Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Martinsville Speedway

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Martinsville Goody’s Fast Relief 500

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]At a track where short-track tempers mix with history and old time racing, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 63rd running of the Goody’s Fast relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    Surprising:  After appearing that Rick Hendrick would surely get his 200th win with Jeff Gordon dominating the race and his HMS teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. nipping at his heels, it was surprising that a Hendrick-powered race car, instead of a Hendrick driver, tooled to Victory Lane.

    Ryan Newman, behind the wheel of the No. 39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet, survived a green, white, checkered melee to score his first victory of the season. This was also Newman’s first victory and 11th top-10 finish in 21 races at Martinsville Speedway.

    “The first green, white, checkered, I told the guys on the radio that I wasn’t sure I could win it,” Newman said. “It was an awesome finish. Circumstances put us in the right position.”

    “I really need to thank Hendrick for their support of the engines this year.”

    Not Surprising:  Although the race featured the fewest caution periods, just seven, since September 1996, the race was the longest in Martinsville history, with 515 laps and 270.89 miles run because of the green, white checkered finish.

    Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to hear a nurse credited for a second place race finish. Yet in spite of spending time in the infield care center before the race, the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge A.J. Allmendinger scored his career best finish at Martinsville.

    When asked how he managed to finish second, ‘Dinger said, “The medical nurses to begin with, because I felt horrible this morning, just been sick.”

    “I just kept fighting,” Allmendinger said. “I don’t know if I had a second-place Charger, but you’ve got to put yourself in position to do that.”

    “I’d like to have got the win, but it was a good day.”

    Not Surprising:  Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pulled off another solid race day, finishing third in his No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, as well as taking over the second spot in points, just six behind leader Greg Biffle.

    And much to the delight of the crowd, Junior even led a few laps as he posted his 14th top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville.

    “Yeah, I’m real happy with our finish,” Junior said. “We worked really hard all day to get the best finish we could.”

    “This is our first race with AMP on the hood and we’re proud to have a good finish for those guys.”

    Surprising:  Fords, a manufacturer that traditionally struggles in comparison to Chevrolets at Martinsville Speedway, had a surprisingly good day. The highest finishing Ford was the No. 17 Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation/Gary Sinise Foundation Ford piloted by Matt Kenseth.

    “We were pretty good,” Kenseth said. “We weren’t as good as those Hendrick Chevrolets cars but for us at Martinsville, it was pretty good.”

    “We came home in the top-10 at Martinsville and to not have anybody mad and not be mad at anybody is probably a pretty good day.”

    Not Surprising:   While Kenseth got away without anger issues, tempers flared for a few other drivers, notably Jeff Gordon, who was upset with Clint Bowyer, and most of the field who were furious at David Reutimann.

    The driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, was pretty peeved at Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota, for dive bombing and wrecking him in the last laps of the race.

    “Clint and I are friends and I have a lot of respect for him, but I was pretty mad at him,” Gordon said. “I didn’t get the best restart and he said he got hit from behind.”

    “I had nowhere to go,” Gordon said. “That’s just the way our year has been going.”

    But the driver who scored highest for the number of drivers made angry was none other than David Reutimann, behind the wheel of the No. 10 Accell Construction Chevrolet. Rooty raised the ire of many drivers for not pitting after being black-flagged for mechanical problems and stopping dead on the race track.

    “I was trying to limp around to stay in the top 35,” Reutimann said. “The motor just quit.”

    “I didn’t stop there intentionally,” Reutimann continued. “I know it sucks and I hate it for everyone affected.”

    “I hate that I was involved with anything that changed the complexion of the race.”

    Surprising:  After scoring the pole position, it was surprising that the curse on Kasey Kahne continued. The driver of the No. 5 Hedrickcars.com Chevrolet again had engine woes and finished a miserable 38th.

    Not Surprising: While Kahne continues to struggle with his seemingly cursed season, it was not surprising to see the Busch brothers struggle at Martinsville. Both Kurt, driving the No. 51 Phoenix Construction Services, and brother Kyle, behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, had mechanical issues that plagued their day.

    Kyle Busch finished 36th while his brother Kurt soldiered on to a 33rd place finish.

    “We got a little behind because the car was just too loose,” Dave Rogers, Kyle Busch’s crew chief said. “Kyle was doing a great job at hanging onto it and it wheel-hopped a little bit and we got into the fence.”

    Surprising:  Martin Truex, Jr. continued to surprise, this time with a good run at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota scored another top-5 finish.

    “This feels great,” Truex said. “We backed into that one a little bit with those guys getting tangled up front.”

    “This is probably my worst race track and to come out of here with a fifth place finish – I’m pretty proud of that.”

    Not Surprising:  The driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion not surprisingly planned to celebrate his maintenance of the points lead by heading out for Easter vacation.

    “It feels good to go on vacation being the points leader,” Greg Biffle said. “Leaving here on top feels good because this is a tough place for us and we came here and ran respectable.”

  • Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Review: How It All Changes In An Instant

    Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Review: How It All Changes In An Instant

    When the green flag dropped at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Kevin Harvick stole the lead from Kasey Kahne and looked to continue his domination. Harvick, who won the Camping World Truck Series race the day before, held the lead for 22 laps before Jeff Gordon passed him for the lead – much to the fans delight. From that point forward, it was a Hendrick battle between teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Jr who ran in the Top-10 for most of the race. It looked as if Hendrick Motorsports would finally get the 200th win they have been searching for. But when at Martinsville, everything can change in an instant.

    Kahne’s Disappointing Season Continues

    Kahne’s weekend at Martinsville started on a positive note, with qualifying on the pole position in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. When I asked him on Friday what he was looking to improve on for Martinsville, he said “Every time you go to Martinsville you try to improve on the last time you were here. We were pretty good here last year in both races. We didn’t have good finishes because we got caught in other people’s wrecks, but we actually had really fast cars”. This round of Martinsville wasn’t a factor of other driver’s wrecks, but engine issues.

