• Race: Sunday, April 8, 2001 in Martinsville, VA
  
  
• TV: Fox 1:00pm/et(pre-race at 12:30pm/et)
  
  
• Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds
  
  
• Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes, Jeanne Zelasko
  
  
• Posted Awards/Purse: $3,078,736 (was $2,168,867 in 2000)
  
  
• Entry List: Entry List for the: Virginia 500 from NOL
  
  
• 2000 Race Winner: Mark Martin, 71.161mph
  
  
• Track Race Record: Jeff Burton, Sept 1996, 82.223mph
  
  
• Track/Race Length: 0.526-mile oval, 500 laps, 263 miles
  
  
• Pit Road Speed: 35mph
  
  

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  Practice
  
  
• Practice: Friday, Apr 6th from 11:15am - 1:25pm/et
  
  
• Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, Apr 7th from 11:30am - 1:00pm/et, TV-FX at 12:00noon/et
  
  

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  Qualifying
  
  
• Qualifying Draw: Friday, Apr 6th at 10:15am/et
  
  
• Qualfying Order - Virginia 500: at NASCAR Online or
  
  
• Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, Apr 6th at 3:00pm/et, TV-FSN(Fox Sports Net) and live via MRN radio/internet
  
  
• NASCAR.com will have live lap-by-lap coverage of Winston Cup qualifying via the web using it's Racecast feature
  
  
• Second-Round Qualifying: there is no longer a 2nd round of qualifying
  
  
• Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, Sept 2000, 95.371mph
  
  
• Event Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, Apr 1999, 95.275mph
  
  
• Last Year's Pole Sitter: Rusty Wallace, 94.827mph
  
  
  
  

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  Track Specs:
  Degree of Banking: Turns: 12 degrees
  Straightaways: Banking: 0 degrees(flat)
  Straights: 800 feet
  Seating: approx 86,000
  Pit Stalls: 43 pits, 14-feet wide by 28-feet long
  
  
• Track Homepage: Martinsville Speedway
  
  
• Scanner Frequencies: are linked on my Racing Links Page/ Scanners Section
  
  

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  PAST WINNERS at Martinsville

  See the chart at the Martinsville site: Past All Time Winners(4-1-2001)
  
  

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  RACE BONUS INFO

• The NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus is $10,000 at Martinsville for leading the points and winning the race(Dale Jarrett last won the award, $20,000 at Texas on Apr 1, 2001). The $360,000 annual award is paid at $10,000 per race to the point leader at the end of each event if he is also the winner. The award increases by $10,000 each week the it goes unclaimed. If the point leader is not the race winner at the end of the year, the balance of the award is distributed among the top-10 finisher in the point standings(4-1-2001)
  
  

IN-CAR AUDIO SITES

PREVIEW, FACT SHEETS and MISC News

• No wins since Martinsville: Four drivers have not won again since winning at Martinsville. #55-Bobby Hamilton, who won the spring 1998 race, #28-Ricky Rudd, the fall 1998 winner, #43-John Andretti, the spring 1999 winner, and #6-Mark Martin, who won this race last year(Roanoke Times)(4-4-2001)
  
  
• Dutch Inn Questions Dutch Inn reservation questions answered due to the fire two weeks ago at the Martinsville, VA Motel
  
  
• Schrader to Start #500: On Sunday at Martinsville, Ken Schrader, driver of the #36 M&M's Pontiac will become only the 22nd driver in Winston Cup history (1949-2001) to make 500 career Winston Cup starts. Despite a varied interest that spans both dirt and asphalt, it is the Winston Cup series that has been his home since Elmo Langley put him behind the wheel of a Winston Cup car at Nashville Speedway in 1984. Although Schrader started five races in 1984, his streak of consecutive starts began on February 17, 1985. June 3, 2001 at Dover Downs International Speedway will be Schrader's 500th consecutive start(IMG Motorsports PR)(4-3-2001)
  
