NASCAR Notebook: Martinsville
Barry F. Hess
October 20, 2006
Big Stakes on Small Track
As the field heads down the back stretch of the 2006 Chase the 10-driver field has just five races left to earn as many points as they can to win the coveted Nextel Cup.
And if Talladega is considered the wildcard of the Chase then Martinsville Speedway has to be considered the mini-wildcard.
With passing at a premium at NASCAR’s smallest track on the schedule maintaining good track position throughout is this week’s highest priority.
With a similar bump-and-run method of passing as we see in Bristol look for cool heads to be at a premium and tempers to be hotter than ever before Sunday afternoon’s race concludes.
Though it was difficult to tell if Tony Stewart was even racing in last week’s Bank of America 500 expect to see the orange Home Depot Chevy early and often this weekend at the track where he earned his first win of 2006 at several months ago.
Stewart is still in control of the 11th position in the point standings and a solid finish at Martinsville could be just what the doctor ordered for the driver of the Joe Gibbs No. 20 to secure the million dollar bonus that comes with that position.
Denny Hamlin has said from day one he and the rest of the No. 11 FedEx Chevy race team were not satisfied with just making the Chase, they wanted to go out and win it.
Last weekend Hamlin’s efforts took a tough blow after an early wreck dropped him three positions in the points and 137 points from first place.
Look for Hamlin to rebound with a solid top 10 finish this Sunday.
Hamlin earned a top 10 finish at Martinsville last fall in just his third Nextel Cup start ever.
Look for the young rookie to scrap and claw his way toward the front and gain back several of the points he lost last weekend.
Jeff Gordon will likely have to wait at least one more year to make a run at his fifth Nextel Cup Championship but he will only have to wait until Sunday to look for yet another win at Martinsville, something that has become about as common as rain in Seattle and sunshine in California.
Gordon won both Martinsville races last year and finished behind Stewart in second in the spring.
Expect to see the No. 24 DuPont Chevy on or near the pole position come race day as he will likely make a run at both the most laps led bonus as well as the checkered flag.
The wildcard for Gordon, however, has not been his driving but the machines he’s been driving.
Gordon has held strong positions in three of the five races of the Chase only to have mechanical failures knock him out of contention for the wins and the title.
Kevin Harvick has finished 18th or worse in three of his last four races but only finds himself 89 points out of first place after his strong start to the Chase.
Now that he officially locked up the Busch Series title last week Happy Harvick can put his full attention to trying to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win both the Busch and Cup Series titles in the same year.
After finishing seventh at the paperclip in the spring look for Harvick, who has wins at both New Hampshire and Richmond two tracks similar to Martinsville, to get back into the top 10 when the checkered flag flies.
Prediction: Kyle Busch dropped out of title contention after the first two races of the Chase were hardly kind to the driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevy, though you would never be able to tell by the way the sophomore driver has been getting around the track lately.
Busch, ninth in points and 195 markers from first place, earned a top five finish the last time he traveled to Martinsville after starting in 17th position.
Look for Busch to start this race with better track position before making a run at his second win of 2006 and fourth of his short career.
Expansion or Inflation?
The booming success of NASCAR in the professional sports market is a story most people are at least somewhat familiar with by this point.
After enjoying a three year period where attendance and TV ratings did nothing but soar higher than the previous week the opportunity to get involved with NASCAR and make a ton of cash in the process wet the lips of business owners across the country.
Fast forward two years later to the present day and NASCAR has seen the TV ratings stagger somewhat while attendance remains better than ever.
And we all know it’s those pesky TV ratings that make or break the success of just about anything these days.
With four networks scheduled to carry different parts of the season next year, FOX, TNT, ABC and ESPN, the question has to be asked…is NASCAR stretching itself thin to the point where it will be forced to stumble back under the sports obscurity rock they climbed out of just five short years ago?
The facts of the television market, professional sports franchises and simple economics unfortunately all point towards yes if NASCAR doesn’t make changes to the way it operates.
