{"id":3705,"date":"2010-10-20T20:38:03","date_gmt":"2010-10-21T01:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2010-10-20T20:38:03","modified_gmt":"2010-10-21T01:38:03","slug":"tony-stewart-martinsville-elitist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/tony-stewart-martinsville-elitist\/","title":{"rendered":"TONY STEWART – A Martinsville Elitist"},"content":{"rendered":"

TONY STEWART – A Martinsville Elitist<\/strong><\/p>\n

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Oct. 20, 2010) \u2013 Tony Stewart is part of an elite group. Believe it or not, it\u2019s not because of his two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships. Or 39 career Sprint Cup wins. Or 1997 IndyCar Series title. Or four USAC championships. No, it\u2019s because he\u2019s one of just four active drivers who have won at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway since 2003, a span of 15 races.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stewart scored the second of his two career Sprint Cup wins at Martinsville on April 2, 2006. It was a rare sight, for since 2003, the only other active Sprint Cup drivers to visit Martinsville\u2019s victory lane have been Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. (Rusty Wallace, now retired and a NASCAR analyst for ESPN, scored his last Sprint Cup win at Martinsville on April 18, 2004.)<\/p>\n

Gordon, a four-time Sprint Cup champion, turned Martinsville into Gordonville by sweeping the track\u2019s two Sprint Cup races in 2003 and again in 2005. That run helped burnish Gordon\u2019s legacy at the .526-mile oval, for he logged three previous Martinsville wins back in the late \u201890s.<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s domination, however, gave way to that of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Johnson, now the four-time and reigning series champion, gave a glimpse of his future stranglehold on the paperclip-shaped track when he won on Oct. 24, 2004. Since then, Johnson has scored five more Martinsville wins, including three straight from October 2006 through October 2007, and then back-to-back triumphs in October 2008 and March 2009.<\/p>\n

But just as Johnson usurped Gordon\u2019s dominance at Martinsville, another young hotshot appears to be doing the same, making sure Johnsonville is known only for sausage.<\/p>\n

Virginia native Denny Hamlin is the current King of Martinsville. He broke Johnson\u2019s win streak when he took home one of Martinsville\u2019s prized grandfather clocks after winning the March 2008 Sprint Cup race. And much like Johnson has done in the past, Hamlin is poised to make it three straight Martinsville wins, as he won last year\u2019s October visit to the southern Virginia short track before returning this March for the track\u2019s spring race and winning it. A Hamlin victory in Sunday\u2019s Tums Fast Relief 500 would surprise no one.<\/p>\n

That being said, Stewart knows what it\u2019s like to have the upper hand at Martinsville. In addition to his two wins, he has three poles and holds the track qualifying record of 19.306 seconds at 98.083 mph, set in October 2005. He also has eight top-fives, 13 top-10s and has led a total of 1,193 laps in 23 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville. Stewart\u2019s laps led tally ranks him third among active drivers, behind only Gordon (2,888) and Johnson (1,551).<\/p>\n

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot\/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing is now a 12-year Sprint Cup veteran, and after logging 5,796 racing miles at Martinsville, Stewart knows a thing or two about the subtleties of the track\u2019s tight and fast layout.<\/p>\n

Come Sunday, expect to see the usual suspects up front, and expect Stewart to be one of them.<\/p>\n

If you doubt the man, however, don\u2019t doubt the car. The No. 14 Office Depot\/Old Spice Chevrolet Stewart will use to cut 19-second laps around Martinsville is the same car that led 100 laps and was poised for victory five races ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. There, Stewart was a lap away from victory before his fuel cell ran dry, delivering a heartbreaking 24th-place finish.<\/p>\n

Now that strong racecar is back in Stewart\u2019s capable hands, at a track where Stewart has been the lone ranger in defeating the trio of Gordon, Johnson and Hamlin. So, if you\u2019re looking for fast relief from the same old, same old, look to Stewart first before you look for your Tums.<\/p>\n

TONY STEWART, Driver of the No. 14 Office Depot\/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:<\/p>\n

