March 27, 2015
- Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #22-Logano chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #31-Newman took pit stall 11, the first pit stall with an opening in front of it.
#78-Truex, Jr., who starts 3rd took the 2nd pit stall.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #11-Hamlin, who starts 15th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(3-27-2015)
- Logano wins Martinsville pole: #22-Joey Logano won the Coors Light pole for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway with speed of 98.461mph for his 2nd pole of 2015, 1st at Martinsville and 10th of his career.
#31-Newman is on the outside pole followed by #78-Truex, Jr., #24-Gordon, #48-Johnson, #14-Stewart, #42-Larson, #20-Kenseth, #5-Kahne, and #47-Allmendinger.
#25-Chase Elliott will make his Sprint Cup debut from the 27th position.
Missing the race were: #62-Gaughan and #30-Hornaday.
See the starting lineup, round-by-round qualifying results and more on Jayski.com’s Martinsville Qualifying Page. (3-27-2015)
- Qualifying Fast Facts – Martinsville:
Joey Logano won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 66th Annual STP 500 with a lap of 19.232 seconds, 98.461 mph.
This is his 10th pole in 225 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and fifth top-10 start in 2015.
This is his first pole in 13 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Ryan Newman (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2015 and his 17th in 27 races at Martinsville Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. (third) posted his third top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway. It is his third in six races this season.
Jeb Burton (32nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-27-2015)
- Second Round of Qualifying for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is over after 10 scheduled minutes.
#31-Newman 97.926
#14-Stewart 97.800
#24-Gordon 97.764
#47-Allmendinger 97.704
#48-Johnson 97.689
the rest of the top 12: 42 2 22 5 20 78 19;
out of the top 12 and not advancing to round 3: 27 88 11 10 4 43 1 18 51 3 17 13
(3-27-2015)
- First Round of Qualifying for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is over, after 20 scheduled minutes.
#20-Kenseth 97.952
#22-Logano 97.886
#48-Johnson 97.724
#31-Newman 97.633
#78-Truex, Jr. 97.568
the rest of the top 24: 5 47 17 11 19 42 2 24 10 27 13 88 51 43 1 18 14 4 3;
out of the top 24 and not advancing to round 2: 16 41 25 46 38 15 98 26 55 40 34 6 35 9 7 32 62 30 33 23 83
Drivers who will miss the race: #62-Gaughan, #30-Hornaday.
(3-27-2015)
- Newtown Building Supplies sponsoring Cassill: With the three-race West Coast swing in the books – capped off by a pair of lead-lap, top-25 finishes the past two races – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Landon Cassill is looking to carry that momentum into this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway. Cassill will pilot the #40 Newtown Building Supplies Chevy SS in Sunday afternoon’s STP 500, the first in a multi-race partnership this season with Hillman Racing and the #40 entry. To kick off the extension of a partnership that started in 2014, Cassill was the guest speaker at the Tidewater Council Boy Scouts of America Leadership Breakfast on Wednesday in Virginia Beach, Va., presented by Newtown Building Supplies. Cassill was on hand at the annual fundraising effort that provides scouting programs to the Mid-Atlantic region. To commemorate the successful event, which netted the most donations in its history, the Tidewater Council Boy Scouts emblem with adorn the c-post of Cassill’s #40 Newtown Building Supplies car this weekend.(Hillman Racing)(3-27-2015)
- Friday practice for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is over after 43 minutes, the top five, slowest two and some notes:
#31-Newman 97.835
#47-Allmendinger 97.679
#24-Gordon 97.664
#48-Johnson 97.618
#78-Truex, Jr. 97.558
Most laps run: #33-Kennedy 37 & #34-Buescher 35
slowest: #7-Bowman 94.129 & #33-Kennedy 92.416.
notes: Practice started 2 hours late after rain at the track during the morning. #25-Chase Elliott was 29th in his first Cup practice.
If qualifying is rained out this evening, #30-Hornaday and #25-Elliott would miss the race.
See fastest speeds, laps run, best 10 Consecutive Lap Average on the Martinsville practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(3-27-2015)
- Are some teams tampering with tires? Hendrick crew chiefs Alan Gustafson and Chad Knaus talked to the media Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway:
The last two weeks NASCAR has taken tires from teams. After Fontana they sent some of those tires off to an independent laboratory. NASCAR said that is a part of a regular tire audit. What do you guys make of what is going on there? Do you thing they are looking for something specific?
