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Show THE MAGNA TIMES, 6 W March 30, 2006 EST VALLEY NEWS, KEARNS POST 9i DID YOU KNOW? Richard Petty holds the JfA? THIS WEEK 0 Race: DIRECTV 500 Where: Martinsville Speedway When: Sunday, 1 :30 p.m. ET Television: Fox Defending race winner: Jeff Gordon record for most Cup wins at e Martinsville (15), most finishes (30) and most finishes (37) there. top-1- 0 top-fiv- J Rick Minters At Martinsville, die key to winning is ... OBSERVATIONS A weekly State of the Union as NASCAR heads to Martinsville. , THE STORYLINES The Bristol victims: While fans seem to love the pushing and shoving and wrecking on the short tracks of the Nextel the incidents apCup circuit - Bristol and Martinsville pear to take a heavy toll. Exhibit 1: Matt Kenselh. He seempd to have Sundays Food City 500 in his grasp, having taken the lead due to a quick pit stop with 90 laps to go. He appeared to be showing his fellow competitor's the kind of respect and consideration he expects from them. But he wound up losing the race and getting shoved by Jeff Gordon in the pits afterward. And a once-stronfriendship was banking ( 12 degrees in the turns and 0 degrees on the By KICK MINTER Cox News Seiv ice Atlanta Speedway Martinsville Motor often are lumped together, largely because theyre the two half-miltracks on the circuit and tiiPir m the races fall back spring. But thats misleading. Theres a lot of difference in the two tracks, said Brum Vickers, driver of the No. 25 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. About the only thing they have in common is the halt mile part, and theres some difference there. Bristol is a 0.533-mil- e track in length, while Martinsville, site of tins weekend's DIRECTV 500, is a 0.526-nnltrack. There are other differences, too. Bristol is banked 36 degrees in the turns and 16 on the straightaways, producing speeds more like those seen on superspeedways. The track record is 128 709 mph, set in 2003 by Ryan Newman. Martinsville has almost no e k straights). The Martinsville track record, set last year bv Tony Stewart, is 98.033 mph. There are similarities. Both are short tracks, and you have to finesse them to a certain point, and it's real easy to overdrive them, Vickers said. Bristol is unbelievably fast for the size of it, and Martinsville is much, much g strained. While leading the race, Kenseth came upon the slower car of Dale Jarrett, who refused to move out of his way even as eventual race winner Kurt Busch closed on Kenseth s bumper. Busch took the opportunity to knock Kenseth aside and go on to win for the fifth time in 11 starts at Bristol. Then in the closing laps. Kenseth and Gordon got into a fender-bangin- g exchange that led to Gordon spinning out. Kenseth recovered to finish third and take the series points lead. Kenseth said he would have yielded to Jarrett if the roles were reversed. I felt like Dale Jarrett could have moved out of the way. Kenseth said. I sure would have moved out of his way I felt like he cost me the race. The shove on the track from Busch see ned to upset Kenseth more, in a personal way. than the physical push from Gordon. As good of a relationship as Kurt and I have had, and as good a friends as weve become, and as much as weve always respected each other on the track teammates or not teammates 1 couldnt "have done that to him, Kenseth said. He hit me so hard I did everything but wreck. I dont think I Could have done that to him and brought my trophy home and felt good tonight and been smiling and sleeping, but thats just me. Busch said its all part of racing at Bristol. Thats what goes on," he said. This racing is awesome. Fans dig it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is proud when he brings in his slower. The key to success at both tracks, he said, is avoiding wrecks. They're like Daytona and Talladega in that respect, Vickers said. Its stay mg out of trouble and being there at the end. And to lie a contender after 500 laps means doing a little mirror driving at times. It's more a matter of not getting passed as much as it is passing people, he said, adding that the nature of racing at Martinsville can lead to hot tempers and an occasional payback maneuver. When the whole field is separated by three tenths of a second per lap, it can lie frustrating, Vickers sank MARTINSVILLE Youre fighting, scratching, clawing for a hundredth of a SPEEDWAY second or a tenth of a second. Track length: .526 mile Its so easy to got wiped out m Race length: 263 miles (500 somebody else's mess with 43 cars out there. laps) Grandstand seating: 65 000 Its not like Late Models, Banking in corners: 12 degrees where there are 20 cars in the Banking on straights: 0 degrees field and there's lots of dispariFrontstretch: 800 ieet ty in speed from the front to the Backstretch: 800 feet back." For Cup rookie Clint Bowyer, Qualifying record: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet; 98 083 mph. Oct. 21, running at Martinsville will he 2005 unlike anything he has ever Race record: Jeff Gordon, done. Since he has never raced at Chevrolet, 82 223 mph. Sept 22, 1996 Martinsville, his crew tried to No. 8 Chevrolet dent-fre- e. Wiser Earnhardt keeps cars intact In his seventh full season in Nextel Cup, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he