for Ray Evernham's new team, but the results had been just so-so. We met up after qualifying at Talladega – Bill, me and his publicist at the time, Kristine Curley, who is now with Jimmie Johnson. We rode to the Talladega airport and climbed into Bill's private jet. Although Kristine seemed somewhat unsure about her driver's piloting skills, we had a smooth, uneventful flight to Blairsville, where Bill had a beater of a van waiting at the small airport. We stopped by his house to pick up his wife Cindy and some other family members. Bill and Cindy rode in the two seats up front – the only two. The rest of us sat on the floor. When we arrived at the track, it was clear that it was an altogether new experience for Kristine. She was quite out of place among men with wads of chewing tobacco in their mouths and black, grimy grease in the creases of their hands and under every fingernail. But Bill was right at home, as he should have been. He moved easily among his fellow mountain-born and bred folks, and he personally knew quite a few of them. He'd picked a tough night to try out his new dirt Late Model. In the starting field were 21 of the Southeast's most talented drivers. Up until it came time to qualify, I got the sense from Bill that he was just there to have a little fun and to help out the race promoter, who had allowed him to practice there several times. He qualified second, but bolted into the lead at the drop of the green flag. The instincts that had led him to 40 Cup wins up that point, had kicked in again. He began to stretch out his lead, putting a straightaway on the second-place driver at times. But as the laps wound down, it got really interesting. Elliott was hung up in lapped traffic, and local hotshoe David Payne had closed the gap and was waiting for a single mistake on Elliott's part so he could pounce into the lead. Even when Elliott had to deal with the lapped car driven by of one of Payne's relatives, he made all the right moves, and when the checkered flag finally fell, the No. 9 was a winner again. Afterward, we piled into the old van to make the drive back to Elliott's home. But he was a different person. There was a gleam in his eyes that I hadn't seen in years. He was as excited about the win as if it was his first one ever. "How did it look?" he asked. "How did I do?" The same man who had won a Cup championship years before was as happy as a kid on Christmas morning. Although he had to be ready for Cup practice early the next morning at Talladega, he was as relaxed as could be as Cindy served us a late supper of hamburgers and chips. Then it was back to the airport for the ride back to Talladega. As we were on the approach to Talladega, the dust cloud from Talladega Short Track had risen high into the night sky. Elliott pointed it out, saying we might have enough time to catch the last few laps. But by the time he'd secured the plane, the dirt track across the road had gone silent. As we pulled up to the checkpoint at the tunnel into the track, well after midnight, the guard made us both show our NASCAR licenses before he'd let us in. Once he saw Elliott's NASCAR license, he apologized for not recognizing him. But the man couldn't be blamed. Bill hadn't won a race anywhere in seven years, and it had been 14 years since he'd won at Talladega. In fairness to the guard, it wasn't the same Bill Elliott who left the track hours before that was wanting back in. Three races later, everyone in NASCAR was talking about Elliott after he won at Homestead Miami Speedway. He did so by passing his then-teammate Casey Atwood with five laps to go. In the years since, I've often asked Elliott about the difference that win on dirt made in him. He tends to downplay it for the most part, but there was no mistaking the look in his eyes and the exhilaration he showed over winning a race at an off-the-beaten- Darrell Waltrip is right. Go win you a race somewhere, Junior. Gordon On Racing: I'm Shocked We're 11th Rick Minter | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Editor's note: This is the third installment in a three-part series in which RacinToday.com's Rick Minter talks with four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon. During a sit-down interview conducted last weekend, Minter and Gordon had a wide-ranging talk about everything from racing cars to rearing children. Today, Gordon weighs in on the current season, parenthood, points racing and his place in NASCAR history. — Jeff Gordon was asked how he and NASCAR, with their 500-mile races, are adapting to a fast-paced world in which social networking and other ways of instant communication are wildly popular. "I don't do Twitter or Facebook," he said. "Maybe I should." Gordon said he tends to rely on NASCAR and its marketing people to guide the sport through