How do you beat the Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team when they\u2019ve been so good for so long?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe variable that people don\u2019t take into account is that the technology changes every week, and it\u2019s not something that\u2019s huge and noticeable, but things constantly get better. You\u2019ve got engineers and dynos and wind tunnels and simulation programs and all that stuff that changes week to week. So, it\u2019s not that simple. It\u2019s a lot more complex than that and as the sport evolves and setups change, you have to change with it, and that\u2019s something the No. 48 team has been really good at \u2013 being able to adapt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs good as the \u201848\u2019 team is, they\u2019ve still had a lot of luck go their way, too. You have to be good, but you\u2019ve got to have some luck on your side at the same time, because there\u2019s a lot more there that can go wrong than can go right.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a guy like Johnson dominates, be it at a track like Martinsville or in the Chase for the Championship, he gets booed. Do you have a theory as to why he gets that kind of reaction from the fans, but is so respected by his competitors?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because he doesn\u2019t do anything on the racetrack that makes them mad other than win. It\u2019s hard to not like Jimmie. He\u2019s personable. I get along with him great. Every time I won a race last year, he was one of the first people to send me a text message congratulating me, and I think that shows Jimmie\u2019s personality and character. He\u2019s just not one of those guys that goes out there and gets into guys and gets into trouble with guys on the racetrack that creates some of that animosity that the fans have sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve had success at Martinsville and a period where you were always a threat to win. What\u2019s that like?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can have it, for sure. It\u2019s knowing that feel, it\u2019s finding that combination that works, and the next time you come back to that track you know what that feel is like and you know what you\u2019re looking for in practice for it to be good in the race. During the race, the track changes quite a bit, but you know when you kind of have that rhythm. You have the timing of what it was like, you just know what that feel is in the car that you\u2019re looking for, not necessarily to be good in Happy Hour as much as to be good for the race. When you\u2019ve had a good weekend, the next time you go back it\u2019s just easier to try to go back and mimic that feel. That\u2019s why when guys hit on something they\u2019re normally good for a while until the package changes quite a bit, and then once that changes, you have to learn a different feel. Normally for a while you can have that, and different guys, if you look over the history, have kind of had runs at it. It seems like whether it\u2019s a three or four or five-race period, guys get that feel of it and know what that tire likes, what the chassis combination likes at that time, and they kind of have that and they know how to adapt to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you like about racing at Martinsville?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still that old short track feel. That\u2019s what I like. We run a lot of 1.5-mile tracks during the year and it\u2019s the only place that races like this. We\u2019ve got two half-mile tracks that we race on. This one\u2019s quite a bit different than Bristol, and that\u2019s what makes it fun. You can out-brake guys and you can run the outside if you get a shot. It\u2019s racing the way we all grew up racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Short tracks seem to suit you well. Would you like to see more short tracks added to the schedule?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, they haven\u2019t built any new ones yet. Everybody that wants to build a mile-and-a-half track are the ones we look at and wonder why they\u2019re doing that, especially when Martinsville is as good a race as it is and Richmond and Bristol are as good as they are. You have three of the best tracks on the circuit, but everybody wants to build a mile-and-a-half track and put grandstands down the front of it and not put as many seats as you can around places like Martinsville, Richmond or Bristol. You can get just as many people around a smaller track and have more room to park them and everything else. I\u2019m all for it. I\u2019m sick of seeing guys build mile-and-a-half tri-ovals. Be creative, be unique. Build something that is your own. Don\u2019t copy somebody else\u2019s track.\u201d<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s spring race at Martinsville you finished third for what was the first top-five finish for Stewart-Haas Racing. In your first year as a driver\/owner, how big was that race for you?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good feeling to get our first top-five at Martinsville. To go there that early in the year and get our first top-five \u2013 it was a big momentum boost for the whole organization. The same day that we got our first top-five here, Ryan (Newman, teammate) ended up eighth, but he charged from the back twice to do it. Even though he didn\u2019t get the limelight at the end of it, he probably had more of an impressive day with his run then we had with ours. I think we both left there with the feeling that we had two great race teams that were able to be competitive and be able to fight back and have good runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

DARIAN GRUBB, Crew Chief of the No. 14 Office Depot\/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:<\/p>\n

