Several drivers walked out of Martinsville Speedway in need of some Goody’s pain relief Sunday in a finish that was as wild as a finish at a restrictor-plate race. However, much of the rest of the race was dominated by a few usual suspects. The second short track race of the season gets a 4 Star Rating.
Martinsville produces racing that Bristol Motor Speedway would love to have back. The only way to make a pass is on the low side and usually that requires bumping the car in front out of the way. Sunday’s race had a lot of green-flag racing, but it also had upset drivers at the end.
The point is that short tracks can have it both ways. Bristol doesn’t have to immediately turn into a wreckfest if track owner Bruton Smith makes some changes to the track, but it could turn the track back to a fast-paced version of Martinsville.
Interestingly, the race at Martinsville would’ve had just five cautions and no major wrecks if David Reutimann hadn’t stopped to bring out a caution with four laps to go. That’s the same as the race at Bristol two weeks ago. That’s not to say one style of racing is better than another, but it does show that a one-groove track can have long stretches of green-flag racing.
Anyway, on to Sunday’s race where Ryan Newman shockingly found himself in Victory Lane. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson dominated nearly the entire race. Gordon led 328 laps, Johnson led 112 and both were involved in a great battle for the lead at the end before the green-white-checkered restarts.
So, Newman got a pretty large gift Sunday, along with drivers such as A.J. Allmendinger and Martin Truex Jr. All of those drivers ran most of the day between 10th and 15th, but they avoided the big pileup on the first green-white-checkered and came home with top-five finishes.
Many of the Hendrick haters will be thrilled with Sunday’s finish because Gordon and Johnson wrecked at the end and gave the win to somebody different. But, in fairness, this race did not end the way it was supposed to. Thankfully, it was due to a problem with another car and not because NASCAR wanted to spice up the finish of the race.
Up next is the first off week of the season for the Sprint Cup Series. A change in the schedule this year eliminated the early off week. Overall, the break comes at a good time. It actually feels like we have a significant portion of the season behind us, and now everybody can gear up for the next long stretch of races that will take us into July if the All-Star weekend in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway is considered a race weekend.
After the break the series will visit a couple of mile-and-a-half tracks with Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. If we don’t have a good idea of who the real contenders will be this season, those two weeks will go a long way toward helping answer those questions.
Have a blessed Easter, everybody.
Showing posts with label Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Rating the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500: 4 Stars ****
After a long day filled with some hard hits and another late pass for the win, Kevin Harvick ended up in Victory Lane for the second time in as many weeks. This year’s edition of the spring race at Martinsville gets a 4 Star Rating.
If people thought Harvick had a fluke 2010 season when he contended for the title along with Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, he is quickly proving that he is a serious threat to be a consistent title threat to the #48 team.
Also, Harvick has now proven he can win on any type of track on the circuit. He won two of the restrictor-plate races a year ago, he won at Michigan last August and California last week, and now he mastered a short track with his win at Martinsville.
Plus, the #29 team has had just three DNFs in the past three seasons combined. Consistency mixed with a few victories is a quick way to the top.
But, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Other drivers have won multiple races early in a season and gone on to have sub-par seasons from that point on.
As for Sunday, this was a pretty typical Martinsville race. It was a barnburner like the past few have been, but the racing was close at the end and nobody completely dominated the event.
With two green-flag pit stops, the record for lead changes at Martinsville, which was 25, was smashed as the lead was swapped 31 times. That makes the third race of the season that has set a track record for lead changes, not a bad start to the season.
OK, so now on to the elephant in the room — Dale Earnhardt Jr. almost won the race. A win from Earnhardt Jr. at Martinsville would have been a total shock, but it also would have started a ton of talk about how Earnhardt Jr. is all of a sudden a title contender, which he very well could be. There just seems to be a pretty thick line between coming close to winning, and actually winning. However, Earnhardt Jr. has had good cars pretty much every week, and Steve Letarte has done a fantastic job as crew chief so far.
While one popular driver surprised in a positive way, another continued to disappoint. Denny Hamlin fell all the way to 12th after running a strong race but getting held up with pit issues.