    On Lap 231 Kahne came over the radio saying “We may be broke”, referring to the engine. When he left pit road smoke began to sputter from the back of the car. On Lap 234, he took his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to the garage area and the No. 5 team began to work viciously to try and revive the engine. 84 laps after Kahne made the team aware of the engine issues, Kahne’s motor expired after attempting to return to the race.

    Although Kahne’s finish was yet again a difficult thing to digest, he tried to look on the upside after the race. “I mean, it is and it isn’t(an upsetting finish). I am upset that we haven’t run great this year, but we are great on Friday and Saturday. We were fast again today and we have the speed so when it’s our time we will be ready to take advantage of it.” This finish dropped Kahne four positions in Cup standings to 31st position. He is now hovering in the bottom of the Top-35 in owner’s point’s, in 32nd position. Kahne is hoping to change his 2012 statistics at a track where he has one win at and four top-10 finishes: Texas Motor Speedway.

    Kahne tried a new spotter for this race and will continue to have Shannon McGlamery spot for him at TMS on a two week basis. After Texas, he will decide if he would like to keep McGlamery as his spotter or allow his cousin Kole Kahne to remain his spotter. “I was a little unpleased after California. We are just looking at something for a couple of weeks. We are going to see after Texas. We are going to sit down and decide if that is the direction I want to go or if I feel comfortable with Kole doing it again or what”.

    Earnhardt Top Finishing Hendrick Car After Late Race Crash

    Dale Earnhardt Jr started the race in 14th position, at a track where he has yet to take home a grandfather clock at. By Lap 8, Earnhardt moved himself into the Top 10 and was eyeing the Top 5. He gained three positions to move to seventh position by Lap 50, giving Junior Nation something to be excited about. When at Martinsville, rubbing is racing, and Earnhardt couldn’t have gone through this race without being shoved around a little. On Lap 106 Aric Almirola was on Earnhard’ts inside attempting to pass him. His race car then became loose, shoving Earnhardt up the track. Earnhardt wasn’t too happy about this move and retaliated two laps later, getting the position back.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]After flying through the field for the entire race, Dale Jr finally took the lead from his teammate Gordon on Lap 229 and stayed in the lead until caution was thrown two laps later. With 20 laps to go the Hendrick teammates of Gordon, Johnson, and Earnhardt were running 1-2-3 and it looked as if HMS would finally get that 200th win they have been searching for.

    On the last restart of the day it was Gordon and Johnson on the front with Earnhardt and Clint Bowyer following in the second row. In Turn 1 Bowyer threw his car below Gordon and Johnson and spun both himself and Johnson out, and removing Gordon from the lead. Earnhardt was untouched and was able to finish the race in third position behind race winner Ryan Newman and AJ Allmendinger. Earnhardt is now second in Cup standings, six points behind leader Greg Biffle.

    Newman Wins After Controversial Caution

    Ryan Newman, who has been running under the radar for quite some time, picked up his first win for 2012 at Martinsville on Sunday. Newman was able to get into the Top 5 after a caution was thrown with seven laps to go after David Reutiman stopped on track in Turn 1. Reutiman had a left front tire that was loose and was limping around the track for 3 laps in an attempt to maintain top 35 in owner points. The No. 10 car is normally driven by Danica Patrick and the team wanted Danica’s car to remain in the top 35 in owner point’s so Danica doesn’t have to qualify on time in the future.

    “Whether – no matter what happened, it’s not eh first time somebody stopped on ta straightaway with a few laps to go and forced us into a green-white-checkered restart at the end of the race. We’ll take what we can get. Like I said, we’re lost them that way hands down several times here and it’s nice to be able to win one”, Newman said when asked about Reutiman stopping on the track.

    Newman is eighth in points standings, gaining two positions with his win at Martinsville.

  • Lap by Lap: Goody’s Fast Relief 500 won by Ryan Newman

    Lap by Lap: Goody’s Fast Relief 500 won by Ryan Newman

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]Ryan Newman survived the pair of Green-White-Checkered finishes at Martinsville Speedway to score the 16th victory of his career.

    Green flag

    Lap 1 Kevin Harvick leads lap over Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman.

    Lap 5 Jeff Gordon passes Brad Keselowski for sixth

    Lap 7 Gordon passes Newman for fifth

    Lap 11 Bowyer and Gordon pass Hamlin for third

    Lap 16 Harvick leads Kahne, Bowyer, Gordon, Hamlin, Keselowski, Newman, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Lap 16 Gordon passes Bowyer for third

    Lap 17 Keselowski passes Hamlin for fifth

    Lap 18 Newman passes Hamlin for sixth as Earnhardt Jr. passes Menard for ninth

    Lap 20 Harvick leads Kahne, Gordon, Bowyer, Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Menard

    Lap 23 Gordon takes the lead from Harvick

    Lap 28 Gordon leads Harvick, Bowyer, Keselowski, Kahne, Newman, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

    Lap 60 Kurt Busch to pit road with a flat tire

    Lap 68 Hamln passes Harvick

    Lap 69 Gordon leads Keselowski, Bowyer, Kahne, Hamlin, Harvick, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton

    Lap 88 Gordon leads Keselowski, Kahne, Bowyer, Hamlin, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Burton, Harvick

    Lap 95 Hamlin passes Bowyer for fourth

    Lap 98 Caution Kyle Busch into the wall due to a broken rear track bar. Pit stops…..Gordon leads Hamlin off pit road. Gordon chooses to start on the inside….Two penalties: Newman too fast entering, Johnson too fast exiting

    Lap 105 Restart as Gordon keeps the lead over Hamlin though turn one.

    Lap 111 Gordon leads Hamlin, Kahne, Bowyer, Keselowski, Truex, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.