  
• Martinsville Facts: This will be the 46th Annual Virginia 500 at Martinsville. The race has been won from the pole 15 times since 1956, the most productive starting position. Lee Petty won the 1959 Virginia 500 from the 24th starting position, the farthest back a race winner has started at Martinsville. John Andretti won the 1999 Virginia 500 from the 21st starting position, the farthest back that the winner has started in the modern era (since 1972). Mark Martin duplicated the feat in the 2000 Virginia 500. Darrell Waltrip is the all-time Bud Pole winner at Martinsville scoring eight poles at the Virginia track. He scored his first pole there in the fall of 1976 and his last Bud Pole came in the spring of 1992. Ricky Rudd has scored four Bud Poles at Martinsville, the most among active drivers. There have been seven different race winners in the last seven races at Martinsville. Richard Petty is the all-time Martinsville race winner scoring 15 of his 200 career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victories at the Virginia track. Rusty Wallace leads all active drivers with six victories at Martinsville. Rusty Wallace was the last driver to win both Martinsville races in the same year, doing so in 1994. Geoffrey Bodine (1990), Darrell Waltrip (1989), Cale Yarborough (1977), Richard Petty (1967, 1969 and 1972) and Fred Lorenzen (1964) are the other drivers to win both races there in the same year.(NASCAR PR)(4-3-2001)
  
  
• : Virginia 500 Race Info
  
  
• CBS Sportsline: Virginia 500 Preview
  
  
• Raceday Today - Virginia 500(4-8-2001)
  
  
• NASCAR.com: Virginia 500 Page
  
  
• Sporting News: This Week In NASCAR - Virginia 500(4-3-2001)
  
  
• NASCAR - Virginia 500 Preview(WRAL)
  
  
• Yahoo: Virginia 500 - Preview
  
  
• Crew Chief Club
  
  

• note: this is not to promote gambling but to offer readers odds and ideas on what the 'experts' think about the upcoming race and the Cup series season
  
  
• Don Best Sports - Virginia 500 and the 2001 Winston Cup Championship(4-3-2001)
  
  
• Imperial Palace NASCAR Odds - Virginia 500 and the 2001 Winston Cup(SportsFax News)(4-4-2001)
  
  
• NASCAR Odds - Early Odds for the Virginia 500(4-4-2001)
  
  
• Stardust NASCAR Odds - Virginia 500(WRAL)(4-4-2001)
  
  
• United Bet - Virginia 500 Odds - click on Motorsports link(4-3-2001)
  
  

• Eighth Different Driver: #88-Dale Jarrett is the eighth different winner in the last eight races at Martinsville(Roanoke Times)(4-9-2001)
  
  
• Jarrett Wins Again: #88-Dale Jarrett wins the Virginia 500 at Martinsville with his RYR teammate #28-Ricky Rudd finishing 2nd. It was Jarrett's 2nd win in a row and third of 2001, already one more then he had in 2000. It is Jarrett's first ever win at Martinsville. #99-Jeff Burton finished third, getting his first top five and ten finish of the 2001 season. Jarrett increases his Winston Cup Point lead over #24-Jeff Gordon to 123 points. Gordon finished 12th. #4-Kevin Lepage had another good finish with an 18th after starting 42nd. See a story at : Jarrett wins his 3rd of 2001 and unofficial results at or NASCAR.com and standings at NASCAR.com (4-8-2001)
  
  
• Sunday's Virginia 500 lineup
  
  
• Last Dodge: Dave Marcis was the last driver to win a Winston Cup race at Martinsville Speedway in a Dodge. Marcis won the Old Dominion 500 in 1975, one of his five career victories in 878 career starts(AP)(4-8-2001)
  
  
• Happy Hour (now hour and a half) practice is over at Martinsville for the Virginia 500 on Sunday. Top ten speeds:
  1)  #25-Nadeau 92.642mph
  2)  #20-Stewart 92.515
  3)  #26-Spencer 92.511
  4)  #36-Schrader 92.465
  5)  #12-Mayfield 92.338
  6)  #99-Burton 92.357
  7)  #32-Craven 92.335
  8)  #29-Harvick 92.276
  9)  #2-Wallace 92.249
  10) #1-Park 92.245
  slowest #21-Sadler 90.72mph
  A few notes: #18-Bobby Labonte spun during practice, but didn't hit any other car or the wall, the #66 is carrying the Blue Light Special paint job again this week. See the speeds at or NASCAR.com(4-7-2001)
  
  
• Starting Notes: #99-Jeff Burton (3rd) has his best starting spot since he lined up on the outside pole at Phoenix last November. #77-Robert Pressley (5th) had his best qualifying run since he started 3rd at Phoenix last November. #33-Joe Nemechek (8th) had his best qualifying run since he started 6th at Homestead last November. #50-Rick Mast (11th....and racing this week for only the third time this season) has his best starting spot since he qualified 11th at Atlanta last November. #7-Mike Wallace (20th) has his best starting spot since he started 17th at Pocono in June of 1997.(Catchfence)(4-7-2001)
  
