Comment
Print
Plans sometimes change, but places and faces remain the same.
I expected to travel to Virginia this weekend for NASCAR Racing, but kidney stones altered my plans to cover the STP Gas Booster 500 from the Martinsville Speedway.
As it is my favorite venue in the sports world, the stats speak for themselves as I haven’t missed a Martinsville race since the fall of 2001 (22 straight Cup events).
Despite being cooped up at home, watching it on TV and drinking gravel root tea, it’s nice to know that Martinsville hasn’t changed a bit.
A bunch of cars were ruined, but many of them finished on the lead lap and some even in the top ten.
As I stated last week, the door for Jimmie Johnson to win his eighth Sprint Cup race at Martinsville was left wide open following Denny Hamlin’s back injury that sidelines him for the rest of April. Johnson and his Lowe‘s Chevy, wasted no time, dominating the 500 laps, leading 346 of them en route to the victory.
Move Johnson to third all-time on the Martinsville win list, by passing Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace with seven each and behind Richard Petty (15) and Darrell Waltrip (11).
Meanwhile, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon were the only two that had a shot on this weekend.
Bowyer’s No.15 RK Motors Toyota sustained too much damage during a bizarre earlier wreck under caution that saw two incident on the same lap and yet he still finished second. Gordon’s No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy was terrible through the middle of the race, but fought back from 15th and into second by lap 450. However, the car was much better on the long run, (as was Bowyer’s) and Gordon picked up his first five of the year with a third place result.
Everybody wondered how Danica Patrick would fare at Martinsville. Recovering from an early spin, Danica passed the Sunday test and did a remarkable job finishing twelfth. She was in eleventh going into the final turn of the event, but Brian Vickers pushed her out of the way. Kevin Harvick retaliated just after they crossed the finish line sending Vickers into his second spin of the day. Wrecking after the race at Martinsville, that’s understandable. Tempers flare a little bit and you don’t get the finish exactly desired, stuff like that happens. Nobody was really at fault. Danica was blocking, Vickers wanted 11th, Harvick wanted Vickers to see his frustration.
Patrick also was involved in spinning Dale Earnhardt Jr. out as the race wound down to the final stages. However, it was Vickers, who pushed her car into Junior’s and sent the #88 around. Junior understood and even told Danica that he didn’t blame her.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the surprise for me on Sunday. He ran so well for most of the race, but couldn’t find any rear grip at all down the stretch, got spun and lost the points lead. As a result, it was a 24th place finish as he sits third in the standings.
The other surprise was Mark Martin. I really thought he could provide an incredible spark as a substitute driver for Denny Hamlin at Martinsville. From starting 35th on the grid, pit road problems to handling woes on Sunday, it just wasn’t meant to be. In spite of the setbacks, Martin managed to finish tenth.
For those who wonder, though I was in immense pain over the weekend, I have recovered quickly. Hopefully, I won’t ever have to talk about this again, especially on a Martinsville weekend. Trust me, anybody would much rather have Pepsi and Martinsville Hotdogs over pain meds and gravel root tea any day.
