| | | | | | MUST PREPARE | Jamie McMurray, others on shaky ground at Martinsville | |
| | By Gary Graves / USA TODAY Answers to pressing questions heading into Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway:
Q: With the top 35 locked into the race on this year's points, what's going through the minds of those on the outside?
A: It's safe to assume that rookies Dario Franchitti (38th) and Regan Smith (39th) probably envisioned this sink-or-swim scenario of making races early on. For veterans Dave Blaney (37th) and Kyle Petty (40th), it's nothing they haven't faced before and more often than not they've risen to the challenge and gotten in.
Former top-20 regular Jamie McMurray meanwhile is entering all-new territory after concerning himself with where he'd start rather than if the past few years. Unlike Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and two-time winner Carl Edwards, all safely tucked into the grid, he has struggled to a season high of 22nd at California and limps into the .526-mile paper clip with consecutive runs of 40th or worse.
On the upside, McMurray is just four points behind rookie Sam Hornish Jr. and could quickly switch places by continuing his solid performance at Martinsville. But only after he learns how different life is as one of the "go or go home" group whose quest to crack the top 35 starts with cracking the starting lineup.
"The only goal we have is to get ourselves back into the top 35," said McMurray, who has six top-10s in 10 starts. "Martinsville is one of my favorite tracks, so to know that I have to qualify my way in, I'm glad that it's (there). Hopefully we can qualify well, avoid the bad luck, run a good race and let the points sort out themselves."
Q: OK, is this the week that Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon finally get their seasons rolling?
A: No matter what happened those first five races, both drivers could look ahead to this race as a place to cure their ills. Johnson comes in with a three-race winning streak and has 11 top-10s in 12 starts; Gordon leads active drivers with seven victories, 2,466 laps led and 24 top-10s while finishing all 30 starts. Those achievements, which took up the first page of a NASCAR pre-race release, basically explain why nobody's panicking at Hendrick Motorsports.
And why should they? Though Johnson's only notable run this season was second at Las Vegas, he finished respectably at Atlanta (13th) and Bristol (18th) despite never contending. Gordon has a pair of top-fives and an 11th and would likely be ahead of his teammate had he finished Daytona (mechanical problems) and Las Vegas (accident). As it is they're 13th and 14th respectively, within reach of Chase contention and heading to a track they both love.
"There are certain rhythms at Martinsville that I picked up after my first year of being there," Johnson said in a release. "I still may struggle, even at the start of practice, to find the rhythm, but once the race starts it always comes back to me now. I know what I'm looking for, and I know what that rhythm is for the 500 laps we make there, and I can usually get good performances out of it."
One driver who might spoil the party for those two is first-year teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has led 161 laps his past two starts.
Q: Who are those new faces at the track?
A: One is former sports car and open wheel driver Michael McDowell, who will make his NASCAR debut for Michael Waltrip Racing in the No. 00 Toyota formerly driven by David Reutimann, who succeeds the retired Dale Jarrett in the No. 44 Camry.
Saturday's Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Race could also mark Chrissy Wallace's coming-out party. The 19-year-old daughter of Nationwide Series regular Mike Wallace (and niece of 1989 Cup champion Rusty) will attempt to qualify Germain Racing's Toyota Tundra with Dad spotting for her at the same track he debuted with a runner-up finish in a Nationwide race in October 1990.
Q: Is Martinsville success recently limited only to Hendrick drivers?
A: It might seem that way, but Tony Stewart earned his second win there less than two years ago and has 10 top-10s in 18 starts. Since failing to finish his April 2005 debut here, teammate Kyle Busch has four top-10s in five starts including consecutive fourths with 116 laps led.
Q: Who drives like he overdosed on Martinsville hot dogs?
A: Since posting a career-best 20th in 15 starts there three years ago, Robby Gordon failed to finish his next three starts and was 34th and 39th last year. (And you thought you'd escape without one mention of Martinsville's most famous concession …)
| | Posted March 28, 2008 , 11:57 am EST
Last Updated March 28, 2008 , 11:57 am EST | | | | | | | | | | |