First and foremost the recent TV deal with ABC/ESPN is great for the business…assuming ABC gets the ratings they are expecting.
Should they continue to fall, however, NASCAR could be looking at a major problem with very few solutions.
The TV revenue is only the beginning of the problem though.
The bulk of the situation lies right inside the pearly gates of the NASCAR headquarters and how they choose to run their franchise.
While new races teams, and in this year’s case new manufacturers, are always a good thing in NASCAR the fact that over 50 cars are heading to race tracks every week to try and qualify for a 43-car field is not just good competition it’s borderline inflation.
And the numbers are only going to go up.
With the creation of several new race teams next season, most of which will be with new Toyotas, there will be close to 60 cars trying to qualify for races at points of the 2007 season…that means a lot of unhappy people will be packing up their bags early and heading home with nothing to show for their efforts but a hefty bill they will have trouble paying.
There needs to be some sort of limitation or prerequisite put in place on the number of race teams eligible to qualify for a Nextel Cup race.
The same format should be instituted in the Busch Series as well.
Stunting the development of drivers like Paul Menard, Bernie Lamar and Todd Kluever by allowing them to finish 20th or worse every week so 20 the Cup Series drivers in the race can prepare for Sunday’s race is unfair, after all, you don’t see Roger Clemens going down to the minor leagues just to get a feel for how his slider is moving the night before a big game.
There is no need whatsoever for a seasoned driver like Kevin Harvik to run for a Busch Series title as a driver and there never will be.
The next problem, and in the eyes of many the biggest, is the Car of Tomorrow program.
While most drivers have expressed either positive or neutral feelings on the COT the majority of car and team owners have not.
Change of any kind is hardly ever accepted with open arms, especially from a traditionalist group like the car owners of NASCAR but nevertheless they have several good points.
While the COT adds several innovative safety features that make the dangerous sport safer it also brings several unifying qualities to the table that have people wondering what happened to the “Stock Car” part of NASCAR.
With little left to distinguish a Dodge from a Chevy or a Ford, at least from the outside, manufacturers, you know those guys that send the large checks to race teams every week, are less than please.
In fact, it was reported earlier this season, albeit through a rumor mill, that Ford has gone so far as to consider pulling out of the sport all together and the non-denials by Ford executives are extremely telling.
NASCAR, perhaps unwisely, has invested a great deal of money into the COT program to the point that it almost has to work whether it is good for the sport or not.
Now don’t get me wrong.
The point and time when Bill France calls a press conference to announce NASCAR is bankrupt will certainly not becoming any time soon believe you me.
And while the product, for the most part, has never been better there is always more to it than that in the business world and if ever there was a sport more intertwined with the business world of this country it is NASCAR.
The problems are right in front of their faces but luckily so are the solutions.
Regulate the amount of race teams, make the Busch Series what it used to be and not a glorified Nextel Cup practice session, continue to tweek the COT program before it’s fully instituted into the Series and for God sake please find a TV network willing to broadcast the full season an not a third here, a third, there, an eighth here and a fourth there!
The crumbling of a solid foundation the likes of which NASCAR has built hardly ever crumbles to the ground in one loud crash but rather after cracks infiltrate the foundation and progressively weaken it day by day
The future is a bright one for NASCAR but the foundation for a collapse is in the making…don’t believe a sports league can collapse into obscurity after its seen the top of the mountain?
I have three letters for you…NBA.
Random Thoughts
I love the idea of the smaller fuel cells at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and wish NASCAR would stick with it twice a year. It makes the race stradegy so much more important than it already is.
Newsflash to all those doubters, including myself, Jeff Burton is no joke and if the rest of the field isn’t careful they will be watching him raise the Nextel Cup in five weeks.
Kudos to Tony Raines and his top 10 finish last week, hopefully that will be the performance that begins to move that No. 96 team up the ladder!
Can someone please tell me why Kenny Wallace isn’t driving a Nextel Cup ride full time? The guys has the perfect racing pedigree, almost never wrecks race cars and has more experience in his pinky than some of these kids taking over full time rides.