has become smarter and less prone to tearing up his cars. And he's proud of it. When you first come in, you run as hart! as you can and bounce off a lot of stuff." he said. Hopefully as you get more races under your belt, you bounce off less stuff. I pride myself in not being bad on my equipment. I pride myself in finishing a race where all theyve really got to do is pressure wash the car for the next one. But he has to balance the desire to protect his car with the need to get every ounce of speed out of it all day long, "It's important to me that when the race is over it was evident to fmy team) that I drove as hard as 1 could every lap, he e said. Its paving off. He's sixth in points heading into this weeks DIRECTV 500 at Martinsville. Rick Minter - prepare him by having him run simulated laps on a PlayStation game console. His crew chief, Gil Martin, told reporters that Bowyer spun out nearly every7 lap wlnle playing the game. Bowyer didnt deny it. "I don't fare too good on the PlayStation when its Martinsville, he said, 1 hope ' it's a little bit different when we get there for the real thing." To help Bowyer, prepare, his Richard Childress Racing team has entered him in Saturdays Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville. 2 That should help." Bowyer said. In 2.50 laps I can learn where to pass, where to get riuis, just learn how to pass." And he said he wont be sorry to get past Bristol and Martinsville and back to the tracks where he has more experience. Bristol and Martinsv llle are the ones that can make or break you, he said. i YouVfigot to mike thfthest out of these two weekends, do the oest you can to keep the fenders on it and be there at the end. j The Busch standings: Kevin Harviek is atop the Busch Series driver points standings, 121 points ahead of J.J. Yeley, and Harvicks car owner Richard Childress is 122 points ahead of Yeleys car owner Joe Gibbs in the owners standings. While tlie numbers are nearly identical, Harviek and Childress took vastly different paths to get there. Harviek has driven three different cars in the first six races the No. 29 for Childress at Daytona, his own No. 33 at California and Las Vegas and the No. 21 at Mexico City, LAs Vegas and Bristol, where he woq on Saturday, it A j , Childress is leading the owner standings with the No. 2), which w as driven by JefT Burton at Daytona, California apd Atlanta, where he won. But the ride hopping Is ending for Harviek, so he and Childress can get down to a serious championship rim in the i , . No. 21. Once we get past Texas and I can be in the 21 car week-iand week out, we should be able to get in a pretty good NUMERICALLY SPEAKING Victories by Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway, tops among manufacturers (Jeff Gordon, right, won both races at the track last year.) 4 Victories at Martinsville by Petty Enterprises, tops all other teams NASCAR What ever happened to ... Ned that series. Among them the No. 36 Chevrolet and driver Tim Sauter, the No. 59 of Stacy Compton, the No. 4 of Mark Green, the No. 43 of Aaron Fike and the No. 38 of Anthony Foyt. Also out of tlie top 30 is the No. 27 of David Green, but he has a past champions provisional starting spot if needed. On whether Gentleman Ned was always an appropriate moniker: Jim Paschal used to say the name was wrong. He dirt track said, 'If you get him on the backstretch of a somewhere, youll see how much of a gentleman he Is, and he was right I never questioned him I riidnt go out and purposely do things to people on the race track, but I do go out and race people hard, and I tried to stand up for myself. halt-mil- e finish at Bristol Super streak: Joe Nemecheks extended his streak of races in which he was running at the finish to 37. The last race he didn't finish was last Marah at Atlanta Motor Speedway, when a punctured radiator put him out of the race. 28th-plac- e Rick Minter i STANDINGS Catching up with NEXTEL CUP 4 Busch Series rookie Burney Lamar has been surprisingly successful so far this season driving the No. 77 Chevrolet for Kevin Harviek Inc. West Sacramento, Calif., The native came to the Busch Series from NASCARs Grand National West Series, where he was fourth in points last year. He run at started the season with a runner-uDaytona and Is seventh in the standings. Cox News Service writer Rick Minter talked with Lamar and filed this report: p Q: A: How would you rate your season to datp? The season has been great. We started off good at Daytona, finishing second there. When I think about it, we sort of set the bar high. We went to Las Vegas and California and sort of struggled there. But the thing about it is crew chief Gene Nead and tlie guy s. they d id a great job on figuring out what we needed, I think at Atlanta vve sort of found out what were looking for. Q: Whats it like having Harviek for a mentor? A: Kevin has been helping me out a lot. Before we went to Atlanta, we sat down with fs- - g r CG i him and team manager Rick Carelli and had about an hour 1 . Matt Kenseth 782; previous: 3 2. Kasey Kahne 774; previous: 2 3. Jimmie Johnson 763; previous: 1 4. Mark Martin meeting. We talked about some stuff that really helped me. I think that helped sort of pick up the pace at Atlanta. ... Kevin' has been a huge help, at Daytona