Hey fans. Well it was a race at Martinsville today. This is how they lined up for the start of the race……
1-Jimmy Johnson 48 Lowe’s Chevy
2-Jeff Burton 31 AT&T Chevy
3-Greg Biffle 16 Dish Network Ford
4-Carl Edwards 99 Office Depot Ford
5-Clint Bowyer 07 Jack Daniels Chevy
6-Kevin Harvick 29 Shell/Penzoil Chevy
7-Tony Stewart 20 Home Depot Toyota
8-Jeff Gordon 24 Dupont Chevy
9-Kyle Busch 18 M & M’s Toyota
10-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Amp/National Guard Chevy
11-Matt Kenseth 17 R & L Carriers Ford
12-Denny Hamlin 11 Fed Ex Toyota
With only five races left in the chase including this one at Martinsville, the heat is on. There were several drivers who had legitimate ability to win the race. Jeff Burton won his first nascar victory ever here at Martinsville and has 14 top 10’s and 10 top five finishes here. Jimmy Johnson, known as Mr. Martinsville, has won 3 of the last 4 Martinsville races. He also led at least 100 laps in his last five races here. Jeff Gordon has had his share of good luck here as well with 7 wins at Martinsville including a season sweep in both 2003 and 2005. He was also first in practice this weekend. Carl Edwards finished 9th here in March. However ignition box trouble last week, dropped him 2 spots in the chase. Denny Hamlin has finished 6th or better in his last 4 races here. It seemed to be anybody’s game.
There were several lead changes during the course of the race. In all there were 12 cautions none of which was for anything spectacular. Believe me, I love a good crash as long as no one is hurt, but its by no means a reason to watch racing. However it is part of the sport and still brings excitement to any race!
Johnson dominated the race and ended the day with another victory in his quest towards his third championship season in a row. He would only be the second driver to do so. They finished the race in a green, white, checkered with all four Hendrick drivers finishing in the top 6.
1st Jimmy Johnson 48
2nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88
3rd Carl Edwards 99
4th Jeff Gordon 24
5th Denny Hamlin 11
6th Casey Mears 5
7th Kevin Harvick 29
8th Matt Kenseth 17
9th Martin Truex Jr. 1
10th Clint Bowyer 07
Now with only 4 races left this season in the chase, we have Atlanta next, then Texas, then Phoenix and finally of course, Homestead/Miami for the big finish. The points standings are as follows,…………..
Jimmy Johnson 6073 points
Greg Biffle 5924 -149 behind the leader
jeff Burton 5921 -152
Carl Edwards 5875 -198
Clint Bowyer 5827 -246
Kevin Harvick 5817 -256
Jeff Gordon 5798 -275
Tony Stewart 5735 -338
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5694 -379
Matt Kenseth 5665 -408
Denny Hamlin 5653 -420
Kyle Busch 5628 -445
Next week it’s on to Atlanta. Atlanta is on my list of tracks to try and see. The Atlanta track is a 1.54 mile track and has 24 degree banking in the turns and 5 degrees on the straightaways. The series visits this track twice each year in March and then again in October. This year the track plans to honor Bill Elliott and the 1988 championship team to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their championship win as part of the pre race festivities. Atlanta Motor Speedway is where he clinched that title so that’s why they are celebrating before the race next weekend. Should be fun!
Well that should be pretty cool at Atlanta. I remember in May at Lowe’s, they brought Dale Jarrett up on the Sprint stage before the All Star Race. He and Larry Mac talked and answered questions. My friend John hooked me up with a prime spot, I got to ask Dale a question and when he came off the stage, I was able to get his autograph on my hat! That was cool. He was only able to sign three things but I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time! It was the same thing earlier this year when we went to the mall near the Daytona International Speedway. There must have been a zillion people there. They were holding an interview session with several drivers and broadcasting it on some radio channel. Anyways, we were strategically positioned in just the right place when Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson came down and I was able to get them both to sign my hat! All i could do was jump around yelling “score!!” haha it was pretty great.
This coming season I hope to be able to bring a first person perspective from some of my favorite tracks on the circuit. I will definitely be going to Daytona like always. I also plan to go to Lowe’s again. I had a blast there for the all star weekend! It was alot of fun! I also want to go to Talladega. It isnt any further from Orlando than Lowe’s is really maybe an hour longer travel time. So I hope to bring some first person experiences from those tracks to you, the readers.
Well that’s about all for now. As always I welcome any comments or any new information! Remember this week, its Atlanta. Ill try to dig up some interesting facts that I can pass on to you later on this week. Until then have a great week fans!
Nascar Dude says
You seem to have a real feel for the races. I have been to three races at the track in Atlanta. It is one of my favorite tracks. Hope you can make it there someday.
Lorri says
Wow. Thanks. I have been a fan of racing since I was a kid, but have followed it feverishly since 1992. In our house it was always a competition between my husband who loved Mark Martin and myself the big Jeff Gordon fan!! I go to the races at Daytona three times a year. The shootout, the 500, and the Pepsi 400 now known as the Coke 01 400 which is alright I guess. We had some fun at the Coke stage this summer too. Well thanks for the great comment. Come back and read my posts anytime you like. I am thrilled people are reading them and hopefully getting some fun information maybe they didnt know before. I look forward to posting more blogs and getting more people on board this fantastic sport! Have a great week.