NASCAR: Martinsville - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

**intimid8er** · 03-29-2006, 04:06 PM

Ahhh....The joys of short track racing!!! What will happen this week? Continuation of the feuds started last week? Short track. Short tempers. Sparks will fly. Especially after last weeks barnburner. I wouldn't be surprised if reps from the Big Red Trailer have an extra special fireside chat with the drivers this week so we don't see too many "Actions detrimental to stock car racing."

Martinsville.....forget about racing your competitors, the track is hard enough to compete on. A paperclip shape, that has been best described as two dragstrips with turns at the end. Drivers get on the gas hard out of the corners, and get in the brakes hard into the corner. This track is murder on engines, and brakes. The drivers that run best here are the ones that have mastered the concept of "go slower to go faster". The guys that don't buy into the mash the gas then mash the brake philosophy will be the faster ones here. It's a drivers track, that is tough and demanding on the car, and the driver.

Anyone remember Ricky Rudd in that fall race some years back? The temperature was off the charts for heat, his cool suit failed on the first lap, and through a comedy of errors and missteps, he was literally scalded by his well meaning crew. There were many equipment malfunctions that day, and drivers were feeling the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, heat exhaustion, and cars that weren't handling worth a damn. Icebags tossed in the back of Ricky's seat to keep him cool in lieu of the cool suit leaked and puddled in the chair. The heat from the car raised the temp of the water to uncomfortable proportions, then his crew realizing their gaffe, decided to help him out by hosing him down with more water. Unfortunately, the hose sat on the hot pavement and in the sun, when they sprayed it on his back it was scalding. He hung on for the win, and did his Victory Lane interview on his back and receiving oxygen. His back scalded and blistered. One tough dude. One tough track.

That being said:

Jeff Gordon...Ya gotta pick him here. He knows his way around this place. He swept last year, and two top tens the year before. His teammate Jimmy Johnson...up, down, up, down. Just like Bristol. Jimmy is either hot or cold at short tracks. I go with Jeff. The Hendrick spoiler would be Kyle Busch, as Brian Vickers is fading into....who?

Kurt Busch. Momentum. Momentum. Momentum. See what I said last week, about Kurt knowing the track, and the Penske notes left over from Rusty for that car. It'll make for a threat to win. Ryan Newman is no slouch here either, I'd look for either a win or top five from the 2 car, and a top ten from the 12.

For the first time this year, I'm not going to throw a shout out to the Roush squad. They certainly have been snakebit here the past few years. With the exception of Kurt Busch. Jamie McMurray has that car now, and Jamie has good finishes here so that will be a combo to look out for, but for what I've seen this year, McMurray isn't doing as well as I thought he would in that ride. Mark Martin will be the other Roush top tenner, but that's it. Top ten for one or two Roush cars, but most likely no win for Roush.

Gibbs. Tony. Top five. Denny. Top ten. Tony can wheel a car, no surprise to see him in the top five here, however, Denny Hamlin is a flat track specialist. He could sneak into the top five or spoil with a win here now that he is more and more comfortable with his team. Last time he was here was an audition. The kid has a lot of poise, and can handle himself cleanly in traffic. My pick for ROTY.

Look for a Petty car in the top ten. Hell maybe a top five. Ahh what the heck! Bobby could take it all!!! Last week. I think I predicted the 45 in the top ten. Turned out, it was the 43......ah well. Close but no cigar. As much as Bobby is acknowledged a master of Atlanta, he has some excellent finishes at this track over his career. They've got a ton of momentum over there right now with some good finishes, and morale has to be high. The things he, Robby Loomis, Mr. Pemberton are doing over at Petty Enterprises are exciting to say the least. I'm looking for Petty blue in Victory Lane sometime this year. I can't say how many times over the years I'd be embarassed for Kyle or Richard as they recite the tired old stuff year after year in what I would call The Annual State of Petty Enterprises Address over the winter. Each year it would be the same hackneyed embarassing litany of half-empty promises that Petty Enterprises will rise to the top of prominence this year.......blah, blah, blah....I'm glad to see that such a storied name in NASCAR racing is finally making a noticeable turnaround and are on their way to something.