periods of change. But he is willing to try some new things. "Sometimes something comes across my desk, and I say 'Let's do it,'" he said. He said there are a few things that have surprised him in the first few weeks of 2010. "I'm shocked we're 11th (in the points standings)," he said. "We've performed fantastic but haven't had results. I'm excited how it's gone. We have a lot we're capable of doing. The Childress cars have definitely stepped up. When you're looking at who we're going to have to compete with for the championship, we look at the Childress cars. Jimmie you can't count out, and Kasey Kahne or Matt Kenseth." And he was queried about whether there's too much emphasis on the Chase and points chasing? "I don't think so," he said. "The emphasis is still on each individual race. At this point in the season we're not focused on the top 12. We're doing what we feel like we need to do to get in position to win the championship. "I don't know what the media is all focused on, but I think they're focused on who's fast that weekend, and who's going to win the race and oh, by the way here's where the points are. I think it's something that adds to the race weekend that we didn't use to focus on." With Gordon and his wife expecting their second child, a boy, I asked him how he felt about one of his children following him into the sport and about how difficult it would be for that child to always be measured against a father who was one of the all-time greats. "I just look at my experience," he said. "Things just lined up. I was so fortunate. Regardless of talent, you've got to have a lot of things happen to get to this level and to have the success I've had at this level. For that to happen again to somebody in my family is a lot to ask for, a lot of pressure and tough." He said he was going to try to raise his kids the way his parents raised him. "I just happened to find racing early on, and they recognized it and pursued it," he said. "If that happens to my son or daughter, I'm going to do the same thing. But I want to present as many options to them as possible to help them find their passion." My last question concerned Gordon's place on the all-time career win list. He's now at 82 Cup wins, sixth on the all-time list but just one behind Cale Yarborough and two behind Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Three more wins would put him in sole possession of third place behind Richard Petty and David Pearson. "It's a little frustrating that we've been at 82 as long as we have and 81 as long as we were," he said "I felt like we were going to click off quite a few last year after we won the Texas race and then we didn't. And I feel like this year we're so capable of getting multiple wins. "But you just never know when that next win is going to come. When you're this close to 84 or 85, you'd like to get ahead of those guys. But if I don't I'm very pleased with what I've accomplished. I didn't think I'd ever be at 50, or even 30, so to be over here at 82 feels pretty darn good. "I just want to win. It doesn't matter to me how many we end up with. I just want to keep on winning." With the start of practice looming, I shut off my temperamental tape recorders and prepared to leave. But Gordon didn't shoo me away before we took a few minutes to reminisce about some of the lighter moments we've shared over the years. I thanked him for his time that day and for all his help in years past. As I walked out into the pit area at Bristol, I didn't feel nearly as grumpy as I have at times recently. Harvick vs. Edwards: another perspective Marty Smith/espn.com I was going to leave this alone. It seemed as played out as Bret Michaels' reality TV career. But it's not. Obviously. Kevin Harvick versus Carl Edwards is a festering sore. So let's analyze it. Harvick says Edwards is fake, that he "can't be the nice guy, the bad guy and the bully," all at the same time. I fully understand Harvick's feelings. He's not wrong. It is awful tough to like a guy who competes like Biff Tannen at a McFly family reunion, then climbs out of his car, grins like the Cheshire cat and pseudo-apologizes for it. Total Eddie Haskell. The personalities are polar opposite, and flip like a switch. It's nearly impossible for most folks to comprehend how one guy can be both people. Harvick's not alone. Several folks have voiced a similar opinion. Not me. I understand full well who Carl Edwards is. Because I'm him. And understand this: I'm not making excuses for him. So you can flush that mess down the toilet. I just get it. I'm uber-competitive. I'd rather shut my finger in the door of a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme than lose a beer-league softball game. Flag football? I nearly went rounds with the boys at Roush Fenway last year over some juvenile