GUSTAFSON: “It’s hard to speculate because that is all I could do. In my experience there is a lot of smoke around that. There is a lot of talk, there is a lot of dialogue and there are a lot of rumors in the garage. Yeah, I think it is obvious that some people think something is going on and is NASCAR reacting to that? Or do they feel uncomfortable with what is going on? I don’t know that answer. But I do think that it is something that is on the forefront of a lot of people minds. Obviously NASCAR is trying to make sure that we are all on level playing field and if anybody is violating that they will pay the price, which they reminded us this morning is very stiff. That is all I know. Anything beyond that is speculation besides the fact it is a hot topic.”
So they warned you?
GUSTAFSON: “I don’t want to say warned. Warned may not be the right term, just reminded.”
Do you think something is going on?
GUSTAFSON: “Do I think something is going on? I mean I’m busy on Sunday’s. I don’t really watch what is going on. It’s hard for me to say. I don’t feel that I have enough information that would warrant a comment.”
KNAUS: “I don’t know. I don’t know if there is anything or not. I really don’t. Like Alan said, I’m busy on Sunday and I don’t have a lot of friends in the garage. So, I don’t talk too much. I don’t talk to anybody else either so it’s okay. My friends are outside of racing. So, I don’t know what is going on. I really don’t. I know I sent Richard Buck (Managing Director of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) a text and said ‘hey man could we poke holes in our tires is that okay?’ He sent me a text back and said ‘absolutely not’. So that is all I know.”(Chevy Racing PR)(3-27-2015)
- Qualifying Order for the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway is posted. 45 cars/drivers are listed.
The first of the drivers scheduled to go out is #34-Buescher.
The final driver scheduled to go out is #13-Mears.
Qualifying order is set by a random draw, held about an hour before the first practice.
See the full qualifying order on Jayski.com’s Qualifying Page.(3-27-2015)
- #44 team withdraws from Martinsville: Team Xtreme Racing has officially withdrawn from the upcoming STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. “With the threat of rain and our position in the points, we made the decision to channel our resources towards racing at Texas Motor Speedway in two weeks,” said owner John Cohen. “Our crew is hard at work and our focus remains on qualifying into races each week. We will be back after the Easter break with a renewed effort to make the Duck Commander 500.”(Team Xtreme)(3-27-2015)
- Rain could be an issue at Martinsville Friday: Rain is expected to impact Martinsville Speedway on Friday. The forecast from the National Weather Service calls for rain Thursday night into Friday afternoon. High near 53. North wind 5 to 8 mph. The chance of precipitation is 90% with rain amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. The forecast for the rest of the weekend looks good. Friday’s Sprint Cup practice is scheduled it start at 12:00pm/et with qualifying at 4:45pm/et. The Camping World Truck Series also has 3 practices scheduled. The Weather Channel calls for a 100% chance of rain on Friday. For more weather links, see the Martinsville Race Page – Weather links.(3-27-2015)
- Ambrose not interested in return to NASCAR: Marcose Ambrose announced last week that he would step down as lead driver of the #17 Falcon, in Australia’s V8 Supercars. He discussed rumors of going back to NASCAR:
Pretty wild rumors in recent days – you’re not venturing back to NASCAR are you?
Ambrose: “There’s no NASCAR on the horizon, there was no trip to Alice Springs and visiting Uluru – you know, this has just been a difficult decision to make but I think in the best interests of the team, allow me to reset my clock, just to slow it down some. We’ll jump in this car when the time’s appropriate and time will tell when that should be, depending on how Scott goes in the car and how it’s all going for the team. But certainly for me personally it just slows it down in 2015 and we can reassess as we go.”(V8 SuperCars)(3-27-2015)
- Premium Motorsports gets Martinsville sponsor: #62 Premium Motorsports posted several images to their Facebook page showing sponsorship from Diathrive as this weekend’s sponsor for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. See images of the car on the #62 team paint schemes page.(3-26-2015)
- K-LOVE Radio launches digital racing game: Through its partnership with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Michael McDowell and Leavine Family Racing, K-LOVE Radio has launched a digital racing game featuring the #95 Ford. The K-LOVE RACING game is an interactive game that features live action play along with educational “pit stops” where players answer questions to improve their race car performance. Correct answers during “pit stops” allow a player to increase the car’s endurance and power, allowing them to race faster and earn more rewards. K-LOVE Radio is in its second year of partnership with Leavine Family Racing and sixth with McDowell. The Christian music network is the primary sponsor of the #95 Ford in five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season. The game can be accessed online at http://www.kloveracing.com.(Leavine Family Racing)(3-27-2015)
- Martinsville Speedway Notes & Facts – Friday – poles:
· Curtis Turner won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Martinsville Speedway in 1949.
