|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Goody's Body Pain 500
Posted: Wednesday April 05, 2000 10:43 PM
When: Sunday
Series: Race 8 of 34 on Winston Cup circuit TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. EDT Laps: 500 Track length: .526 miles Race length: 263 miles Qualifying record: Tony Stewart, 95.275 mph, 1999 Race record: Rusty Wallace, 81.410 mph, 1996
Fast FactsThe 1999 fall race at Martinsville was the first time there had been only one pit road. ... Three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon has gone 12 races without a top-five finish - the worst drought of his Winston Cup career ... Four drivers - Dale Jarrett, Mike Skinner, Stacy Compton and Mike Bliss - made Winston Cup debuts in Martinsville.
Drivers to WatchJohn Andretti -- His victory of this race last year marked his first since 1997 and the first of his career on a short track; battled side-by-side with friend Jeff Burton with four laps to go and held off to win by 1.065 seconds; a good final pit stop may have been the difference as his crew elected to change just two tires instead of four; without a top-10 finish this season.
Jeff Burton -- Lost a close race to good friend John Andretti in 1999; had a close battle down the stretch, eventually won by Andretti; won the Hannes 500 in the fall of 1997 at Martinsville; has four top-5 finishes in seven races including a victory in Las Vegas. Ward Burton -- Good runs in the seven races so far; won his second career race at Darlington and has five top-10 finishes; currently third in the Winston Cup standings with 1,024 points. Dale Earnhardt -- A three-time winner of this event and six-time winner at Martinsville; last victory in this race was in 1991; in seven races this season, he recorded five top-10s including career victory 75; stands fourth in the points. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Fulfilled his promise of becoming a good driver with his first career Winston Cup victory at the Texas Motor Speedway; his win came in just 12 races, while his father (a seven-time NASCAR champion) won his first race in his 16th start; also recorded his first Busch series victory at the same track in 1997. Jeff Gordon -- Posted wins at Martinsville in this race in 1997 and in the 1996 and 1999 fall events; performs well on the short track with a third in this race last season; the three-time Winston Cup champion has reached a career-low stretch of 12 races without a top-five finish; has just three top 10s in the first seven races this season. Bobby Hamilton -- Turned in one of the most dominating runs of the 1998 season by winning at Martinsville in dominating fashion; started from the pole, led eight times for 378 of 500-lap to earn his third career win. Dale Jarrett -- Dropped to eighth place in the points standings, the lowest he has been since 11th after the 1999 Las Vegas race in March; has three top-five finishes inclduding one win in seven races this season; won the Daytona 500 to start season; winless at Martinsville in 26 appearances, with 12 top-10s and a best of third in 1998. Bobby Labonte -- Leads the Winston Cup standings by 84 points over Mark Martin; this is the fifth straight race he has led the standings; has one win, four top-fives and six top-10s in the first seven races this year; won the Dura Lube 400 at North Carolina Speedway. Terry Labonte -- In 43 races at Martinsville, he has posted 25 top-10 finishes; two straight runners-up in 1996 as best results; has one top five and three top 10s this season. Mark Martin -- Drove to finishes of 16th or better in all seven races this season; without victory yet, but notched three top fives and five top 10s; trails Bobby Labonte by 84 points in the standings; took the checkered flag at this track in the spring of 1992; last year he was fifth. Tony Stewart -- Set the track qualifying record at Martinsville en route to winning the 1999 Rookie of the Year title; in the race, he finished 20th; has three top-five finishes in seven races this season; won three races in 1999 and finished fourth in the points standings. Rusty Wallace -- Returns to the track he dominated just a few years ago, winning five of six races here from the fall of 1993 through the spring of 1996; had his three-race winning streak in the fall event snapped by Jeff Gordon in 1996; six career wins here ties him for third all-time behind Richard Petty's 14 and Darrell Waltrip's 11; was seventh last spring and fourth in the fall in the races at Martinsville; collected his 50th career Winston Cup victory at Bristol two weeks ago and moved into a three-way tie for eighth on the all-time winner's list joining Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson; improved to fifth place in the points standings and has three top-five finishes in seven races. Darrell Waltrip -- Second behind NASCAR legend Richard Petty with 11 wins at Martinsville; won the spring race six times, including three straight beginning in 1987; captured the fall event five times between 1976 and 1989; has 27 top-five finishes and 32 top-10s in 52 starts at Martinsville.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