You grew up in the tiny town of Floyd, Va., about an hour northwest of Martinsville. How often did you go to Martinsville as you worked your way up the racing ladder?<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually never went to a Sprint Cup race until I started working in Cup. I went to a lot of Late Model races there from about 1991 on through 2000 working on cars that were racing, but that\u2019s really the only time I made it there. I\u2019ve never sat in the stands there. I\u2019ve always been in the garage working.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with Johnny Rumley, Satch Worley and Jeff Agnew was probably the biggest name driver I worked with for a long time. I worked for him for about 10 years. Lots of memorable moments from that. I think it was my first year at Martinsville and I was there with Satch Worley and we were in practice and his steering wheel came off. He didn\u2019t check it after he had gotten back in the car before going out on the track again. He absolutely destroyed that car and he came back to the pits with the steering wheel in his hands and said, \u2018Guess I should\u2019ve put this on a little better.\u2019 That was my introduction to Martinsville. There were like 160 Late Models that showed up, and of course we didn\u2019t make the show because we crashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a lot of family and friends who come out to Martinsville to see you and take in the race?<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of friends around that area. My family is really close to Martinsville. Everybody is probably within an hour-and-a-half of that area. A lot of friends come down and see me, and even when they can\u2019t make the race, it sparks some memories and we\u2019ll get on the phone and call each other. It\u2019s cool to see everybody and catch up on old times.\u201d<\/p>\n

What goes into making a car good at Martinsville, beyond making sure the steering wheel is on tight?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the weight distribution and then comfort for the driver \u2013 getting everything exactly the way the driver would like to have it. His preference for every little detail from entry to the center of the corner and exit and braking, the throttle application \u2013 everything has to be just right, because Martinsville is all about rhythm. Rhythm is what\u2019s going to give you a chance for the pole. Making sure everything is right and making sure you can get every little piece out of the car. In order to go as fast as possible, you have to get the most out of everything that you can get. Every foot of the straightaway and all through the corners \u2013 it\u2019s tenths of seconds here and there that really add up. The whole field is probably separated by two- to three-tenths of a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qualifying up front at Martinsville is obviously important. But how do you balance using your practice time to focus on making two qualifying laps when you also have to prepare for a 500-lap race?<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, you don\u2019t have a whole lot of changes between qualifying and race setup. It\u2019s more a few things you do for tweaks of speed here and there. Everything else is still about driver comfort, because if he\u2019s comfortable in the racecar, he\u2019s going to be comfortable for qualifying. You just add a few more things to it to get a little more speed out of it. You make the car a little more aggressive, basically. It\u2019s a little more on edge in qualifying, but the driver can drive through that. When you get into race setup, it\u2019s hard to pass, so you have to make him even more comfortable inside the car to make sure he can run his line so that he doesn\u2019t get pushed out of the way very easily and doesn\u2019t get pressured by somebody behind him, because the only way you can really pass there is by doing a bump-and-run. You need to get somebody else off their rhythm to get around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond a good starting spot, what does a good qualifying position give you at Martinsville?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge there. The pit road is very tight and it\u2019s very narrow. You have a lot of fighting going on to get into your box. The boxes are very short and you can\u2019t get the angles you need to get in the box, do your pit stop, and then get back out of the box very cleanly if someone\u2019s in front of you. It\u2019s tough all the way around there. The pit crews \u2013 if you get too close to the wall you can\u2019t get the jack up because you can\u2019t move the handle as far down. And then the cars racing by you, they\u2019re going to be four feet away because the wall is that close. It\u2019s a hairy predicament all the way around. So, the better you can do in qualifying, the better pit selection you can get and help yourself out in some of those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

How stressful is it for you as a crew chief, as you\u2019re the one who has to call the driver into and out of the pit box?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that big of a deal for the driver. It\u2019s more for the crew guys because they have to get around the car and give it three-feet of room as he\u2019s coming into the box, but there might be someone else coming into the box in front of him that they have to watch for. I have to give them the heads up as to who\u2019s coming around them. There are a lot of things happening on pit road in a very short amount of time.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TONY STEWART – A Martinsville Elitist KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Oct. 20, 2010) \u2013 Tony Stewart is part of an elite group. Believe it or not, it\u2019s not because of his two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships. Or 39 career Sprint Cup wins. Or 1997 IndyCar Series title. Or four USAC championships. No, it\u2019s because he\u2019s one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[4148],"class_list":["post-3705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","tag-tony-stewart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}