Frontstretch - Articles on Frontstretch
NASCAR on TV this week
Donate to Frontstretch
Frontstretch.com

Sidebar Stories

by

Danica Patrick Finishes Strong in Martinsville When preseason experts and fans predicted where Danica Patrick would have the most successful, Martinsville Speedway certainly wasn’t at …

Continue Reading

Tracking the Trucks: Kroger 250

by

*In a Nutshell:* Johnny Sauter took the lead on the final restart of the race to take home his second win of 2013, his second at Martinsville, and his eighth overall. ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton squeezed by a fading Jeb Burton to finish second. Timothy Peters and Darrell Wallace, Jr. Rounded out the top 5.

*Who Should Have Won: Jeb Burton.* Burton was the class of the field in the Arrowhead Chevrolet from the moment the trucks unloaded in Martinsville, running at the top of the charts in practice, qualifying on the pole, and leading the most laps en route to a third-place finish. It was, perhaps, Burton’s inexperience as much as a loose, fading truck that kept him from Victory Lane; Sauter and Crafton, both series veterans, simply made Burton use his truck up at the end. Still, Burton proved that he’s going to be a factor in this series in 2013.

As One Rivalry Simmers, Another Boils… Forgotten Foes At Martinsville

by

Rivalries are like a witch’s brew; they tend to be volatile at first, then simmer for a while before coming to a full boil. Some of them then cool off into a harmless mixtures, while others never seem to end. In any case, they’re colorful, exciting, and sometimes a little disconcerting… but definitely attention-grabbing!

The initial mix of one such rivalry happened at Martinsville one year ago, when Clint Bowyer got into Jeff Gordon in the closing laps, putting Gordon in the wall. The DuPont Chevy driver had badly wanted the win that day; it would have been Rick Hendrick’s 200th as a car owner, and Gordon, who is third on the all-time Sprint Cup wins list, owns the lion’s share of those.