All News Bobby Labonte Brendan Gaughan Brian Vickers Casey Mears Dale Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Jarrett Hermie Sadler Jeff Gordon Jeremy Mayfield Jimmie Johnson Ken Schrader Matt Kenseth Michael Waltrip Morgan Shepherd Ricky Craven Rusty Wallace Ryan Newman Ward Burton

StockCarFans.com – Rumblings – Martinsville:

April 18, 2004 at 12:00 AM
  • It was a long time coming, but #2-Rusty Wallace finally answered that question today. Wallace outlasted #18-Bobby Labonte by 0.538 seconds to break his 105 race losing streak today at Martinsville Speedway. In a race delayed by an hour and 17 minutes for cement repair, Rusty took his 55th career win (he breaks a tie with Lee Petty and now occupies 8th all-time – and his 7th at this half-mile beauty. Rusty’s last win was at California Speedway in April of 2001. Wallace’s winning share of today’s Advance Auto Parts 500 was $170,998 from the over $4.7M in posted awards. He also grabs the final spot on the 2004 Winners Circle plan.
    #32-Ricky Craven (16th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Talladega last October
    #77-Brendan Gaughan (17th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 19th at Daytona in February
    #02-Hermie Sadler (26th) had his best finish since he was 23rd at Richmond in September of 2002 (only 16 races)
    #89-Morgan Shepherd (32nd) had his best finish since he was 32nd at Rockingham in February of 1999 (only 10 races)
    STREAKIN….
    #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races
    #48-Jimmie Johnson has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races
    #12-Ryan Newman has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races
    #24-Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races
    This Week’s Elevator…UP: Operator of the Week (for the second time this season) is Michael Waltrip (+24), followed by Brian Vickers (+22), Bobby Labonte (+21), and Matt Kenseth (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Jeremy Mayfield (-26), followed by Casey Mears (-25).
    Dale Earnhardt Jr reassumes the top-spot in the points….he led the first two weeks of the season. The Top-6 are separated by 100 markers. We had a passel of drivers move forward three spots today. Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Ward Burton, and Ricky Craven were the drivers in the Top-30 to accomplish that feat. Ken Schrader (27th to 32nd) fell the most spots.(StockCarFans.Com Nextelcup Newsletter)(4-18-2004)