Category: Featured Stories

I’ve always loved the little village of Martinsville, Virginia and the half-mile racetrack there. It all started in 1964 when my father and his friends took me to the speedway to see the “big boys” run. I’ve been going back ever since, sometimes as a fan and since 1996 as a reporter for the internet’s first racing presence, Racing Information Service (RIS). Each 160-mile trip down to the venue is an adventure. After leaving the ease of I-64, you have to travel US Route 220 the rest of the way, but the reward has always been good racing, as it was meant to be.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”251″][/media-credit]This Sunday was no different. Many will say that there were too many cautions and too many drivers who didn’t check their tempers at the door, but no one could ever say it was boring. That’s never the case at Martinsville. This race day was no different. There were drivers putting a fender on an opponent and driving past, there were donuts on doors and wrecks, but no one could say it was boring, because it wasn’t, unlike a lot of races these days.

Years ago, and I’ve mentioned this before, it was always Bristol that packed the fans in because of the good, close racing that that track formerly offered. For some reason, someone decided that making the track more like the mile and a half tracks favored by its parent company would provide a better show. It hasn’t. All the while, Martinsville remains Martinsville. It really hasn’t changed in those 47 years since I first saw it. Sure, the physical plant is much better. Where once there were concrete bleachers along the backstretch and a covered grandstand on the front stretch, we now find towers on both ends of the track. The track now features a full food court on the front stretch and even a tunnel to get into the infield. Improvements, for sure, but some things have not changed.

Take the wonderful hot dogs. No other track has a signature item like Martinsville Speedway. Describing them would not do justice to the item. You just have to be there to understand. The hospitality of the staff at the track is second to none. No other track treats each patron as well as the people at Martinsville. Virginia hospitality at its best, but the racing is the key element.

On Sunday, we say a race that was a race. Modern-day gladiators fighting for a championship were present instead of a group of competitors hoping to avoid disaster. Disaster may have come to some, but it didn’t matter. To conquer this half asphalt, half concrete track, you have to be fearless, and so many were.

I worry about the day when the Martinsville’s of the world go away. It is inevitable that they might. No great population center exists where the track sits. Highways are not the best to get there and finding lodging is a monumental task. I always stay 50 miles away because there just aren’t enough rooms in Martinsville. And yet, the best racing of the season, since Bristol has gone uptown, is found at this little paper clip track in southern Virginia

For years, many have speculated that Martinsville would be cut back to one race or banished from the Sprint Cup Series. It hasn’t happened and probably won’t. The history of the track that started so long ago (1947) should insure that (of course, we thought Darlington was a lock, too). But whatever else happens, this sport needs places like Martinsville. No gas mileage runs and every pass is an adventure.

Why did the NFL eclipse MLB as America’s pastime? Excitement is the answer. Martinsville delivers that element in spades. You can take Talladega, Daytona, Bristol, or Atlanta, and any number of other venues, but I’ll take Martinsville. The stands were full and many seem to agree with me. There was no shortage of excitement on Sunday. And as one who was there, I’m glad this piece of history still exists. Just like the hot dogs, there is nothing like it.

Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers are good friends but on Sunday Vickers took away another chance for Johnson to win a race.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Vickers appeared to be in 95 percent of the cautions on Sunday as he hit everything but the pace car. The official count was actually five of the 18 cautions as he was damaged early in the event and went on a no holds barred mission. If his competition wasn’t giving him a dose of retaliation, he was making sure they knew how he felt.

“At the end it was frustrating to see the same few cars over and over with the caution,” said Johnson. “That was something we certainly didn’t want to see.”

Johnson was leading by over a second with less than 10 laps to go when Vickers spun after trying to retaliate against Matt Kenseth. On the restart with two laps to go eventual winner Tony Stewart passed Johnson. Flash back to Talladega in 2006 when Vickers ended up wrecking Johnson as they tried to pass Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win on the final lap. At that time, Johnson and Vickers were teammates, unlike on Sunday.