    Lap 114 Kahne passes Hamlin for second

    Lap 121 Gordon leads Kahne, Hamlin, Bowyer, Burton, Truex, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Kenseth and Stewart

    Lap 159 Gordon leads Hamlin, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Burton, Truex, Keselowski, Stewart, Kenseth

    Lap 169 Keselowski passes Truex for seventh

    Lap 173 Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for third

    Lap 177 Kenseth passes Stewart for ninth

    Lap 179 Kahne passes Bowyer

    Lap 180 Gordon leads Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Bowyer, Burton, Keselowski, Truex, Kenseth, Stewart

    Lap 189 Keselowski passes Burton for sixth

    Lap 220 Gordon leads Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Kahne, Bowyer, Kenseth, Keselowski, Almirola, Stewart, Johnson

    Lap 221 Bobby Labonte hits pit road

    Lap 223 Kahne passes Hamlin for third

    Lap 225 Harvick and Truex pit

    Lap 229 Earnhardt Jr. passes Gordon for the lead

    Lap 230 Kahne. A.J. Allmendinger and Joey Logano pit

    Lap 233 Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Greg Biffle, Regan Smith and Gordon pit, handing the lead to Hamlin

    Lap 235 Marco Ambrose, Hamlin, Johnson and Edwards pit, handing the lead to Bowyer

    Lap 237 Bowyer, Rains, Keselowski, Hermie Sadler and Kenseth pit, handing the lead to Almirola.

    Lap 239 Almirola pits, handing the lead to Gordon.

    Caution Lap 245 Dave Blaney goes for a spin. Kahne goes behind the wall due to a motor issue. Some lead lap cars pit, others decide to stay out.

    Restart Lap 255 as Gordon pulls the lead early over Earnhardt Jr.

    Lap 260 Gordon leads Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Kenseth, Keselowski, Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Almirola, Stewart

    Lap 262 Bowyer passes Earnhardt Jr. for second

    Caution Lap 264 Juan Pablo Montoya hits the inside wall after contact from Ken Schrader. Newman gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 272

    Lap 275 Gordon leads Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Kenseth, Hamlin, Johnson, Truex, Stewart and Allmendinger

    Lap 280 Hamlin and Johnson both pass Kenseth

    Lap 281 Stewart passes Truex for eighth

    Lap 287 Johnson passes Hamlin

    Lap 289 Johnson passes Keselowski

    Lap 290 Gordon leads Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Truex and Allmendinger

    Lap 300 Allmendinger and Almirola pass Truex

    Lap 310 Gordon leads Bowyer, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Allmendinger and Almirola.

    Lap 314 Johnson passes Bowyer for second

    Caution Lap 316 Kahne blows up…..Gordon leads Johnson, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Stewart, Allmendinger and Almirola….Keselowski too fast in the pits

    Restart Lap 328

    Lap 333 Gordon leads Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Bowyer, Kenseth, Stewart, Almirola, Allmendinger and Truex

    Lap 340 Hamlin passes Earnhardt Jr. for third

    Lap 348 Bowyer passes Earnhardt Jr. for fourth

    Lap 355 Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for fourth

    Lap 356 Johnson passes Gordon for the lead

    Lap 357 Johnson leads Gordon, Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Kenseth, Stewart, Almirola, Newman and Allmendinger

    Caution Lap 361 Travis Kvapil spins. Edwards gets the lucky dog…..All of the leaders pit……Hamlin leads Gordon, Johnson and Stewart off pit road

    Restart Lap 368 and Hamlin leads Gordon off of turn two

    128 to go Hamlin leads Johnson, Gordon, Kenseth, Bowyer, Newman, Stewart, Truex, Earnhardt Jr., Allmendinger

    122 to go Bowyer passes Kenseth for fourth

    112 to go Hamlin leads Johnson, Gordon, Bowyer, Newman, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Truex and Stewart

    107 to go Johnson passes Hamlin for the lead, Gordon also passes Hamlin.

    103 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Hamlin, Bowyer, Newman, Keselowski, Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Truex, Biffle

    101 to go Bowyer passes Hamlin for third

    99 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Kenseth

    89 to go Truex passes Kenseth; Allmendinger passes Biffle; Keselowski passes Newman

    88 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Truex, Kenseth, Allmendinger

    81 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Newman

    75 to go Keselowski passes Hamlin

    72 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Hamlin

    68 to go Newman passes Hamlin

    67 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr., Newman, Hamlin, Truex, Kenseth, Allmendinger

    63 to go Kenseth passes Truex for eighth

    52 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Keselowski for fourth

    50 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Kenseth, Truex, Allmendinger

    44 to go Earnhardt Jr. passes Bowyer for third

    40 to go Allmendinger passes Truex for ninth

    36 to go Johnson leads Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Keselowski, Newman, Hamlin, Kenseth, Allmendinger and Almirola

    20 to go Kenseth passes Hamlin for seventh

    15 to go Allmendinger passes Hamlin for eighth

    3 to go Gordon and Johnson side-by-side for the lead as the caution comes up for Reuitmann being stalled. Stewart gest the lucky dog.

    Green-White-Checkered…..Gordon and Johnson stay out as everybody else pits.

    Restart……..Bowyer took Gordon and Johnson three-wide, sending all three for a spin……Keselowski just ran out of fuel while running third

    Restart…….Newman and Allmendinger are side-by-side for the lead.

    Ryan Newman wins over Allmendinger and Earnhardt Jr.

  • A Chain Reaction Victory for Newman

    A Chain Reaction Victory for Newman

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The shortest track on the circuit, the oldest track on the circuit, but Martinsville delivered a short track shot in the arm for NASCAR’s faithful. It was a shot that the power house of Hendrick Motorsports had a bad reaction to.

    The class of the field this weekend was without a doubt Jeff Gordon. Towards the end Jimmie Johnson powered by under green even after a pit road penalty. But 7 laps from the end Jeff Gordon would make the pass on the 5 time champion to retake the lead. But that was when everything exploded.

    With 7 laps to go David Reutiman came to a stop on the race track after limping around the track for nearly 3 laps. Bringing out the caution flag and setting up the Green White Checker finish. Reutiman had a left front tire that was practically falling off the car and had limped around the track for 3 laps in an attempt to maintain top 35 in owner points.

