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Wallace into the (single) groove
Associated Press
Published April 10, 2005
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Rusty Wallace has never been very happy during Happy Hour.
Wallace usually peppers his crew with comments and suggestions in NASCAR's final practice before a Nextel Cup event.
But Saturday, Wallace was silent. His car was so good, there was nothing to say. He quit practice early, telling his crew on the team radio that he felt "stupid" for not being able to suggest anything.
Take that as a sign that Wallace is one of the big favorites in today's Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Wallace was 12th in Saturday's practice, which was led by Evernham Racing teammates Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne.
In 43 races at Martinsville, Wallace has started in the top 10 33 times and won seven times.
Jeff Gordon, another race favorite, was fourth. Last year, a chunk of the concrete track came loose and damaged Gordon's car, possibly costing him the race.
As a result, Martinsville officials installed new concrete in the corners of the paperclip-shaped, 0.526-mile track last fall. But that means passing on the outside of the turns will be nonexistent.
"There's going to be a lot of cautions here (today)," said Gordon, a five-time Martinsville winner. "It's so hard to pass and the only way you'll be able to pass is to get up underneath a guy.
"It's unfortunate that they did all that with this racetrack and took away our outside groove."
Pole sitter Scott Riggs knows how important it is just to be starting on the inside. Cars on the outside will have a tough time squeezing in before losing many positions at the start.
"Right now it's just a one-groove racetrack," Riggs said. "There will be some gouging going on during the race."
A difficult passing day doesn't bode well for drivers like Jimmie Johnson, the Nextel Cup points leader. After winning the fall race at Martinsville, Johnson qualified 37th, then had the 35th-fastest speed in Saturday's practice.
No one has won at Martinsville after starting worse than 36th.
[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:40:18]
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