  
• Qualifying is over at Martinsville: for the Virginia 500. #24-Jeff Gordon won the pole with a speed of 94.087mph, his 2nd pole of the season(he was awarded the pole at Darlington when qualifying was fogged out). #2-Rusty Wallace is on the outside pole with a speed of 93.994mph. #77-Robert Pressley had a nice run and will start 5th. Missing the race(DNQ's) are: #01-Jason Leffler(41st in owners points); #90-Hut Stricklin(42nd); and #13-Hermie Sadler(none). #21-Elliott Salder was among those who took a provisional as was #4-Kevin Lepage whose team has no provisionals to use until race #16 at Sears Point Raceway, unless the team can get into the top 25 of owners points. See my Provisional Page for more info, rules and owners points standings.
  See a story at : Gordon wins Martinsville pole
  See the results at NASCAR.com;
  and Starting Lineups at ESPN/AP or Motorsports One or NASCAR.com(NOTE - now Correct)(4-6-2001)
  
  
• Friday Practice at Martinsville for the Virginia 500 is over. It ran from 11:45am to 1:25pm/et. #77-Robert Pressley was the fastest at 94.420mph with #25-Jerry Nadeau 2nd fastest at 94.171. (Track record is Tony Stewart, Sept 2000, 95.371mph). Slowest was #90-Hut Stricklin at 91.315mph. #13-Hermie Sadler was 39th at 92.615mph. He would need to get in the top 36 to make the race. See the full rundown of speeds at : Friday's Winston Cup practice speeds(4-6-2001)
  
  
• Qualifying Order is Up for the Virginia 500 at Martinsville. See above for the link. First scheduled out is #22-Ward Burton, last scheduled out is #12-Jeremy Mayfield. 46 drivers expected to makes an attempt at 3:00pm/et today, televised on FSN and can be heard via radio at MRN affliates(4-6-2001)
  
  
• Entry List is up for Martinsville: See the link above. 46 cars/drivers are listed including #13-Hermie Sadler(4-3-2001)
  
  
• an interesting point: When NASCAR officials decided to disallow Jerry Nadeau's qualifying time yesterday, it raised an interesting question. With the Winston Cup series having only one round of qualifying the rest of the season, what happens if an unapproved part is found? According to NASCAR, drivers no longer have to post an official qualifying time to use a provisional, they only have to practice. So a driver could have a penalty on a qualifying issue but still have access to one of the seven provisionals for the race(Richmond Times Dispatch)(2-11-2001)
  
  
• How to break a tie during qualifying?(same speed/time) When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers). For provisionals standings see the Jayski Provisional Status page(2-20-2000)
  
  
• Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these sites: NASCAR Online, Racin Network, and
  
  

TRACK/RACE NEWS

• Martinsville Hotel Fire UPDATE 2: A massive fire gutted a portion of the Dutch Inn hotel in Collinsville, VA (near Martinsville) late Monday. Flames engulfed the portion of the building adjacent to an automotive parts store and the Dutch Inn Plaza shopping center. Thick smoke rose into the sky from flames that shot from the top of the structure. Firefighters were still battling hot spots in the hotel's windmill tower early this morning. A portion of the building's roof caved in about 12:20 a.m. as firefighters extinguished the blaze. A firefighter atop a ladder truck sprayed water onto the fire from high above it(Martinsville Bulletin). So with the Martinsville races coming up in a little over two weeks, folks who were planning on staying there may wish to check out the situation in a few days when things calm down at the hotel(3-20-2001)
  UPDATE: Except for the two suites in the tower, none of the guest rooms was damaged, so the hotel will be able to accommodate almost everyone booked there for the April 8 race at the Martinsville Speedway. Electricity and cable television were restored Tuesday. The hotel should reopen next week(Roanoke Times)
  UPDATE 2: The good news is all of the rooms are inhabitable and will be ready for the Virginia 500 weekend. The bad news is all of the paperwork concerning room reservations for the Virginia 500 were burned. Martinsville Speedway is trying to help the management of the Dutch Inn get in contact with anyone who might have had reservations for that weekend so the paperwook can be recreated. If you have made reservations with the Dutch Inn for the Virginia 500, and have not already spoken with Amanda at the Dutch Inn, please fax her a copy of your contract or any other paper work. Her fax number is (540) 647-4119. The folks at the Dutch Inn have assured Martinsville Speedway they will honor all reservations for race week(Martinsville Speedway PR)(3-21-2001)
  
