Nestled in the foothills of southern Virginia is one of the oldest and
most maligned racetracks on the Winston Cup circuit. It's a paperclip
shaped bullring called Martinsville Speedway. Built in the 1940's, it looks
much the same today as it did a half century ago. While the infield and pit
road have been redesigned, with a single entrance to the pits, and stands
have been added to encompass the turns, the track itself is the same old
Martinsville.
Today, just like in the 1960's, fans argue that the single
groove which offers the best and only way around the speedway, and the low
banked turns which reduce speeds, make races boring to watch.
Drivers contend that the track is merely two drag strips connected by two
tiny semi circles of asphalt. They say
it wears out brakes like a road course, and passing anywhere but the
backstretch is tough. And car owners complain that the bumping and
banging that goes on is hard on sheetmetal, and costly to their pocketbooks.
Despite these criticisms Martinsville has been the home of some of the
greatest battles in NASCAR history, and introduced to the racing world a
number of driver's who have emerged as legends. It's the track where
Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen won his first NASCAR race. It's the track
where in 1962 Fireball Roberts and Fred Lorenzen in competing makes of cars
exchanged paint in one of stock car racing's greatest battles. It is the
track where a young driver from Randleman, North Carolina named Richard
Petty became a dominant force, seemingly winning every race in the late
1960's and 1970's. It's the track where a Midwestern driver of legendary
proportion named "Tiger" Tom Pistone blew away a field of factory cars
driving an independent Ford with twin four barrels, until his engine
finally expired. It's the track where future Motorsports Hall of Famers Rusty
Wallace and the late Dale Earnhardt showed dominance at various times in
their careers. In fact the win list at Martinsville reads like a Who's Who of stock car
racing. Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Fred Lorenzen, Jeff Gordon, Rusty
Wallace, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Tim Flock,
Curtis Turner, Buck Baker, Rex White, and Joe Weatherly, just to name a
few.
But what makes the little track that nobody likes so appealing? And why
do NASCAR's better drivers have success there when less talented chauffeurs
struggle? The answers are complex. To begin with the physical
surroundings at Martinsville are superb in both spring and fall. Most
races are run with temperatures in the 70's, and clear blue skies. The
spring race is one of the season's first in truly warm temperatures, and
the fall race one of the last. The short track atmosphere puts fans right
on top of the action, and there is truly not a bad seat in the house.
Even with todays powerful Winston Cup cars, a vehicle
can only travel so fast through a Martinsville turn. Because of
that characteristic of negotiating the hard little half mile, it takes a
quality driver to stay out of trouble for 500 laps, conserve his brakes,
slam down the straightaway at high speeds, and then come to almost a
complete stop to make it through the turns.
Make no mistake about it, Martinsville is a driver's track, as well as a
fan's track. So what are you waiting for? Head for the Virginia foothills,
and get there a little early. If you stay the night before you might even
see a pair of phantom cars driven by Lee Petty and Curtis Turner
trading paint and heading for victory circle. Just like Jeff Gordon and
Rusty Wallace do today. While
some things change, Martinsville always stays the same.
|
Copyright ©2001 Jeff Gordon Online All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of U.S. copyright law. |