As the field heads down the back stretch of the 2006 Chase the 10-driver field has just five races left to earn as many points as they can to win the coveted Nextel Cup.
And if Talladega is considered the wildcard of the Chase then Martinsville Speedway has to be considered the mini-wildcard.
With passing at a premium at NASCAR’s smallest track on the schedule maintaining good track position throughout is this week’s highest priority.
With a similar bump-and-run method of passing as we see in Bristol look for cool heads to be at a premium and tempers to be hotter than ever before Sunday afternoon’s race concludes.
Though it was difficult to tell if Tony Stewart was even racing in last week’s Bank of America 500 expect to see the orange Home Depot Chevy early and often this weekend at the track where he earned his first win of 2006 at several months ago.
Stewart is still in control of the 11th position in the point standings and a solid finish at Martinsville could be just what the doctor ordered for the driver of the Joe Gibbs No. 20 to secure the million dollar bonus that comes with that position.
Denny Hamlin has said from day one he and the rest of the No. 11 FedEx Chevy race team were not satisfied with just making the Chase, they wanted to go out and win it.
Last weekend Hamlin’s efforts took a tough blow after an early wreck dropped him three positions in the points and 137 points from first place.
Look for Hamlin to rebound with a solid top 10 finish this Sunday.
Hamlin earned a top 10 finish at Martinsville last fall in just his third Nextel Cup start ever.
Look for the young rookie to scrap and claw his way toward the front and gain back several of the points he lost last weekend.
Jeff Gordon will likely have to wait at least one more year to make a run at his fifth Nextel Cup Championship but he will only have to wait until Sunday to look for yet another win at Martinsville, something that has become about as common as rain in Seattle and sunshine in California.
Gordon won both Martinsville races last year and finished behind Stewart in second in the spring.
Expect to see the No. 24 DuPont Chevy on or near the pole position come race day as he will likely make a run at both the most laps led bonus as well as the checkered flag.
The wildcard for Gordon, however, has not been his driving but the machines he’s been driving.
Gordon has held strong positions in three of the five races of the Chase only to have mechanical failures knock him out of contention for the wins and the title.
Kevin Harvick has finished 18th or worse in three of his last four races but only finds himself 89 points out of first place after his strong start to the Chase.
Now that he officially locked up the Busch Series title last week Happy Harvick can put his full attention to trying to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win both the Busch and Cup Series titles in the same year.
After finishing seventh at the paperclip in the spring look for Harvick, who has wins at both New Hampshire and Richmond two tracks similar to Martinsville, to get back into the top 10 when the checkered flag flies.
Prediction: Kyle Busch dropped out of title contention after the first two races of the Chase were hardly kind to the driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevy, though you would never be able to tell by the way the sophomore driver has been getting around the track lately.
Busch, ninth in points and 195 markers from first place, earned a top five finish the last time he traveled to Martinsville after starting in 17th position.
Look for Busch to start this race with better track position before making a run at his second win of 2006 and fourth of his short career.
Expansion or Inflation?
The booming success of NASCAR in the professional sports market is a story most people are at least somewhat familiar with by this point.
After enjoying a three year period where attendance and TV ratings did nothing but soar higher than the previous week the opportunity to get involved with NASCAR and make a ton of cash in the process wet the lips of business owners across the country.
Fast forward two years later to the present day and NASCAR has seen the TV ratings stagger somewhat while attendance remains better than ever.
And we all know it’s those pesky TV ratings that make or break the success of just about anything these days.
With four networks scheduled to carry different parts of the season next year, FOX, TNT, ABC and ESPN, the question has to be asked…is NASCAR stretching itself thin to the point where it will be forced to stumble back under the sports obscurity rock they climbed out of just five short years ago?
The facts of the television market, professional sports franchises and simple economics unfortunately all point towards yes if NASCAR doesn’t make changes to the way it operates.
First and foremost the recent TV deal with ABC/ESPN is great for the business…assuming ABC gets the ratings they are expecting.
