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Martinsville means fun

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 11, 2001

From a driver's perspective, Martinsville Speedway is a fun place to drive. Half a mile around with 12-degree banking, it's relatively flat.

From a fan's viewpoint, it's even better. Some side-by-side racing, plenty of bumping and trading paint, and it seems as if there's always a fun ending.

That's why many Winston Cup drivers are looking forward to taking the green flag there in Sunday's Old Dominion 500.

"I love Martinsville," said John Andretti, despite finishing 30th there in April. "The guys get a little aggressive, but usually the penalty is low. I think it's a good track to race on, there's a lot of diversity there. It's the same distance at Bristol, but I think you have to go in with a little different mentality."

The key at Martinsville is to keep your tires fresh and stay off the brakes as much as you can, although the latter is almost impossible considering the length of the track. Handling is the key as evidenced by Dale Jarrett's win in April.

Jarrett pitted under caution with 87 laps remaining while most of the other leaders stayed on the track. He restarted in fifth and moved up through the field on the fresher tires, finally passing Ricky Rudd going into the first turn on the final lap.

"We know we always have a chance to win there," said Mike McSwain, Rudd's crew chief. "We kind of call that place our house."

Rudd won at Martinsville in 1983, '86 and '98, but the driver everyone is looking out for is points leader Jeff Gordon.

Gordon has three wins at the track ('96, '97 and '99) and is on a bit of a hot streak, finishing in the top five in four of the past six races to maintain his points lead over Rudd. He was 12th in the spring race after starting on the pole.

LATE ARRIVAL: Kevin Harvick will not join his Winston Cup mates until Sunday, heading instead to Memphis Motorsports Park where he will concentrate on winning the Busch Grand National title.

Rick Mast will test and qualify Harvick's No. 29 Winston Cup car, which means Harvick would start Sunday's race at the rear of the field.

Harvick will spend Friday and Saturday in Memphis after having seen his BGN points lead drop by 121 the past two weeks. He leads Jason Keller by 186 with four races to go.

The plan for him to drive Busch races and a limited Winston Cup schedule this season was scrapped when Dale Earnhardt died in February. Harvick began driving both series. He is eighth in the Winston Cup standings despite not driving at the season-opening Daytona 500.

There could be one kink in Harvick's plans, however. Weather reports in Memphis call for a cloudy and cool Saturday with a slight chance of rain. If the race is rained out, it would be rescheduled for Sunday.

COMING OF AGE: Sunday provides Craftsman Truck driver Travis Kvapil a chance to do something he never has done -- win back-to-back truck races.

Kvapil won his first race last week, taking the lead with six laps remaining to claim the Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was the crowning moment on what has been a standout season for the 25-year-old. Sunday he will drive in the Orleans 350 at Las Vegas.

Kvapil turned down a chance to drive Richard Childress' No. 21 Busch car before the season, saying he just didn't feel like he was ready to move up a series. It looks as if he's ready now.

Besides his first win, Kvapil has 10 top-five finishes and 15 in the top 10 while earning $378,850. He is fourth in points, 147 behind leader Jack Sprague.

SPONSOR ANYONE?: That's what Junie Donleavy is asking now that Hills Bros. announced it will leave his No. 90 team at the end of the season. It also appears things could get worse for Donleavy, who had Hills as a sponsor since 2000. The company said it intends to continue racing with team manager Phillipe Lopez and driver Hut Stricklin, leading many to believe all three will move to another team.

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