Search Results for: Mark Martin

Five Points to Ponder: Genius Of Hendrick, Gibbs, Martin And McMurray?

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*ONE: Hendrick and Gibbs Ahead of the Game for Now*

We’ll start off this week with a simple review of the facts: Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have won five of the six races so far and occupy positions one (Jimmie Johnson), three (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), four (Kyle Busch), five (Kasey Kahne), 10 (Matt Kenseth) and 12th (Jeff Gordon) in the standings. Denny Hamlin would undoubtedly be in that mix too had he raced at Martinsville. The point is this: Gibbs and Hendrick are ahead of the game with the new Gen-6.

Thinkin’ Out Loud: Martinsville Race Recap

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*Key Moment* – Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick spent their money to enter stock car racing? Seriously, on a day where Jimmie Johnson set a career high for laps led, where Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing led all but two laps, it’s hard to find a “defining moment.” Maybe Friday afternoon when Jimmie Johnson won the pole? When a driver “owns” a track, like Johnson has owned Martinsville during his career, earning the quickest route off pit lane just makes it that much easier for him to whip the field. He used that first pit stall to regain control, late in the race and it was all over but the burnouts after that.

Pace Laps: Milestones Marked While Youth Rises

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_Did you miss an event during this busy week in racing? How about a late-night press release, an important sponsorship rumor, or a juicy piece of news? If you did, you’ve come to the right place! Each week, The Frontstretch will break down the racing, series by series, to bring you the biggest stories that you need to watch going forward for the week ahead. Let our experts help you get up to speed, no matter what series you might have missed, all in this edition of Pace Laps!_

*Sprint Cup: Johnson Reaches Martinsville Milestone* Jimmie Johnson’s dominance at Martinsville continued Sunday, and this win was a particularly memorable one for the 37-year-old Californian as he broke a tie with Jeff Gordon to become the winningest active driver at the Cup Series’ shortest track. Johnson’s win was his eighth, which also puts him third all-time at the track, behind Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty. Gordon and Rusty Wallace are next on that list with seven apiece.

Four Burning Questions In Martinsville: HMS Dominance And Chasing Track Position

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Nestled in the mountainous rural pastures of Southern Virginia sits a NASCAR track that is something of a comparative rarity in the wider world of the sport of high-level competitive stock car auto racing. That track is known as Martinsville Speedway, and it is the site of this week’s round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Built in 1947 by racing pioneer H. Clay Earles, this half mile paperclip shaped facility is a constant reminder of the days of yore in NASCAR racing, a time when drivers raced for purses worth less than $3800 USD and would subsequently drive home in the very cars they raced on track. Martinsville is one of the last vestiges of NASCAR’s past, and as such, it is a coveted race for any driver in the field who gives a lick about the sport’s history. Many storylines are at-hand as we head into this week’s edition of the NASCAR circus, ranging from the Denny Hamlin saga to the question of whether Hendrick Motorsports will once again assert their dominance on the famed Southern Virginia paperclip. So grab a Martinsville Hot Dog, settle in, and let me help you gear up for what is sure to be another wild weekend in the world of NASCAR.

Fantasy Insider: Martinsville Spring Break-Outs

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The NASCAR Sprint Cup season returns to action this week at the short track in Martinsville, VA. The action away from the track two weeks ago may well influence who you pick for your lineup this week. There will be a different driver in the No. 11 car for at least the next five weeks, the No. 22 car will likely be the hunted one at least this week, and then there’s the matter of winning the race, or at the least, coming up with a good finish for some desperate drivers.

With the half-mile oval being famous for drivers to use their bumpers to get slower cars out of the way, it won’t be surprising to see some of those desperate drivers use whatever tactics they can to finish in the top five.

Five Points to Ponder: Anger Management, NASCAR Ads And Martinsville Mayhem

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*ONE: The Shortest, The Oldest And Still The Best*

In NASCAR’s inaugural season of 1949, the sixth race of an eight-race season was held at Martinsville Speedway. Some 64 years later, the sixth race of the season will still be held at Martinsville Speedway. It’s a tribute to a glittering gem of a race track, the only one to have been on every single NASCAR schedule. That’s remarkable stuff, however you want to look at it. Sure, other ovals like Daytona, Talladega, Darlington and Bristol might get the more lurid headlines, the splashier stories and better nicknames, but the truth is no venue has illuminated the stock car circuit quite like the li’l ol’ paperclip.

25 NASCAR Questions For 2013: Martin, Busch, Labonte, Montoya, McMurray

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*Mark Martin*
*2013 Ride:* No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota (Michael Waltrip Racing)
*Season With Team:* 2nd
*Crew Chief:* Rodney Childers

*Burning Question: How much longer can Martin be competitive?*

With Martin, at this point it’s continually a question of age. The veteran turned 54 years old in January, and while his skills haven’t diminished at the rate of many of the drivers of his generation (Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace) it’s only a matter of time before Father Time catches up with him – physical fitness be damned. Even the timeless Harry Gant, who holds the record for oldest Cup victory at 52 years of age couldn’t hang on forever. Holding his retirement tour in 1994, two years after that record he couldn’t even pull down a top-5 result despite driving for the same organization.