garbage mouth. Pickup hoops? I'm Bob Knight without the sweater. I don't even like to lose a debate about ... well ... anything. I'm not a sore loser, per se, and I've grown up a lot in recent years. But I don't readily accept failure, either. I have a tendency to overreact in the throes of conflict. When I'm hanging out with my buddies I'm pretty easy-going. I laugh a lot, cut up, genuinely care for the well-being of those I love -- and even most of the folks I don't. I want the best for people. I appreciate good souls and openly recognize great talent. I don't have to like you to respect you. But listen, when I'm posting up Dr. Such-and-Such from down at Presbyterian Hospital during noontime basketball, and he cuts my legs, that nice guy takes a vacation. I'm up in his wheelhouse like his daddy used to be. I'm not saying its right. In fact, it's not right. I spend a lot of time preaching that to my son now. That's not how anybody should react. But it's what guys do. Competitors, when pushed too far, react. And it may not be pretty. That's what Edwards does. And for that matter, it's what Harvick does, too. The difference is the aftermath. Harvick says, "You gotta do what you gotta do" when he sends Joey Logano. Edwards says, "Man, I hate that. I don't like to ruin someone else's day." That's me. I'm not the guy enjoys leaving the gym with an unresolved conflict. After I've told the guy that's going to deliver my kid at the hospital that he couldn't guard Betty White and needs to spend some of my premium on some Speed Stick, I'm the first guy to go apologize for being an idiot. Because of that win-at-all-costs philosophy, the kids at Narrows High School (Va.) in the early '90s hated me more than any words can describe. But once we started hanging out socially, and they saw what I'm really about, the tide shifted. Quickly. Guess who some of my best friends are today? I could be wrong, certainly. But I'd bet you Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards are a lot more alike than either of them realize. The Voice of Vito Vito Pugliese · Frontstretch. Paul Menard Turning Back The Clock With Top 10 Points Run Some things in life remain an inevitability – death, taxes, more taxes, and Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and the No. 48 team winning yet another race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The win Sunday was very reminiscent of a 1997 one scored by their predecessors at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham, when Gordon plowed into the back of Rusty Wallace on the last lap, shooting him up the track and clearing the way after the Miller Lite No. 2 machine had dominated the afternoon. But while the motorsports media at large has been heralding yet another victory by the four-time defending champion, there was another performance that went largely unnoticed Sunday at Bristol: the 18th place run by Richard Petty Motorsports driver Paul Menard. Now typically, barely posting a top 20 is hardly enough to get you a whole lot of run in print or television media. In Menard's case, however, it is well worth noting for a number of reasons – and not just because he had what looked like another top 10 effort going by the midpoint of this event. While he was passed by faster cars as the laps wound down, he did not force the issue, cut anyone off, or put himself in a position to get punted – as often happens at Bristol in the closing laps (see: Joey Logano, Saturday, Nationwide Series). Instead, playing it safe paid off, giving Menard a fifth top 20 finish in as many races to stabilize his position within the top 10 in points – the best start of his career in any of the NASCAR ranks he has competed in. The 29-year old driver from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has but one win in the sport: a Nationwide Series victory in 2006 at Milwaukee, during a season that saw him post seven top 5 and 16 top 10 finishes. He would finish sixth in points that season, as he did the year prior, driving for then-Dale Earnhardt, Inc. That being said, the groundwork was certainly there for Menard to make the next logical step up to the Sprint Cup level. He just never lived up to expectations. Being short on owner points and speed early on, Menard failed to qualify for six events in 2007, although in those he did make, he only failed to finish on two occasions – at both Talladega races, one for engine failure, the other a crash. But just keeping the car in one piece didn't amount to much over his first three seasons in Cup: in his first 111 starts, he collected just one top 5 and two top 10 finishes while struggling to simply keep his career afloat. In 2010, however, he seems to finally have found his footing, becoming yet another Ford entry under the Richard Petty Motorsports banner. This is