The Joe Gibbs Racing engine shop got the engines to last the entire weekend this time, but the must have also sacrificed fuel mileage to do it. It stands to reason that the engineers would not run the engines so lean this weekend, which would use more fuel, but it definitely played a part in Hamlin’s race because he always had to pit before the rest of the field and it cost him when he got caught a lap down on the final caution and had to take the wave around.
So, next week it’s on to Texas for one of the fastest tracks on the schedule. Last year’s races at Texas Motor Speedway had their fair share of pushing, shoving and hand gestures, so it should be interesting to see if the drivers and teams play nice this time around.
If people thought Harvick had a fluke 2010 season when he contended for the title along with Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, he is quickly proving that he is a serious threat to be a consistent title threat to the #48 team.
Also, Harvick has now proven he can win on any type of track on the circuit. He won two of the restrictor-plate races a year ago, he won at Michigan last August and California last week, and now he mastered a short track with his win at Martinsville.
Plus, the #29 team has had just three DNFs in the past three seasons combined. Consistency mixed with a few victories is a quick way to the top.
But, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Other drivers have won multiple races early in a season and gone on to have sub-par seasons from that point on.
As for Sunday, this was a pretty typical Martinsville race. It was a barnburner like the past few have been, but the racing was close at the end and nobody completely dominated the event.
With two green-flag pit stops, the record for lead changes at Martinsville, which was 25, was smashed as the lead was swapped 31 times. That makes the third race of the season that has set a track record for lead changes, not a bad start to the season.
OK, so now on to the elephant in the room — Dale Earnhardt Jr. almost won the race. A win from Earnhardt Jr. at Martinsville would have been a total shock, but it also would have started a ton of talk about how Earnhardt Jr. is all of a sudden a title contender, which he very well could be. There just seems to be a pretty thick line between coming close to winning, and actually winning. However, Earnhardt Jr. has had good cars pretty much every week, and Steve Letarte has done a fantastic job as crew chief so far.
While one popular driver surprised in a positive way, another continued to disappoint. Denny Hamlin fell all the way to 12th after running a strong race but getting held up with pit issues.
The Joe Gibbs Racing engine shop got the engines to last the entire weekend this time, but the must have also sacrificed fuel mileage to do it. It stands to reason that the engineers would not run the engines so lean this weekend, which would use more fuel, but it definitely played a part in Hamlin’s race because he always had to pit before the rest of the field and it cost him when he got caught a lap down on the final caution and had to take the wave around.
So, next week it’s on to Texas for one of the fastest tracks on the schedule. Last year’s races at Texas Motor Speedway had their fair share of pushing, shoving and hand gestures, so it should be interesting to see if the drivers and teams play nice this time around.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Rating the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500: 5 Stars *****
Waiting until Monday did nothing to hurt the racing at Martinsville. Plenty of side-by-side racing, a duel between two Virginia natives, three-wide racing at times and a fantastic finish give the Martinsville spring race the first 5 Star Rating of the season.
What a finish. After a unique call by Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, to come in and pit with only four laps left in the race put Hamlin in ninth place for the final restart in regulation, it looked like the #11 team had given the race away. However, from that point forward, Hamlin put the pedal to the metal and stormed back to the front. It takes an awfully good handling car to make those kinds of moves late in a race.
Ford’s call had a lot of things go perfectly because Hamlin could have just as easily suffered the same fate as his teammate Kyle Busch and have gotten kicked in the rear by Paul Menard. Everyone would be singing a much different tune had that happened to the #11.
Anyway, Hamlin’s charge was similar to what Jimmie Johnson does on a consistent basis. It always seems like Johnson has four tires for the last restart and often he comes away with the trophy. This time, Hamlin took that strategy to the extreme and circumstances combined with a great car helped him claw his way back to where he should have been at the end of the race: Victory Lane.
The good racing at Martinsville turned great during the green-white-checkered. Hamlin’s moves at the end of regulation were impressive, but they pale in comparison to what took place in the final two laps. Three lead changes in one lap at Martinsville? Three wide in the turns with no wrecks? All that and more took place on the penultimate lap Monday. With Hamlin sitting on the outside of row two for the restart, things looked bleak for the #11 car. But, on the restart, Hamlin bumped Ryan Newman going into Turn 1; Matt Kenseth bumped the leader, Jeff Gordon, at the same time; and Gordon came back to bump Kenseth out of the way going into Turn 3, giving Hamlin the opening he needed to complete his incredible comeback. That was a finish that could bring people to their feet.