    “Number one, I just hate it. I don’t even know how the race ended up finishing, but I just hate that I was involved in anything that changed the complexion of the race so I got to apologize to the guys that it affected. It broke a tie rod or something like that. I was just trying to limp around there. We needed to finish next couple of laps to try to stay in the top 35. Then the motor had been breaking up for the last couple of laps. Broke a timing belt or whatever down the back straightaway, and the motor just quit. I would not have stopped on the freaking racetrack. I would have limped it around there and come to pit road, which is what I was trying to do. The thing quit going down the back straightaway, and it shut off. I just didn’t stop there intentionally. I know it sucks. I hate it for everybody that it affected, but I mean I can’t get out and push the thing. You know, it shut off. It’s that simple. Gosh, I can’t believe I’m — I was just trying to finish the day out and trying to stay in top 35, which is why we were trying to limp around out there. They gave me the black flag. We were coming to pit road, and it shut off. And that’s far as I could go,” stated Reutiman post race.

    The top two cars would not pit on the caution flag. They had over a hundred laps on their tires. Everyone behind them pitted for fuel and at least 2 tires. On the restart, Jeff Gordon stated, “I spun my tires there on the restart and I knew he (Clint Bowyer) was there. I just didn’t have anywhere to go and Jimmie didn’t have anywhere to go.” The melee sent the top three cars of Gordon, Johnson, and Bowyer to the back of the lead lap cars with significant damage.

    The second Green White Checker finish would finish the race and see Ryan Newman as the winner. A.J. Allmendinger would finish a career high second. And HMS’s banner would be carried by the 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished a very strong 3rd  after leading early in the race.

    The victory by Ryan Newman would mark the 3rd in 6 races for Stewart Haas racing. “We were not a dominate race car,” Newman said. “Clint kind of cleared out Turn One for us and we were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time.”

    The issue this race is the no. 10 car staying on the track even though he had an obvious problem. Spotters reported from the roof that the left front wheel was trying to fall off the car. But instead of pitting Reutiman was instructed to stay out as long as he could to secure the top 35 in points position. In the process of trying to continue to make laps way under speed the car sustained an engine failure and died on the back stretch of the track Reutiman says he coasted as far as he coast and that they had received the black flag and were trying to get to pit road.

    I have a couple problems with this. One why would you even try to continue to drive a car that had steering issues or the left front wheel trying to come off when there are that many cars on that small of track? You put yourself and others at huge risk.

    And although John Darby of NASCAR stated to Claire B Lange, “”it was a situation he couldn’t avoid and I don’t think it affected the outcome of the race.” Darby continues that anything could have happened, someone else might have spun, etc, so it’s “unfair to point fingers” at Reutiman. I respectfully disagree. First of all it did affect the outcome of the race. The wreck that ensued on the restart would not have happened if the caution had not come out allowing other teams to stop for fuel and tires. Could the front two have stopped? Sure they could have but track position is a premium in our sport today and it would have been incredibly risky for them to stop.

    Secondly, you don’t call a driver to the hauler because their actions were all good.

    Third, why was there a delay in throwing the caution by NASCAR? I understand not wanting to disrupt the flow of the race. I understand not wanting to affect the outcome of the race. But by not throwing the caution, NASCAR contributed to the risk that the other drivers and indeed Reutiman himself were in.

    Do I think this makes David Reutiman a bad person? No I don’t. I think this makes David Reutiman a victim of circumstances. He has a co driver that apparently no one believes has the ability to qualify for a race without car owner points, which is pretty sad when you think about the fact that she is only a rookie in the series not in a race car. Frankly, if I were her I would be insulted that no one believed I was capable of that fundamental act. However, she apparently is lacking something because they are bound and determined she has to have that cushion. Who am I to argue with Greg Zipadelli’s success? He nailed it on the head in Daytona after all.

    Congratulations to this weeks winners, Sammy Swindell in World of Outlaws in Merced, Kevin Harvick in Camping World Trucks, Will Power in Indy Car and Ryan Newman in Sprint Cup. Don’t forget Newman’s victory entitles you to a free Bloomin Onion at his sponsor, Outback Steakhouse on Monday if you mention his victory.

    That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 7 Martinsville Speedway – Goody’s Fast Relief 500 – April 1, 2012

    Matty’s Picks 2012 – Vol. 7 Martinsville Speedway – Goody’s Fast Relief 500 – April 1, 2012

    [media-credit name=”Matt LaFlair” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Under the gun with a very important deadline this week, Matty’s Picks will be very brief and uneventful, much like last week’s Auto Club 400.

    Last week was another dismal performance for me picking winners, much like this week’s winner pick’s start to the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. I picked Matt Kenseth as my winner pick last week because of the domination of the Ford FR9 engines early this season, but again I was let down. Kenseth finished the 112 lap sprint 17th, and I received zero points for my efforts.

    My Dark Horse finished in the top-10 and without my stat book in front of me I can not tell you exactly how many times that has happened this year. I picked Martin Truex Jr. last week as my Dark Horse, but he is steadily working his way into the ranks of not qualifying as a Dark Horse. At any rate, he scored an 8th place finish last week, keeping him inside the top-5 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings.

    Martinsville Picks

    Everyone knows the history of the paper-clip in Southern Virginia, so I don’t need to re-iterate how excited I am to watch all 500 laps tomorrow afternoon. It’s probably the only true short-track left on the circuit, and the race Sunday is surely going to be one of the more exciting stanzas of the season.

    Winner Pick

    He’s off to a slow start this season but I’m thinking his luck is about to turn around. Sitting in 25th place in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings, Jeff Gordon needs to get his act together quickly as we’re almost a quarter of the way to the start of the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup. He’s been the guy to beat all weekend at Martinsville Speedway, winning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Practice by two-tenths of a second. When you’re talking a flat short -track, two-tenths is an eternity. He’ll start 9th tomorrow, and in order for the Drive to End Hunger team to be in the big dance at the end of the season, Jeff Gordon has to turn his luck around soon.

    Dark Horse Pick

    This one might be a long shot this week, but in order to win big, you have to bet big. Kurt Busch is another guy that if he didn’t have bad luck this season, he wouldn’t have any at all. He’s starting way back in the field, and will need the combination of solid pit strategy, a good race car, and a bit of lady luck this weekend in Martinsville to come up with a solid finish. The paper-clip in Southern Virginia has not been the kindest of places for Busch historically, with an average finish of just 20.8. One of his 7 career short-track wins has come at Martinsville, but he’s got a tall task ahead of him if he’s to leave Old Dominion with a solid finish.

