2006 Subway 500: Martinsville Speedway is the shortest race track on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. On this flat half-mile oval the racing is tight and the drivers beat and bang their way past each other. Martinsville is the only short-track in the Chase For The Cup. This will be a battle of survival as none of the 43 cars will escape without a bruise or ding of some kind.
Will Jeff Burton escape with his point lead? Martinsville is another track where a driver's fate is not entirely in his own hands.
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The Track: Martinsville Speedway is a .526 mile true oval. Asphalt straightaways and concrete in the turns. Martinsville only has 12 degrees of banking in the turns so drivers will really use their brakes to get it slowed down for the corners. Racing at Martinsville has been described as driving down a drag strip, turning around and driving back up the other lane, 500 times.
Race Distance: 263 Miles = 500 Laps
The Big Picture: The Subway 500 marks race number six of the ten race Chase For The Cup. Jeff Burton stretched his lead with a strong run last week at Lowes Motor Speedway.
Matt Kenseth has never won at Martinsville. In fact, Matt has not had a top ten finish on this flat short-track since 2004.
The Top Ten:
- Jeff Burton -0
- Matt Kenseth -45
- Kevin Harvick -89
- Mark Martin -102
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -106
- Denny Hamlin -137
- Jimmie Johnson -146
- Kasey Kahne -160
- Kyle Busch -195
- Jeff Gordon -216
Storylines: Jeff Gordon has dropped from third all the way to tenth in the points. Gordon has suffered three DNF (did not finish) in the first five Chase races.
Martinsville could be the race where Gordon gets back on track. Jeff has seven wins in the series and leads all drivers with an incredible 1.3 average finish over the last two seasons. This weekend's race is Jeff Gordon's chance to regain his footing as the team looks forward to 2007.
Media Coverage: TV: NBC Sunday, October 22nd, 12:30 PM Eastern
Radio: MRN and XM Satellite
Actual Race: 1:00PM
Posted Awards: $4,779,747
Last Year: In 2005 Jeff Gordon had a very strong car all day long. When it came down to the final laps Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson were running nose to tail.
Jeff Gordon guarded the bottom and Tony Stewart could not find a way around him. Gordon held on for the win and completed the sweep of Martinsville's 2006 events.
Predictions: Jeff Gordon swept both races here in 2006. Jeff has seven NEXTEL Cup victories at Martinsville Speedway and is a strong candidate to add number eight this weekend.
This leaves me with Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson as my backup. Johnson won here in October of 2004 and has posted a lot of strong runs since In fact, Jimmie Johnson has not finished outside of the top ten since 2002. Jimmie will be a factor again this Sunday.