an organization that has essentially combined four teams from Petty Enterprises, Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, and Yates Racing under one umbrella. While there was much uncertainty surrounding this group before the season began, they have shown signs of life thus far in the form of inspired runs by each and every one of their drivers. Particularly impressive was Menard's fifth place showing in Atlanta, a charge largely overshadowed by Brad Keselowski's airborne Dodge Charger late in the going. A slow start by the No. 98 on a green-white- While his other races in 2010 have not exactly been barn-burners (he has, after all only led one lap this year, that being lap 277 at Atlanta), Menard has been able to steer clear of trouble and bring his car home in one piece with a smattering of top 20 finishes. You can make whatever snide comments you wish about his dad footing the bill for his cars; perhaps he is more apt to take care of the equipment since his name is on it. Literally. Because Paul Menard stays out of trouble, doesn't cause wrecks, and keeps his wheels on the ground by not starting beef with others on the track, he finds himself sitting ninth in points going into Martinsville this weekend. That in and of itself is no small feat. His reward, right now, is to need not worry about having to qualify on time, as being part of the top 35 in owner points locks him into the starting field. And by virtue of his ninth-place position in the points, he will be part of the NASCAR-mandated top 12 driver media session a second straight weekend, this time answering questions at the .526-mile paperclip in Virginia. At the Bristol media session for those in the top 12, Menard was not one to boast of his accomplishments, but rather, one to recognize what has helped get him to his place in the standings. He is under no illusions that one bad incident – be it a blown tire, pit road speeding penalty, or a wreck not of his doing – could send him plummeting down the points list and back into relative obscurity. "It's been a good start," Menard said. "We haven't had any real bad luck so far, so, knock on wood, hopefully we can keep that going and keep having solid finishes." "It's early in the year and we've got a lot of work to do," he added, recognizing that a top 10 position in points can only be maintained for so long by simply avoiding trouble. But that is not to say his year has been a fluke, or that he will be but a footnote at year's end. Far from it. A quick glance at the schedule shows some promise for Menard. He usually races well at restrictor plate tracks, posting top 15 finishes in three of the last four visits, including a second place run at Talladega in 2008 after then-teammate Regan Smith was denied the victory following a last-lap yellow line incident with Tony Stewart. You can ask Brad Keselowski all about winning your first race at Talladega — he joined a bevy of other first-time, unexpected winners in a group where Menard could end up the perfect fit. And his fifth place run two weeks ago at Atlanta bodes well for the upcoming 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, where the driver posted top 15 runs in 2007 and 2009. Menard's five career starts at Martinsville typically are a top 25 affair, though he did manage a 16th there in 2008, and last year's performance at Darlington yielded a 15th place result. The only real struggles are at Phoenix and Richmond. However, if you factor in the increased performance and resources he has to pull from this year, this veteran very well could be able to stick around the top 15 in points heading into the summer stretch. Does this mean that he is a legitimate threat to make the Chase in 2010? Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. This is still a team in transition with a driver that is getting used to running towards the front, having the leader on the same lap as him and not rapidly approaching in the rear-view mirror. To quote Bill Murray in the movie What About Bob?, "I'm doing the work, I'm baby steppin', I'm not a slacker!" And neither is Paul Menard. He is actually learning to race the way that drivers did about 20 years ago, before the practice of shoving guys into cars who can barely shave became standard operating procedure. It isn't as if Menard was ever given a real rock-solid foundation on which to build a burgeoning Cup career, like many young drivers who burst onto the scene today. People tend to forget that drivers like Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, and Ernie Irvan all started out pretty much the same as Menard has come of age in NASCAR. That was usually the rule – not the exception – in the sport's top division. So to those who insist on belittling him and go to the "daddy's money" card, take a look back at some