    That’s it for this week, and until next time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!

  • Lap by Lap: Kroger 250 won by Kevin Harvick

    Lap by Lap: Kroger 250 won by Kevin Harvick

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Green flag as Kevin Harvick leads the first lap after starting on the pole.

    Lap 2 Harvick leads Ty Dillon and Cale Gale.

    Lap 3 Timothy Peters and Ron Hornaday both pass Gale for third and fourth.

    Lap 4 Justin Lofton passes Gale for fifth

    Lap 5 Dillon takes the lead from Harvick

    Lap 6 Harvick takes the lead back from Dillon while Johnny Sauter passes Gale.

    Lap 8 James Buescher and Matt Crafton pass Gale for seventh and eighth

    Lap 10 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Hornaday, Lofton, Sauter, Buescher and Crafton.

    Caution Lap 21 Hornaday get loose and goes for a spin.

    Restart Lap 26 Harvick leads Dillon, Lofton, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Crafton, Gale, Todd Bodine and Jeb Burton.

    Lap 33 Peters, Buescher and Sauter pass Lofton for third and fourth.

    Lap 37 Peters passes Dillon for second

    Lap 41 Harvick leads Peters, Dillon, Buescher, Sauter, Crafton, Lofton, Gale, Bodine and Parker Kligermann

    Caution Lap 75 Joey Coulter gets into the outside wall after a flat tire. All the leaders take the opportunity to pit. Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Peters, Lofton, Sauter, Gale, Kligermann and Bodine off pit road. John King gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 83

    Lap 86 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Lofton, Gale, Kligermann, Bodine and Jason Leftler.

    Lap 92 Caution as J.R. Fitzpatrick goes for a spin as Jeff Agnew collects damage. John Wes Townley gets into Fitzpatrick spinning him, as the chain reaction gives Agnew and Dakota Armstrong damage. Hornaday and Crafton both had to change their batteries already, Paulie Harraka thinking he has an issue.

    Green Flag lap 100 as Harvick leads Dillon and Buescher

    Lap 101 Harraka changes the battery

    Lap 103 Harvick leads Dillon, Peters, Buescher, Sauter, Lofton, Gale, Bodine, Kligermann and Leftler

    Caution Lap 111 Dusty Davis is stopped on the front stretch on the track. Crafton gets the lucky dog.

    Restart Lap 123

    Lap 125 Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Peters, Lofton, Sauter, Bodine, Gale, Kligermann and David Starr.

    HALFWAY

    110 to go Bodine passes Sauter for sixth

    103 to go Fire on pit road as Ryan Sieg breaks a rear end gear

    93 to go Nelson Piquet Jr. passes Starr for 10th

    Caution Lap 157 as Starr spins with a flat tire. Hornady gets the lucky dog. Leaders pit…….Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Lofton, Bodine, Peters, Gale and Sauter off pit road.

    Restart Lap 164.

    82 to go Harvick leads Dillon, Lofton, Buescher, Peters, Bodine, Sauter, Gale, Ross Chastain and Piquet Jr.

    47 to go Harvick leads Dillon, Buescher, Lofton, Sauter, Peters, Bodine, Gale, Piquet, Chastain

    40 to go Sauter passes Lofton

    26 to go Bodine has a flat tire and a broken sway bar.

    25 to go Leftler possibly has a lot of fluid leaking; Coulter almost into the wall with another flat tire

    Caution 24 to go as David Reuitmann gets into the wall with a flat tire. Harvick leads. Sauter behind the wall with a broken upper control arm.

    Restart 16 to go as Harvick has the lead.

    15 to go Caution as Max Gresham goes for a spin, collecting Jeb Burton, Miguel Paludo and Brennan Newberry

    Restart 6 to go

    Kevin Harvick wins the Kroger 250 over Dillon, Buscher, Lofton, Peters, Piquet Jr., Chastain, Leftler, John King, Jason White

    Unofficial Race Results
    Kroger 250, Martinsville Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/race.php?race=2
    =========================================
    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 1 2 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 0
    2 2 3 Ty Dillon * Chevrolet 43
    3 9 31 James Buescher Chevrolet 41
    4 6 6 Justin Lofton Chevrolet 40
    5 3 17 Timothy Peters Toyota 39
    6 16 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Chevrolet 38
    7 17 8 Ross Chastain * Toyota 37
    8 12 18 Jason Leffler Toyota 36
    9 32 7 John King * Toyota 35
    10 22 23 Jason White Ford 34
    11 15 29 Parker Kligerman Ram 33
    12 20 60 J R Fitzpatrick Chevrolet 32
    13 7 27 Jeb Burton* Chevrolet 31
    14 27 81 David Starr Toyota 30
    15 4 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet 29
    16 5 9 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 28
    17 14 32 Miguel Paludo Chevrolet 27
    18 31 7 Jake Crum Chevrolet 26
    19 26 24 Max Gresham * Chevrolet 25
    20 25 92 David Reutimann Chevrolet 0
    21 36 98 Dakoda Armstrong * Toyota 23
    22 18 5 Paulie Harraka * Ford 22
    23 30 9 John Wes Townley * Toyota 21
    24 11 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 20
    25 13 11 Todd Bodine Toyota 19
    26 33 99 Bryan Silas * Ford 18
    27 35 93 Chris Cockrum Chevrolet 17
    28 19 214 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet 16
    29 8 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 15
    30 21 22 Joey Coulter Chevrolet 14
    31 29 168 Clay Greenfield Ram 13
    32 28 39 Ryan Sieg Chevrolet 12
    33 24 15 Dusty Davis * Ram 11
    34 34 8 Jennifer Jo Cobb Ram 10
    35 10 170 Jeff Agnew Chevrolet 9
    36 23 174 Rick Crawford Chevrolet 8
  • Kahne captures the pole at Martinsville

    Kahne captures the pole at Martinsville

    [media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Following Sprint Cup qualifying, Kasey Kahne won the pole for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. This marks Kahne’s 24th career Coors Light Pole Award and his first pole at Martinsville.