But in both of these cases, it has the potential to impact the championship. By finishing second on Sunday, Johnson wasn’t able to take home a few more valuable points that come with a W. Instead he leaves Martinsville now sixth in points but 43 markers out of the lead.

“I certainly understand that if you’re unfairly wrecked, regardless of who that person is, there’s a chance retaliation is going to happen,” Johnson said. “After a fourth, fifth time with the same car in the crash, you start thinking about maybe you’re the problem. Something is going on. You’re having a bad day. You need to stop crashing for whatever reason.”

Many observers agreed. Every time the yellow flag flew and the No. 83 was involved a rumble of, “not again” rose. Not even halfway in the race, some were saying that he should have been parked or just gone to the garage long ago. Instead Vickers kept on and played a role in the finish for not just Johnson but a few other drivers as well.

“When you’re on the racetrack and someone wrongs you, you have some decisions to make in how you want to handle that,” said Johnson. “Each man’s decision how they want to handle it. I don’t agree with the way things were handled at the end. Tony Stewart is sitting in victory lane smiling and he’s real happy it turned out that way.”

The caution isn’t the only reason that Johnson didn’t win the race, as he acknowledges that he didn’t get the restart that he wanted. Overall though, that was not the Martinsville race that many were expecting. Bumping and banging are what make short tracks excited and favorites of fans and drivers, but 18 cautions on the day and drivers blatantly running over each other, some were rubbed the wrong way. No pun intended.

At the end of 500 laps there were 21 cars on the lead lap but that’s not to say that everyone escaped the paperclip without damage. The first caution flew on lap seven when Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the curb and then Kurt Busch as others piled in behind. Johnson narrowly avoided that accident.

From there it was every bit of “boys, have at it” as drivers did very little giving and all taking. Johnson very well could have at the end when Stewart passed him but says that he doesn’t run over people in order to get a position. That came into play as Johnson raced against Stewart and teammate Jeff Gordon on the final restart.

“At the end of these races you’re not going to blatantly drive over the top of a teammate,” Johnson said, “but you’re going to go race and race as you always do. When I saw the 24 lined up behind me, I knew he had taken tires earlier. Knew how fast his car was in the short run. When I restarted, I was actually a little more concerned with the 24 than I was the 14. I was hopeful to clear the 14 off of two, Jeff and Tony would be racing side-by-side, I could get distance on those two.”

It didn’t end up working as Johnson had planned. And while he thought about taking a shot at Stewart, Johnson backed off and will head toward the final three races of the season with the next two tracks being ones where he’s visited victory lane before.

“When I was inside of Tony, I went down in the corner and thought that eight tires would be a lot better than four,” said Johnson. “I changed my mind. With where he is in the points, what’s going on, the fact we raced throughout the today, he never touched me, I had a hard time doing that.”

With news that crew chief Chad Knaus might be up to his old tricks, opinions have run rampant around the NASCAR atmosphere.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]Friday at Martinsville those opinions were expanded upon when many were asked about their views on integrity and ethics in the sport. Brad Keselowski, never one to back down from any question, called it as he saw it by saying that NASCAR had a rough week on the ethical side of the board.

“I think every person, every driver, ever team, car owner, whatever it might be, has their own code of honor,” said Keselowski. “It’s something that I place very high; that’s why I’m driving for Roger Penske. I think you can look at things like that and you can see who a driver picks to drive for and you can kind of get a mindset, so to speak, of how they feel about it.”

Keselowski journey to the Sprint Cup Series is well documented. Spoted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in late 2007 he joined his Nationwide Series team for two years where he won his first few races and finished top five in points. But Keselowski then went to Penske Racing when it didn’t seem that Hendrick Motorsports would be able to fit him into their NSCS lineup.