especially; 1 was sort of a fish out of the water there. Q: Whats tlie exj nictation from here on out9 A: For the tracks that weve been to, like Phoenix, I think we can run in the top 10 maybe top five Other places we dont know what to expect . . . places like Dover, Darlington and Bristol, you have to be realistic. Q: What about the origin of your name? A: It comes from Burney Falls in northern California. I had a great uncle named Burney think that's where that 1 came from Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255 6734 . Teams in trouble: The Nextel Cup circu it has run fivf races, so the provisional starting spots that have been based on last years points standings will revert to this year's points, and that spells trouble for several teams now out of the top 35. Among the drivers on shaky ground are Sterling Marlirt, whose team is 36th, and Kevin Lepage, David Stremme, Scott Wirnmer. Brent Sherman mid Travis Kvapil, who are 37th; 41st, respectively. In danger of dropping out of the top 35 are the teams of Michael VValtrip, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs, who are 33rd-35trespectively. Several established Busch Series teams have dropped out of the top 30 in owners points, which guarantee starting spots in On whether hed ever consider a return to the TV booth: Im really not interested m that. If it were just a guest appearance or for a race weekend, Id entertain that. 1 J Fewest laps led by a Martinsville winner (John Andretti on April 18, 1999) s On a typical week: I get up on Monday JARRETT morning and if its fair, I play golf. Wp tee off at 10:30 in the morning. Im flattered to get a lot of fan mail, and go through that I manage my own assets; I have since I started an IRA. Fortunately, that takes a lot of tune. While NASCAR has struggled to diversify ns drivcircuit is on er and fan base, tlie NHRA drag-racinthe other end of the spectrum. At the same time Bill Lester was making history in Atlanta by becoming tlie first black driver in 20 years to race in Nextel Cup. three women drivers made the final rounds of the NHRAs Gatornationals in Gainesville. Fla. In Tup Fuel. Melanie Troxel was runner-u- p to Australian Dave Grubnic but extended her points lead to 73 over Rod Fuller Erica f m Pro Enders was runner-u, I Stock to Tom Martino, and Angetle Sarnpey lieat black driver Antron Brown to win Pro Stock HUXtL Motorcycle and extend her division points lead. Meanwhile, Ashley Force, the daughter of Funny Car driver John Force, won in Top Alcohol Dragster. Troxel who won the season opener at Ponoma, Calif., met with NASCAR media members at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday and said the NHRA has moved tar beyond simply having women in the lineup. More than anything, what Im proud of is that so often the story is about female racers, she said. Its nice to get to tlie point where its alxiut females that have a shot at winning tlie race, rather than being alxiut females in a sport Its so hard to get excited talking about just the female aspect Its nice to lx focused a little more on the fact that were all competitive. Rich Minter starts) a Gentleman Ned Jarrett won 50 races and two championships, in 1961 and 1965, on NASCAR s top circuit. Hes tied with Junior Johnson tor loth on the all time victory list. He retired as a driver after the 1966 season and became a broadcaster. Jarrett, 73, is retired in his hometow n ot New toil. N.C. His son Dale drives the No. 88 Ford for Robert Yates Racing. gains in diversity 0 On his activities related to racing: "1 record The World of Racing on Tuesday I do a few appearances for the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. 1 do a half a dozen appearances for Coca-Coleach year. I do two or three for Ford Motor Co., and Ive already done a couple for Nextel this year I probably average two to three appearances a month. Then I play golf and go watch the grand-kidin whatever sport theyre involved in. Jarrett NHRA making Top-1- n rhythm, he said. The question then becomes whether Harviek resigns with or jumps to anoth-- . Childress his contract is up this year er team, like Toyota. So far, Harviek has said little about his future plans. It's an important decision, but right now the main focus is driving the car, he said. finishes at Martinsville by Bobby Labonte (left) in 26 career 12 all among . Kyle Busch jumped three spots in the standings after finishing 750; previous: 4 eighth at 5. Kyle Busch Bristol. 677; previous: 8 next up: DIRECTV 500, Cup 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martinsville Speedway 664; previous: 7 TV: 1 30 p m. ET, Sunday, Fox 7. Jeff Gordon Busch next up: O Reilly 300; 644; previous: 6 Motor Speedway Texas 8. Casey Mears TV: 3 pm. ET, April 8, Fox 642, previous: 5 9. Tony Stewart Truck next up: Kroger 250; 601; previous: 12 Martinsville Speedway 10. Dale Jarrett TV: 3 pm. ET, f.aturday; Speed Channel 593; previous: 9 j BUSCH SERIES 1 . Kevin Harviek 952; previous: 1 2. J.J. Yeley 831 ; previous: 2 3. Denny Hamlin 814: previous: 5 4. Clint Bowyer 791; previous: 4 5. Carl Edwards 774. previous: 7 TRUCK SERIES 1. Mark Martin 560; previous: 1 2. Todd Bodine 535, previous: 2 3. Ted Musgrave 495; previous: 3 4. David Reutimann 458, previous: 5 5. Johnny Benson 433, previous: 9 ' i . j , i |