    “It was a really solid lap,” he says. “The team did a good job yesterday.  We didn’t have the most speed yesterday but I felt like the car was balanced really well.  I felt pretty stable going around the track. It was the same in qualifying today.  It was a good lap.  First pole here for myself.  It’s a tough track to qualify.  It’s a tough track to race, always has been one of my tougher ones over the years.  I’m glad we can start up front and have a great pit stall in that number one stall.  I think that helps throughout the whole race with track position.  Hopefully we will have a solid day tomorrow.  That is what we need to do.  We have had great Friday and Saturday’s and just haven’t put together a Sunday yet.”

    Kahne drove a lap of 19.496 seconds, to beat Kevin Harvick by 16 hundredths of a second.

    “The guys have done a great job this weekend,” Harvick says. “The track conditions have changed a lot since the beginning of practice until where we are now.  Obviously the race conditions are where we will have to take a little bit of a guess like we did for qualifying based on the rubber being on the track from yesterday.  They have done a good job and I just slipped the tires off both corners a little bit but all-in-all they have stepped the program up this year.”

    Four-time Martinsville Speedway winner Denny Hamlin qualified third with a lap of 19.521 seconds.

    “We didn’t really show a lot of good qualifying speed or really front end speed of a long run yesterday,” he says. “That’s good for us to be that close and after only a couple laps. I feel like once the race gets into a groove and gets going — things get strung out, I think we’ll be pretty good.”

    Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

    Brian Vickers, making his second start of the season, starts sixth. He is followed by Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, seven-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. Six-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 22nd while points leader Greg Biffle is 26th.

    Tony Raines was disqualified from the starting field after his car was found to be too low in post-qualifying inspection. That moved J.J. Yeley into the 43-car field.

    Starting Lineup
    Goody’s Fast Relief 500, Martinsville Speedway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=6
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 97.128 19.496
    2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 97.048 19.512
    3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 97.003 19.521
    4 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 97.003 19.521
    5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 96.988 19.524
    6 55 Brian Vickers Toyota 96.765 19.569
    7 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 96.751 19.572
    8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 96.745 19.573
    9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 96.731 19.576
    10 20 Joey Logano Toyota 96.706 19.581
    11 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 96.701 19.582
    12 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 96.627 19.597
    13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 96.583 19.606
    14 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 96.43 19.637
    15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 96.322 19.659
    16 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 96.215 19.681
    17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 96.2 19.684
    18 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 96.18 19.688
    19 43 Aric Almirola Ford 96.049 19.715
    20 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 96.049 19.715
    21 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 95.971 19.731
    22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 95.854 19.755
    23 98 Michael McDowell Ford 95.849 19.756
    24 34 David Ragan Ford 95.83 19.76
    25 13 Casey Mears Ford 95.796 19.767
    26 16 Greg Biffle Ford 95.743 19.778
    27 22 AJ Allmendinger Dodge 95.738 19.779
    28 99 Carl Edwards Ford 95.607 19.806
    29 10 David Reutimann Chevrolet 95.607 19.806
    30 26 Josh Wise* Ford 95.583 19.811
    31 83 Landon Cassill Toyota 95.511 19.826
    32 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 95.477 19.833
    33 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 95.352 19.859
    34 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota 95.347 19.86
    35 74 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 95.223 19.886
    36 32 Ken Schrader Ford 95.127 19.906
    37 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 94.936 19.946
    38 38 David Gilliland Ford 94.78 19.979
    39 30 David Stremme Toyota 94.609 20.015
    40 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 94.566 20.024
    41 33 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 94.486 20.041
    42 36 Dave Blaney+ Chevrolet 93.18 20.322
    43 249 J.J. Yeley Toyota 93.212 20.315
  • J.R. Fitzpatrick Set to Tackle Martinsville Paperclip This Weekend

    J.R. Fitzpatrick Set to Tackle Martinsville Paperclip This Weekend

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”266″][/media-credit]A couple weeks before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway, fans learned that J.R. Fitzpatrick had struck a deal to drive for TurnOne Racing this season. However, it wasn’t just a quick last minute deal.

    “Stacy and I had been talking well over a year, putting this deal together,” Fitzpatrick says. “Even though we still got a couple gaps to go for the remaining parts of the year to be able to run full season here.”

    The opening race at Daytona didn’t go as Fitzpatrick would’ve hoped as he finished 34th due to debris hitting the radiator.

    “It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t have a truck that was very fast by itself, so obviously we had to start at the back,” he says. “It worked really well, it sucked up in the draft really well. I think if we would’ve missed the wreck, we would’ve been good.

    “I hung around the back, tried to stay away from all the wrecks, but ended up involved in one. So you go to front, you go to the back, I don’t know. Its just a big chess game. So our strategy didn’t work.”

    Now focus shifts to this weekend at Martinsville Speedway where Fitzpatrick is hoping to have a good finish.

    “The track is exciting,” he says. “Obviously it’s a little more familiar to what I’m used to, in terms of short track racing. Even though it’s definitely a lot bigger than tracks at home, it’s definitely something I’m comfortable on. I’ve already been there twice.

    In his last two starts on the paperclip, despite running strong, he finished 21st both times due to being caught up in wrecks. However, so far this weekend things look good as he was 15th in final practice and tested well.

    “We tested extremely well so I think going into the race this weekend, I think we have one of the best trucks ever,” he says. “So looking forward to it.”

    Hoping the rest of the season goes well, Fitzpatrick is hoping to finish in the top 10 in points.

    He got started in racing at the age of six running a Jr. Late Model at Sauble Beach. Then he was 13 years old, he moved to Delaware Speedway and got a late model.

    Fitzpatrick then moved up to the CASCAR Super Series, where he finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings in 2004 at the age of 16. At the age of 17, he scored his first win and got three top-fives and five top-10 finishes.