The Michigan native has fit in well with the captain’s team and is currently among the fight for the 2011 Cup Series championship after qualifying for his first Chase. Something of importance for Keselowski is that he and Penske have the same belief when it comes to winning races. It’s better to succeed and win by a company’s hard work than by playing outside the lines.

“There have been times when I’ve had conversations with Roger and ask him why are certain things not done on the car and he’s told me point blank, ‘Hey, this is something that is a little grey and I don’t live in the grey area,’” Keslowski revealed.

He went on to say that Penske refuses to run his teams with that philosophy and Keselowski wouldn’t have it any other way. When they take the checkered flag on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, fans, teams and others alike won’t be able to question it. There won’t be any doubt, discredit or asterisks next to a Penske victory in the record books.

Says Keselowski, “I have a tremendous amount of respect for that. It’s easy to fall into temptation of sorts to push it a little bit harder. I think we all come back to it sometime, whatever individual code we have, and mine is a reflection of who I drive for. That can be tough. It can certainly be tough.”

This season Keselowski has won three NSCS races weren’t discredited in any way. In fact, they were embraced because of Keselowski’s performance by winning two of the three with a broken ankle. But back in 2009 Keselowski heard all about his own integrity when he won at Talladega – then driving for James Finch – when he and Carl Edwards got together in a scary accident on the last lap.

“I want to win as bad as anyone else,” Keselowski said. “Sometimes more. I don’t want that win to be discredited in any way, shape or form. If that means I have to lose a few to make sure that the wins I have are credited the right way, then I’ll do that. I guess it’s tough because one of my defining moments was my first win at Talladega. I think some people may have questioned the integrity of that win and how far I was willing to go.”

In that win, Keselowski had gotten together with Edwards who went flying into the fence. Opinions were mixed on whether Keselowski went up and hit Edwards or whether Edwards came down and spun himself. While Keselowski acknowledges – even calling that race not a real win earlier this year – he says that there are other integrity issues like drivers stopping on the track to cause a caution. Or when NASCAR finds a car to have an illegal part.

“I’m not going to say that I’m always innocent but I’m trying to make sure that I win without those things,” said Keselowski. “When you look at the sport, the perception is, and it always has been, that stock car racing is about drivers. That’s why drivers get the most pay and sponsors go with the drivers. It’s not supposed to be about who has the best cars. It never has been. It does always kind of morph its way into that.”

It’s important to the honor and credibility of this sport, says Keselowski that drivers win because they are the best. Pushing and shoving, bump and runs are great in Keselowski’s book, actions that he’s been criticized in the past for. Those moves, however, are ethical and what racing is all about. It’s fun and entertaining for all involved.

“If you win a race because you have a cheated-up part that nobody else had and your car is faster, I think that kind of goes against the integrity of the sport and what has made NASCAR so successful to date,” Keselowski said. “So, I think that there are two distinct lines so to speak.”

Even after all that, Keselowski said it was a hard question to answer. But as long as everyone knows where he and his Penske team stand, that’s the main point. Winning is everything in this sport but that doesn’t mean you’ll see Penske go into that area of doing just about anything to win. And speaking of that area, Keselowski saw a few ethical lapses this week.

“There are so many of them, I can’t list them all,” he said. “This was a rough week. To be honest, some people would point at [Michael] Waltrip’s cars, but I didn’t really make much of that one to be honest. I thought that was just racing. Whatever happened with Jimmie [Johnson], we’ll never know on that car. So, I don’t see how you can really point your finger at that deal. We’ll never know. I don’t have answers on it.”

He did have an answer for the biggest ethical lapse of the week.

“I thought it was remarkable the things the 3 truck [Austin Dillon] got away with,” said Keselowski about last weekend’s race in Talladega. Dillon appeared to have dipped below the out of bounds line on two different occasions and wasn’t penalized. He remained the point leader heading into Martinsville.

“That would probably be the big one,” said Keselowski. “I thought that was remarkable.”