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Saturday, April 7
Drivers will fight for position Sunday
Associated Press
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- As one of three short tracks left on
the Winston Cup circuit, Martinsville Speedway is an oddity, a
place where factors like brakes, tires and pit location toy with
the minds of drivers.
The Virginia 500 Winston Cup race figures to be no exception
Sunday, especially if qualifying and Saturday's practice were an
indication.
|  | | Ward Burton is scrambling to figure out his "piece of junk" car before Sunday's Virginia 500. |
Ward Burton qualified fourth here last October. On Friday, he
posted the 38th-fastest qualifying speed and needed a provisional
to make the field.
"The car was a piece of junk," Burton said after his run.
It was only marginally better in practice Saturday, when Burton's fastest lap was 91.971 mph, 25th among the 43 cars entered and far behind Jerry Nadeau, who led the field at 92.642 mph.
"We're behind the eight-ball now," Burton said.
Throughout the garage area, drivers said they expected Sunday's 500-lap event to be a study in tire strategy because of a new Goodyear model.
"It's going to be exciting because it is going to be a chess
game all the way," said Kenny Wallace, who will start 28th.
"There's going to be some crazy stuff going on Sunday, whether
to stay out or come in and pit for tires," said Dave Blaney, who
starts 34th.
What happens on the track often dictates how teams choose to
manage the race, and that's a call normally made by crew chiefs.
"I think you have to react to it when the time comes," said
James Ince, crew chief for Johnny Benson.
"This is a place where track position means way more than
speed, so we want to make sure we get the car good and then react
to whatever we've got to on Sunday. I don't know what that is."
For some, that's an element that makes the .526-mile oval a
difficult place. For others, it's what makes it a NASCAR treasure.
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“ |
I've seen bumper cars at the fair that don't have as much beating and banging as some of the Martinsville races I've run. The
floor for those bumper cars is about as slick as these turns here.” |
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—Kyle Petty |
"You can go into some of these video arcades and find a game
that simulates racing," said Kyle Petty, who will be making his
590th career start when he crosses the start-finish line in the
33rd position.
"If you want that kind of experience with something that most
closely resembles Martinsville, leave there and head for the
pinball machines.
"I've seen bumper cars at the fair that don't have as much
beating and banging as some of the Martinsville races I've run. The
floor for those bumper cars is about as slick as these turns
here."
Jeff Burton, like Petty, thinks it all adds up to a good show.
"When I watch a race at Martinsville, I see a competitive race.
I see a competitive race at Bristol (Tenn.) and at Richmond," he
said, listing the other two shorts tracks. "These tracks put on
the best shows.
"To me, it's what racing is about -- side-by-side,
bumper-to-bumper. It's fun to watch and it's fun to race."
Notes:
Dave Marcis was the last driver to win a
Winston Cup race at Martinsville Speedway in a Dodge. Marcis won
the Old Dominion 500 in 1975, one of his five career victories in
878 career starts. Marcis, however, is running an abbreviated schedule this season,
and decided not to make the Virginia 500 one of the stops on his
schedule.
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