  
• Garages at Martinsville: Martinsville Speedway officials unveiled plans Monday morning for a large garage building in the track’s infield area. Work actually began on the project before Christmas. Excavation and grading work has been completed and construction of the building should begin within the next two weeks. The 600-foot long metal building will be located on the backstretch side of the infield(where the back stretch pits used to be). The building will be divided into 20 two-car bays and will sit atop a concrete pad. The building’s roof will slope upward from 6 feet at the entrance to 11 feet, 6 inches at the rear, which will give teams plenty of overhead clearance to work with car hoods open or to pull engines. The height of the building will not hamper fans’ view of the track, though. The team’s big rigs will park in front of the garage, allowing crew members close access to tools and materials they may need. There will be an 18-foot wide access road behind the garage that runs the length of the backstretch. There will also be a concrete wall at both ends of the garage to protect the building from spinning race cars. Each garage stall will have six electrical outlets and plenty of overhead lighting. There will also be water hookups located throughout the garage building. Construction of the new garage is one of several off-season projects at Martinsville Speedway. The work on the widening of pit road is almost complete. The new inside pit road wall, which makes pit road 10 feet wider, has been poured and is ready for a coat of paint. Also work is underway to finish covering the remaining concrete bleachers with aluminum, chair-back seats. That project should be finished in February. The next racing action at Martinsville Speedway is the Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on Sunday, April 8.(Martinsville Speedway PR)(1-22-2001)
  
  
• Martinsville Pitroad - Wider is better: A tight pit road is being turned into a super highway. Work has begun on a project to widen pit road at Martinsville Speedway by 10 feet, an undertaking that will make life much more comfortable for drivers and crew members when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series rolls into town for the Virginia 500 on April 8. The project should be completed by mid-March, before teams begin testing for the Virginia 500. Two years ago Martinsville Speedway’s pit area was reconfigured to eliminate the backstretch pits and create one long pit road. The move took away the advantage teams pitting on the front stretch had enjoyed, but the new configuration created close quarters during pit stops. The next racing action at Martinsville Speedway is the Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on Sunday, April 8. Tickets are $40-$70 and are available by calling toll free at (877) 722-3849 or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com(Martinsville PR)(12-15-2000)
  
  
• How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph
  
  
• Past track news: posted in the past at Jayski's Past Track News/Rumors - Martinsville
  
  

DRIVER/TEAM NEWS

• Lepage in the #4 at Martinsville: Larry McClure, who owns the #4 Kodak Chevy, informed interim driver Kevin Lepage over the headsets on the cool-down lap that he had earned himself another week in the seat. Lepage finished an impressive 11th Sunday. He finished 15th at Bristol last week(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(4-2-2001)
  
  
• Virginia Lottery to Sponsor who ? UPDATE 2: interesting - the Virginia Lottery will have its own NASCAR Winston Cup racing car that will run at Martinsville and Richmond this spring. The contest is to guess the driver and car number. For more info, see my Racing Contest Page(3-15-2001)
  UPDATE: The Virginia Lottery has scheduled a major NASCAR Winston Cup announcement for Friday, April 6, at 1:20 p.m.. The press conference will take place at the Martinsville Speedway infield media center.(3-16-2001)
  UPDATE 2: Continue to hear rumors that the Virginia Lottery Nascar Winston Cup Program will involve Hermie Sadler. Sadler is testing Martinsville next week. Also hearing the deal involves some type of partnership with Team Amick Motorsports. A press conference has been scheduled at Martinsville Speedway on April 6 by the Virginia Lottery(3-20-2001)
  
  
• See the 2001 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team
  
  

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

• Eagle One: Johnny Benson is flying the black-and-white colors of Eagle One car care products three times in April. The usual blue-and-white #10 Valvoline Pontiac first took on the different look last Sunday in Texas, and that will continue in this Sunday's (April 8) race at Martinsville, and again April 29 in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway(Valvoline PR)(4-4-2001)
  
  
• More Paint Scheme news can be found on Paint Schemes Gallery, choose current news
  
  

STATS and STUFF thru the race before this one