This felt like a classic race in many respects. Monday races are always a bit more laid back than the big shows on Sundays, the weather turned out to be perfect and there were only a handful of cars left at the end of the race without any significant damage. The only thing missing was a bungee cord strapped across the hood of Hamlin’s car as he raced back to the lead. Otherwise we may have had to double check the calendar and make sure it wasn’t 1991 and Harry Gant was taking back the lead.
Jeff Burton should also get an honorable mention in all of this. He and Hamlin dominated most of the day and would have been the two fighting for the win had Burton not cut down a tire after bumping Hamlin too much. Even with a 20th-place finish, Burton still gained two spots in the points, moving up to fifth.
Monday’s race also had the second-most lead changes of any race at Martinsville, just one shy of the record of 25 set back in the fall of 1980. That is saying something, because they have been racing at Martinsville longer than any track on the circuit.
There will be no racing next week as the series takes a break for Easter, so the next time we will see the new spoilered car will be in two weeks at Phoenix International Raceway. That is another flat track that generally produces some pretty good racing. With the Hendrick cars not dominating Martinsville, there may be reason to hope for more of the same at another track where they usually have the field covered.
What a finish. After a unique call by Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, to come in and pit with only four laps left in the race put Hamlin in ninth place for the final restart in regulation, it looked like the #11 team had given the race away. However, from that point forward, Hamlin put the pedal to the metal and stormed back to the front. It takes an awfully good handling car to make those kinds of moves late in a race.
Ford’s call had a lot of things go perfectly because Hamlin could have just as easily suffered the same fate as his teammate Kyle Busch and have gotten kicked in the rear by Paul Menard. Everyone would be singing a much different tune had that happened to the #11.
Anyway, Hamlin’s charge was similar to what Jimmie Johnson does on a consistent basis. It always seems like Johnson has four tires for the last restart and often he comes away with the trophy. This time, Hamlin took that strategy to the extreme and circumstances combined with a great car helped him claw his way back to where he should have been at the end of the race: Victory Lane.
The good racing at Martinsville turned great during the green-white-checkered. Hamlin’s moves at the end of regulation were impressive, but they pale in comparison to what took place in the final two laps. Three lead changes in one lap at Martinsville? Three wide in the turns with no wrecks? All that and more took place on the penultimate lap Monday. With Hamlin sitting on the outside of row two for the restart, things looked bleak for the #11 car. But, on the restart, Hamlin bumped Ryan Newman going into Turn 1; Matt Kenseth bumped the leader, Jeff Gordon, at the same time; and Gordon came back to bump Kenseth out of the way going into Turn 3, giving Hamlin the opening he needed to complete his incredible comeback. That was a finish that could bring people to their feet.
This felt like a classic race in many respects. Monday races are always a bit more laid back than the big shows on Sundays, the weather turned out to be perfect and there were only a handful of cars left at the end of the race without any significant damage. The only thing missing was a bungee cord strapped across the hood of Hamlin’s car as he raced back to the lead. Otherwise we may have had to double check the calendar and make sure it wasn’t 1991 and Harry Gant was taking back the lead.
Jeff Burton should also get an honorable mention in all of this. He and Hamlin dominated most of the day and would have been the two fighting for the win had Burton not cut down a tire after bumping Hamlin too much. Even with a 20th-place finish, Burton still gained two spots in the points, moving up to fifth.
Monday’s race also had the second-most lead changes of any race at Martinsville, just one shy of the record of 25 set back in the fall of 1980. That is saying something, because they have been racing at Martinsville longer than any track on the circuit.
There will be no racing next week as the series takes a break for Easter, so the next time we will see the new spoilered car will be in two weeks at Phoenix International Raceway. That is another flat track that generally produces some pretty good racing. With the Hendrick cars not dominating Martinsville, there may be reason to hope for more of the same at another track where they usually have the field covered.
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