Dale Earnhardt Jr. cleaned their clocks at Martinsville Speedway
Don't you just love it when Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins? The man gets so excited in Victory Circle whether it's a track the size of Daytona or, as we saw Sunday, at paperclip-size track we all know as Martinsville Speedway. Dale Jr. spreads the love by going to each and every team member and giving them a hug.
I remember the first time he raced at Martinsville. He was the proverbial dart without feathers. He wrecked, wrecked and then wrecked some more. Let's put it this way: He wrecked so much that his dad borrowed the line from the movie "Days of Thunder" and radioed him to go hit the pace car because he had hit everything else that day.
There are special tracks that I believe Dale Jr. puts a premium on winning. Naturally, Daytona and Talladega are two of those, because his dad won there so much. He loves to race at Bristol and now after all these years he finally has a win at Martinsville. I just think emotionally it reconnects him with Dale Sr. because of the success he had on those tracks.
It was a special win for Dale Jr. but a special win for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. Obviously, it was well-documented that it was the 10th anniversary of the plane crash near Martinsville that killed Hendrick family members, employees and friends. I know car owner Rick Hendrick struggles every year at this time, and rightly so. So there is an emotional bond that Dale Jr. shares with Rick because of Dale Jr. losing his dad and Rick losing all those members of his family.
There are a lot of cool trophies on the circuit. I have been blessed to win 11 of those big 'ol grandfather clocks at Martinsville. Dale Sr. had six of them and now finally Dale Jr. has one he can call his own. There are no cooler trophies than the big clocks from our smallest track. Five hundred laps around that joint, and to pull off a victory is a great accomplishment.
As if the day couldn't be any more special, don't forget that Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2 Sunday with Jeff Gordon overcoming adversity in the pits to finish second. That sets him up really well with only two races remaining to qualify for the final four championship race at Homestead in November.
I was so proud for Dale Jr.'s crew chief, Steve Letarte, too. You all know how I love irony. Well, Steve's first win as a Sprint Cup crew chief was at Martinsville. Now I realize there are still three races left, but just think of how ironic it would be if Steve's LAST win as a crew chief came last Sunday at Martinsville? As most of you know, Steve is leaving Hendrick Motorsports and joining NBC as they re-enter NASCAR as a broadcast partner beginning in 2015.
I said at the beginning of the season that I thought this was going to be a special year for Steve and Dale Jr. I think they looked at each other, knowing this was their "final ride" and set their minds to doing things they hadn't done. Yeah, I know getting knocked out of the Chase two weeks ago was a real downer, but look how they bounced back in fine style by winning at a place Dale Jr. never had won at before. Steve's going to walk out of Hendrick Motorsports in December with his head held high because of all the things he, Dale Jr. and that team have accomplished this year.
Sunday at Martinsville brought us a lot of beatin' and bangin'. I think we saw how some drivers can run out of "Boys, have at it," privileges from NASCAR. Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers used up all the patience NASCAR had in one afternoon at Martinsville. It basically was a situation where we had two drivers who weren't very happy at all with each other and they kept letting the other guy know about it.
That is what short-track racing is all about. The smaller the circle, the higher the intensity. The smaller the circle, the more the contact. The more contact you have, the more tempers flare. That's why we all love short-track racing.
I also don't blame Kevin Harvick for being mad at Matt Kenseth. Sunday has put Kevin in a hole for the championship that he might not be able to crawl out of. Brad Keselowski is in that same boat. If either of these guys has a bad Texas or bad Phoenix, then their 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship dreams go out the window. So these are two guys that I think are in big trouble.
If they can both find a way to dig themselves out of that deep hole, then I still believe my final four predictions will be right. My four names for the Homestead championship race are Kevin, Brad, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. The wild card is that cat with no wins but who just consistently hangs around. Naturally, I am talking about Ryan Newman. He had another great third-place finish Sunday. Now he is sitting second in the points with only two races to go in this third round.
The other thing I loved seeing Sunday at Martinsville was the great run by Tony Stewart. That fourth-place finish was really special for him. I loved seeing that smile back on Tony's face. I think we're finally starting to see Tony get a much-needed spark back. Naturally, he still has a long way to go emotionally, but Sunday showed us a little something of the old Tony.
Now it's time to put on your big boy clothes because we are headed to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. There is simply no telling how fast they will qualify at Texas. They went 198.7 mph at Charlotte a couple weeks ago which is also a mile-and-a-half track. This was the fastest mile-and-a-half speed in the history of our sport. So it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see that record fall this weekend at Texas. Like I mentioned earlier, there are drivers like Kevin and Brad who have a lot of ground to make up. I wouldn't bet against either of them this weekend.
Lastly, I want to give a big congratulations to young Darrell Wallace Jr. That young man scored his second win last Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. He started from the pole and won the Kroger 200 running a special No. 34 paint scheme in honor of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott. So that had to be really special for that young man and, obviously, as well as for Wendell's family.
VIDEO: Dale Jr. celebrates emotional Martinsville win