· 58 drivers have Coors Light poles at Martinsville, led by NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip with eight; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven.
· 12 drivers have won two or more consecutive Coors Light poles at Martinsville Speedway. Four of the 12 have won three consecutive poles at Martinsville: Glen Wood (Fall of 1959 and 1960 sweep); Darrell Waltrip (1979 sweep and spring 1980); Mark Martin (fall of 1990 and 1991 sweep); Jeff Gordon (2003 sweep and spring 2004).
· 21 of 132 races (15.9%) at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the Coors Light pole; seven of those 21 wins came from active drivers: Tony Stewart (2000), Jeff Gordon (2003 twice), Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2012, spring 2013) and Denny Hamlin (2010).
· Tony Stewart (4/18/1999) and Scott Riggs (4/10/2005) won their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light poles at Martinsville Speedway.
· The Coors Light pole is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Martinsville producing more wins (21) than any other starting position.
· 36 of the 132 (27.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from the front row: 21 from the pole and 15 from second-place.
· 95 of the 132 (71.9%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· Seven of the 132 (5.3%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway have been won from a starting position outside the top 20 – including both races last season.
· The deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 36th, by Kurt Busch in the fall of 2002.
· Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions eight times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway; the most recent was the fall race of 2011.
(NASCAR)(3-27-2015)
- Custer could move to XFINITY next season: Kelley Earnhardt Miller appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Wednesday. Among other topics, she discussed JR Motorsports’ first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports, said earlier this year that there were no plans at that time to field the organization’s Camping World Truck Series team for any races beyond the 10 currently in place with driver Cole Custer. Custer, 17, made his NCWTS debut last season with Haas Racing Development and became the youngest winner in a NASCAR national series event when he won the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In only nine starts, he scored six top-10s and two poles. Elliott, the defending XFINITY Series champion, will attempt to make his Sprint Cup Series debut in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville. The 19-year-old is scheduled to step into the Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevrolet in 2016, replacing four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. With Elliott already tabbed for the move to Sprint Cup next season, Custer could be auditioning for a full-time XFINITY Series ride with the organization. “Hopefully, that (truck effort) will roll into an XFINITY Series ride for Cole, depending on how he performs,” Earnhardt Miller said. It will be the first start of the season for Custer, who is limited to competing on road courses and tracks 1.1 miles or less in length due to his age.(NASCAR.com(3-27-2015)
- Custer fastest in practice: #00-Cole Custer was fastest during practice at Martinsville Speedway on Friday with a speed of 96.068mph. The race marks the debut for Custer’s JR Motorsports team. #13-Cameron Hayley was second, followed by #98-Johnny Sauter, #29-Joey Logano, #19-Tyler Reddick, #4-Erik Jones, #02-Tyler Young, #7-Gray Gaulding, #05-John Wes Townley,and #25-Matt Tifft. 36 drivers practiced during the session. The trucks were scheduled to have three practice sessions, but rain forced NASCAR to alter the schedule, allowing just one lengthy session. See complete results on the Martinsville practice speeds page (pdf).(3-27-2015)
- Rain at Martinsville UPDATE: The Camping World Truck Series was scheduled for three practice sessions at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, but rain has delayed on-track activity.(3-27-2015)
UPDATE: Rain forced NASCAR to alter the schedule. The trucks will now have one practice session, from 3:00 to 5:30 pm/et.(3-27-2015)
- IMS considering hotel in turn 2: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway wants to build a 125-room hotel with apartments and a restaurant along Turn 2 of the track. Local developer Browning Investments Inc., on behalf of the IMS, put out requests for proposals, which were due March 20. How much interest the RFP generated from developers, or what timing might be for construction, is unclear. IMS President Doug Boles declined to discuss specifics. “We’re in exploratory mode,” he told Property Lines. “We’ll sort that out in the next coming weeks, or months.” But judging from the RFP, it seems IMS is operating on a pretty aggressive timetable. “The IMS would like construction to commence as soon as feasible,” the RFP states. IMS wants to have new or renovated Turn 2 VIP suites completed in time for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 next year, with completion of the hotel to follow by May 2017, according to the RFP. The hotel also could include an unspecified number of apartments and leverage other entertainment opportunities at the track such as a golf-pro shop and clubhouse to complement the Brickyard Crossing golf course, the RFP said. It must offer at least 10,000 square feet of meeting space. A new hotel would bring overnight lodging back to the track. IMS in 2009 tore down the aging Indianapolis Speedway Hotel that was located along Turn 2.(Indianapolis Business Journal)(3-27-2015)
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