Should they continue to fall, however, NASCAR could be looking at a major problem with very few solutions.
The TV revenue is only the beginning of the problem though.
The bulk of the situation lies right inside the pearly gates of the NASCAR headquarters and how they choose to run their franchise.
While new races teams, and in this year’s case new manufacturers, are always a good thing in NASCAR the fact that over 50 cars are heading to race tracks every week to try and qualify for a 43-car field is not just good competition it’s borderline inflation.
And the numbers are only going to go up.
With the creation of several new race teams next season, most of which will be with new Toyotas, there will be close to 60 cars trying to qualify for races at points of the 2007 season…that means a lot of unhappy people will be packing up their bags early and heading home with nothing to show for their efforts but a hefty bill they will have trouble paying.
There needs to be some sort of limitation or prerequisite put in place on the number of race teams eligible to qualify for a Nextel Cup race.
The same format should be instituted in the Busch Series as well.
Stunting the development of drivers like Paul Menard, Bernie Lamar and Todd Kluever by allowing them to finish 20th or worse every week so 20 the Cup Series drivers in the race can prepare for Sunday’s race is unfair, after all, you don’t see Roger Clemens going down to the minor leagues just to get a feel for how his slider is moving the night before a big game.
There is no need whatsoever for a seasoned driver like Kevin Harvik to run for a Busch Series title as a driver and there never will be.
The next problem, and in the eyes of many the biggest, is the Car of Tomorrow program.
While most drivers have expressed either positive or neutral feelings on the COT the majority of car and team owners have not.
Change of any kind is hardly ever accepted with open arms, especially from a traditionalist group like the car owners of NASCAR but nevertheless they have several good points.
While the COT adds several innovative safety features that make the dangerous sport safer it also brings several unifying qualities to the table that have people wondering what happened to the “Stock Car” part of NASCAR.
With little left to distinguish a Dodge from a Chevy or a Ford, at least from the outside, manufacturers, you know those guys that send the large checks to race teams every week, are less than please.
In fact, it was reported earlier this season, albeit through a rumor mill, that Ford has gone so far as to consider pulling out of the sport all together and the non-denials by Ford executives are extremely telling.
NASCAR, perhaps unwisely, has invested a great deal of money into the COT program to the point that it almost has to work whether it is good for the sport or not.
Now don’t get me wrong.
The point and time when Bill France calls a press conference to announce NASCAR is bankrupt will certainly not becoming any time soon believe you me.
And while the product, for the most part, has never been better there is always more to it than that in the business world and if ever there was a sport more intertwined with the business world of this country it is NASCAR.
The problems are right in front of their faces but luckily so are the solutions.
Regulate the amount of race teams, make the Busch Series what it used to be and not a glorified Nextel Cup practice session, continue to tweek the COT program before it’s fully instituted into the Series and for God sake please find a TV network willing to broadcast the full season an not a third here, a third, there, an eighth here and a fourth there!
The crumbling of a solid foundation the likes of which NASCAR has built hardly ever crumbles to the ground in one loud crash but rather after cracks infiltrate the foundation and progressively weaken it day by day
The future is a bright one for NASCAR but the foundation for a collapse is in the making…don’t believe a sports league can collapse into obscurity after its seen the top of the mountain?
I have three letters for you…NBA.
Random Thoughts
I love the idea of the smaller fuel cells at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and wish NASCAR would stick with it twice a year. It makes the race stradegy so much more important than it already is.
Newsflash to all those doubters, including myself, Jeff Burton is no joke and if the rest of the field isn’t careful they will be watching him raise the Nextel Cup in five weeks.
Kudos to Tony Raines and his top 10 finish last week, hopefully that will be the performance that begins to move that No. 96 team up the ladder!
Can someone please tell me why Kenny Wallace isn’t driving a Nextel Cup ride full time? The guys has the perfect racing pedigree, almost never wrecks race cars and has more experience in his pinky than some of these kids taking over full time rides.
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