Checkered Countdown: Top-Five Martinsville Finishes
Apr 2, 2016; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars make an early pit stop during the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
The super short paperclip of Martinsville will host the first race of the round of eight on sunday. 500 laps of beating and banging await us. In this edition we will take a look at the five best finishes at the shortest track on the schedule.
After the longest, the shortest. The Sprint Cup Series moves from the high banks of Talladega to the slow corners of Martinsville this weekend. The round of eight will kick off at one of Jimmie Johnson’s best tracks, so expect him to be a contender. This half-miler was opened in 1947 and is currently the oldest oval on the schedule, having been part of it since the beginning in 1948. Richard Petty has won 15 times here and also has the record for the most top tens with 37.
Here we go with our top-five.
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No. 5 Clint Bowyer wrecks the whole front row on the restart, Ryan Newman wins (2012).
Before a Green-White-Checkered restart in the 2012 spring race, Johnson and Jeff Gordon were the only ones not pitting. Bowyer was restarting third with fresh tires and needed to take advantage of the restart to get to the front. When the green flag flew both the front-runners had a slow start, allowing the Michael Waltrip Racing driver to get to their inside. Three-wide racing doesn’t usually end well at Martinsville and this scenario proved it: Bowyer body-slammed Gordon who hit Johnson and they all went for a spin. The caution came out and their chances were over. Who gained the most out of this wreck was Newman who inherited the lead. He fought off AJ Allmendinger on the following restart and won the race.
No. 4 Denny Hamlin comes from tenth to first in a handful of laps (2010).
Sometimes it requires a great effort by a great driver to win even after a bad strategy call. In 2010 Hamlin was leading late, until a caution put him and his team in a difficult position. He decided to pit but most of the other lead lap cars did the opposite, shuffling him back in tenth. With the restart coming with just four laps to go, Hamlin started shaping his masterpiece. Helped by the fact that he was restarting on the inside, the preferred line at the Paperclip, he furiously began making passes.
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With two to go though he was still fourth but just as they were coming to the white flag, the caution was out again. It was his chance. In the following Green-White-Checkered he drove very aggressively to win it. He immediately bumped Newman wide in turn one and got up to third. Then the JGR driver took advantage of the contact between Gordon and Matt Kenseth in turn three to take the lead. It was a perfect scenario for Hamlin who won the race and turned a bad call in a good result.
No. 3 Gordon tries them all to get by Johnson but can’t make it (2007).
In 2007 we witnessed a close battle between teammates at Martinsville. After the final restart Johnson had the lead but Gordon behind him was faster on the long run. The driver of the #24 indeed closed the gap quickly and started working on the champion’s bumper. Since the leader was not leaving any openings for a pass, Gordon tried to move him. He first tried it with four to go with no success, then settled back preparing the attack on the last lap. We were all expecting it, and it indeed happened: in turn three Gordon bumped him wide and got to his inside. It was now a drag race to the line between the two. Johnson won it by 0.065 seconds, his 26th career victory.
No. 2 Ricky Craven gets his first Cup win after a thrilling battle against Dale Jarrett (2002).
Craven is best known for being the winner of the closest finish in NASCAR history at Darlington in 2003. But his only other Cup victory came the year before at Martinsville after another incredible battle against Jarrett on the final lap. Jarrett had caught him with three to go. He stayed behind the leader but then moved to the outside of him after the white flag. The two raced side-by-side through turns one and two and on the backstretch. Craven then decided to play it safe and used the inside groove to his advantage: he ran a higher line in turn three forcing Jarrett to go even wider. The driver of the #88 lost momentum and ground to Craven, who finally cleared him. It was the first win for both the driver and the PPI Motorsports organisation.
No. 1 Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte wreck, Darrell Waltrip says thank you and inherits the win (1987).
The most memorable Martinsville finish took place there in 1987. With just a handful of laps to go Earnhardt was in the lead, with Labonte and Waltrip behind him. All three of them were very close and when Labonte tried to pass on the outside during the last lap, the leader tried to block him. The two made contact and the #11 car scratched the wall. In turn three Labonte tried to take revenge and bumped Earnhardt to move him. That didn’t end well because both of them spun out, giving Waltrip an unexpected win. Probably the best thing about this video is the winner of the race telling his own view of the episode during an interview. Check it out!
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