of the more successful tenures of drivers and how they came up through the ranks of the sport. He isn't here because of his dad's checkbook. He's simply been paying his dues. Seeing Menard sitting where he is, ninth in the Sprint Cup standings entering the sixth race of the season, I am reminded of actor John Houseman in those old Smith Barney ads of the 1980s: He got to this top 10 position in points the old fashioned way. He earned it. By the Numbers: Martinsville Gordon, Johnson lead way for Hendrick at Martinsville By NASCAR.COM Race No. 6: Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 from Martinsville Speedway (1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX). Green at 1:13 p.m.ET. 2 -- Drivers to win at Martinsville in the past seven races: Jimmie Johnson (five) and Denny Hamlin (two). Hamlin's first victory came in spring 2008, ending three in a row for Johnson. Hamlin also won in fall '09, after Johnson had won the previous two races. 7 -- Drivers who posted top-10 finishes in both races last year at Martinsville: Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. 8 -- Victories by Chevrolet drivers in the past 11 races at Martinsville. Toyota (Denny Hamlin) has the other two. Ford has not won there since 2002 (Kurt Busch); Dodge hasn't won since '04 (Rusty Wallace). 8 -- Times in the past 11 races at Martinsville where the final green-flag stretch has been less than 10 laps. However, 23 of the past 25 races have had a green-flag run of at least 60 laps, the past three with a 100-plus stretch. 9 -- Combined top-10s at Martinsville for current Roush Fenway Racing drivers: Matt Kenseth (six in 20 starts), Carl Edwards (two in 11 starts), Greg Biffle (one in 14 starts) and David Ragan (none in seven starts). Kenseth has two top-fives, including a runner-up finish in spring 2002, and Edwards finished third in fall '08. 10 -- Combined victories at Martinsville for Jimmie Johnson (six) and Jeff Gordon (four) in the past 14 races. They have led 3,182 laps (45 percent) in that time and have finished in the top 10 each time. Gordon, who leads all current drivers with seven victories at Martinsville, has finished in the top five in the past 10 races there. Johnson has finished in the top five in the past nine races at Martinsville and in the top 10 in the past 15. 11 -- Times a driver swept the season at Martinsville, most recently by Jimmie Johnson (2007). Jeff Gordon did it two times ('03 and '05) and Richard Petty accomplished it three times (1967, '69 and '72). 12 -- First-time winners at Martinsville, but none among current drivers. It was accomplished most recently by Ricky Craven in 2001. 18 -- Victories at Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports, one behind Petty Enterprises, the all-time track leader. 20 -- Consecutive races at Martinsville with double-digit cautions, an average of 15 per race. The most during that span was 21 in fall 2007. The last time there were less than 10 cautions in a race at Martinsville was fall 1999, when there were eight. 34 -- Most career starts at Martinsville without a DNF: Jeff Gordon. His career totals: seven victories, 22 top-fives, 28 top-10s (6.8 average finish), 16,749 or 16,867 laps completed (2,796 led). 59 -- Races at Martinsville won from the first two rows, including 33 from the front row (18 from the pole). Jimmie Johnson (fall '2008) is the most recent driver to win from the pole. In fact, four of the past five races have been won from a top-10 starting position, although in the past 12 races, as many winners (six) have started from outside the top 10 as in the top 10. And seven of the past 10 spring winners have started outside the top 10. 61 -- Spring races held at Martinsville. This spring's race will be on March 28, the earliest date for a race at Martinsville. The past two races also have been run in March, the only times previously the spring race has been scheduled in the third month of the year. 122 -- Cup Series races held at Martinsville which, excluding qualifying races, is the most at any track. Martinsville is the only current track that was part of the first Cup season in 1949. 502 -- Laps led by Denny Hamlin in the two races last year, more than half of the total (1,001). He led 296 laps in the spring (finishing second) and 206 in winning the fall race. Hamlin has led 737 laps at Martinsville and has finished worse than eighth only once in nine starts there. He has four consecutive top-five finishes and six in the past seven races there. • Powered by Racing Recall NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK
All times Eastern Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain, Your Nascar Momma Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." -Dale Earnhardt - 1998 |
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