    [media-credit name=”TurnOne Racing” align=”alignright” width=”301″][/media-credit]Then in 2006, he became the youngest Canadian National Series Champion winning the CASCAR Championship with a win, five podium finishes and two pole awards at the age of 18.

    Between 2006 and 2007, NASCAR took over the series, renaming it the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Since then, Fitzpatrick has scored six wins, 22 top fives and 36 top 10s in 54 starts while finishing as high as second in 2010.

    Heading into this year, he is hoping to win the championship.

    “I haven’t been able to piece that together,” he says. “Last couple of years, I’ve been second, third in points, due to mechanical failure. I think now with the new stuff that we’ve got, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore.”

    The first race on the schedule is Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport), which is set to happen on May 20th.

    “We’re going for the win,” he says. “I think there’s only two of us that are two time winners at that place and we’re both going to be at that race so it’s going to be exciting. That’s one of my favourite tracks and to be one of the guys everybody watches every week when we go there, it’s kind of a cool feeling. Having new road course equipment, it makes that program better. So I think we’re going to be a threat to win one.”

    When he is not racing at the NASCAR ranks, you can still find Fitzpatrick racing somewhere as he often goes go-karting.

    “It’s a lot of fun,” he says. “When I’m not working on a car or doing anything of that nature, I go out with a bunch of people and go-kart whenever I can. The place I normally go to, I know inside and out, so it’s a lot of fun.”

    Looking forward 10 years down the road, he says he can’t plan that far ahead, but still wants to be racing.

  • Paulie Harraka Takes Martinsville Truck High Tech

    Paulie Harraka Takes Martinsville Truck High Tech

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Scott Hunter” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]Paulie Harraka is not only competing in the Camping World Truck Series and finishing his senior year at Duke but, this weekend, the Rookie of the Year candidate will be taking his Truck high tech at Martinsville.

    The native New Jersey driver has a new sponsor partner for his No. 5 Wauters Motorsport Ford F-150, the high tech company MC10. This company reshapes electronics to create thin systems that stretch, bend and flex, including body-worn sensors for high quality data collection.

    “We’re really excited,” Harraka said. “MC10 is certainly a company that is at the fore front of high tech development and has such wide reaching applications.”

    “When you think about what you could do if you could take all these electronics that we use and make them flexible, you realize there are applications pretty much everywhere.”

    MC10, a new company based in Boston, was looking for an innovative marketing platform for their products. After meeting Harraka, they decided that NASCAR would indeed match their company’s needs and agreed to go racing with him at Martinsville, including using him as a bit of a guinea pig for their products.

    “MC10 sensors have huge capabilities, from measuring heart rate to anything that we have a way to measure,” Harraka said. “I’ll actually have a sample of their electronics on me during the race.”

    “So, the possibilities are almost endless,” Harraka continued. “I know this is the beginning of a long partnership.”

    The partnership between MC10 and Harraka actually began at a conference and flourished from there. Although the company was not familiar with NASCAR, it was not a ‘hard sell’ once they reviewed the statistics of the reach of the sport and the loyalty of the fan base.

    “When I was up at the Sports Analytics Conference, I met with the CEO of MC10 and he expressed an interest,” Harraka continued. “We explored ways that MC10 technology is applicable to NASCAR.”

    “When they began to see how their technology applied to the sport of racing, that’s how the discussion turned to how to promote this,” Harraka said. “And the sponsorship discussion began.”

    “While the CEO was not generally a fan of the sport himself, people are generally familiar with the sport and how big the fan base is, how loyal the fan base is and what the reach is,” Harraka continued. “You can bring somebody in and they get it pretty quickly.”

    Marrying his business savvy with his racing acumen has been just one of the elements that has made Harraka unique in the NASCAR racing world. And through his education and connections made at Duke, the young driver has been committed to exposing new corporations to the sport.

    “One of the hallmarks of what we’ve done is to bring in a lot of business partners,” Harraka said. “And without a doubt, this is a unique way to approach motorsports.”

    “On one hand, it’s a great way to raise capital initially,” Harraka continued. “But on the other hand, the big pro to it is to bring these different businesses, with all their accolades, from marketing to venture capitalists, in to learn about NASCAR.”

    “They understand very quickly the opportunities and ways to bring their businesses into the sport,” Harraka said. “It’s unique and the payoff is just starting.”

    With his new sponsor in hand and planning to attend the upcoming race at Martinsville, Harraka cannot wait to get back to racing after the month-long break since Daytona.

    “Daytona was kind of a tease and then you have a lot of time off,” Harraka said. “I would much rather be racing every weekend.”

    “But the guys have been hard at work building trucks and getting us ready,” Harraka continued. “After Martinsville, we have a week off but then we go to Rockingham and then, boom, we head to Kansas.”

    “So, we go into a little stretch of racing, which is exciting,” Harraka said. “I’m excited to get into the meat of the racing season starting at Martinsville.”

    Harraka acknowledged that nothing he learned on the high banks of the superspeedway of Daytona will apply to the paper-clip shaped track at Martinsville. Yet he also feels that he will be returning to his roots, racing on a short track.

    “Daytona is most certainly a unique place,” Harraka said. “But all that we learn at Daytona really only applies there and Talladega, so Martinsville will be a completely different animal.”

    “But it is definitely one that is more in my element and where I have my experience base,” Harraka continued. “So, I’m excited to get back to a nice little half mile.”

    Harraka has no different expectations for his upcoming race weekend than he ever does when he gets behind the wheel. He expects to be in victory circle at the end of the race.

    “I expect us to run well,” Harraka said. “I expect that we can run up front and lead laps and that we can bring home a good finish.”

    “We’re going to the race track to win and I really do believe that we can come home with a great finish.”

    While Harraka may be confident about his race expectations, he is reserving judgment on one Martinsville tradition. He is just not sure about having one of those infamous Martinsville hot dogs.

    “We’ll see,” Harraka said. “I’m not sure how my stomach will do with those. So, I make no predictions there.”

    Most of all, Harraka looks forward to returning to racing with his new sponsor MC10 on the race truck and cheering him on in the pits.

    “I think everyone in this sport recognizes that the best thing for our sport is to bring in more companies that haven’t been involved in our sport,” Harraka said. “To expose them to the power of NASCAR is just exciting.”

    “To go outside the reach of a normal motorsports sponsorship and bring in a company totally outside of that to show the value of the sport is great for them,” Harraka continued. “And it’s great for us and for the sport as a whole.”

    “I expect that the relationship will grow into a lot of partnerships moving forward,” Harraka said. “We already have some cool things cooking post-Martinsville.”

  • Jeb Burton: Famous Last Name But Just A Regular Guy

    Jeb Burton: Famous Last Name But Just A Regular Guy

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Jeb Burton Racing Facebook Page” align=”alignright” width=”245″][/media-credit]As the son of Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton and nephew of NASCAR Cup driver Jeff Burton, the teenager Jeb Burton most certainly bears that famous last name. But in spite of that, the young up and coming racer says he is “just a regular guy.”

    “I have a full-time job at a transmission shop,” Burton said. “It’s 30 hours a week but it’s still a pretty good job.”

    “I work like most everybody does, getting up and going to it every Monday morning and being stressed just like they are.”

    Burton also says he is pretty much of a ‘regular guy’ when it comes to his hobbies and what he likes to do when he is away from the hustle and bustle of the transmission shop.

    “I like to hunt and fish and go to the lake,” Burton said. “That’s what I do when I’m not working.”

    This weekend, however, the young man will be trading in his ‘regular guy’ status to follow in the footsteps of his famous racing family names.

    In fact, Jeb Burton will be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, piloting the No. 27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet for Hillman Racing, in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 31st.

    “I’m really excited,” Burton said. “I just want to go out there and keep my nose clean at Martinsville and hopefully come out with a top ten finish.”

    “I don’t want to tear anything up so I don’t cost us any money,” Burton continued. “And I want to finish top-10 or top-12 every race and not tear things up.”

    “Anything can happen when you don’t tear stuff up and run well.”

    In this instance, Burton’s famous last name definitely helped in putting his Truck racing deal together. After much investigation, Jeb and his father settled on a deal to race for Mike Hillman with veteran crew chief Trip Bruce and State Water Heaters on the hood of the race truck.

    “My dad went down to Charlotte to look at ARCA teams and some K&N East teams and realized that it didn’t cost much more to run trucks,” Burton said. “So, we went after our sponsor State Water Heaters. They’ve been helping Dad for the last couple of years and they seem really interested.”

    “We got with Mike Hillman and he was parting with Bob Germain and had a bunch of good equipment and thought it would be good for us to come with him,” Burton continued. “I started working with him, worked with him for a few days, and we’re all communicating well.”

    Burton is also communicating well with Trip Bruce, probably one of the most important member of the team as the youngster’s new crew chief. Burton is also looking forward to Bruce’s sharing his veteran knowledge of the sport, having crew chiefed for other drivers such as Johnny Benson and Kasey Kahne.

    “Me and Trip get along good,” Burton said. “We’ve only been to the race track twice together so we probably need to get a little better with that.”

    “It just takes time for him to find out what I want in the car and the adjustments he needs to make to make me go fast,” Burton continued. “I think me and Trip will work well together.”

    In spite of his ‘regular guy’ status, has the young driver learned any lessons from the other famous race car drivers with the same last name? Or does having that famous name sometimes become more of a hindrance than a help?

    “Dad gives me his input and help,” Burton said. “But me and Dad don’t see eye to eye on some things sometimes. So, he kind of stays out of it.”

    “I watch the races every Sunday and I see not only what my uncle does but what other people are doing, making mistakes and what they’re doing that is good,” Burton continued. “I just try to soak all that in.”

    “I’m sure Jeff and my Dad will talk to me a lot this week,” Burton continued. “I know they’re both probably excited about it for me.”

    Burton acknowledged that he has another mentor, to whom he often turns on and off the track. And this mentor will be in his ear for his Martinsville Truck debut.

    “I’ve got a good buddy who is my crew chief in my late model car and me and him get along great,” Burton said. “There is good chemistry there.”

    “He’s probably going to spot for me because he’s my spotter in my late model car,” Burton continued. “He keeps me calm on the radio.”

    “He believes in me and I believe in him,” Burton said. “When you have somebody that’s spotting for you and you don’t know him well, they make think you’re just not driving well. He knows I’m driving the wheels off it.”

    “That’s another reason I like him so much,” Burton continued. “He knows I can get it done and he believes in me.”

    “That’s a big part of this sport.”

    Burton also acknowledged that his late model racing experience will serve him well as he prepares for his Truck Series debut.

    “Definitely late models have prepared me best for Trucks,” Burton said. “I tried ARCA and ran one race and on the first lap I got wrecked going down the back straightaway. That wasn’t a very good race.”

    “The late models have definitely trained me,” Burton continued. “It’s a tough division to run in and win races. There’s a lot of good drivers.”

    Burton will most certainly be experiencing plenty of good drivers as he kicks off his Truck season with his new team at a track that is right in his back yard. In spite of that, however, the young driver is not claiming any home field advantage.

    “I think every race is a home race because it’s on national television,” Burton said. “I’m not going to think about that kind of pressure.”

    “I just need to work on getting the truck handling right and then the rest will fall into place.”

    While Burton has his focus completely on this weekend’s racing, he is also hoping that he can parlay a good run into racing more than just the next few that he has been promised. Currently, Burton is scheduled to compete in five races after Martinsville, including Rockingham, Kansas, Charlotte, Dover and Texas.

    “We’ve just got the next five right now and then we have to find some more opportunities with sponsors,” Burton said. “I think State Water Heaters, once they see us run well, they’ll probably continue sponsoring us.”

    And as with all young racers today, whether with famous racing last names or just ‘regular guys’, Burton took the opportunity to pitch all of his social media ties, as well as thank his fans.

    “You all can follow me on my Facebook racing page,” Burton said. “Or you can follow me on Twitter @JebBurtonRacing.”

    “If it weren’t for the fans following me, I wouldn’t get to do what I love to do,” Burton said.