March 30 – Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history

March 30, 2008

• • • Hamlin wins at Martinsville: #11-Denny Hamlin won the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway for his 1st win of 2008, 4th of his career, becoming the 45th driver to win a race at Martinsville. #24-Gordon was 2nd, followed by #31-Burton, #48-Johnson, #20-Stewart, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., #50Mears, #26-McMurray [back in the top-35 of owners pts], #99-Edwards [who ran out of fuel on the last lap while running 5th] and #07-Bowyer. The points leader going into the race, #18-Kyle Busch had trouble, spent some time in the garage and finished 38th, falling to 5th in drivers points. #31-Burton takes over the points lead by 39 over #29-Harvick. There were 20 lead changes among 8 drivers and 18 cautions for 89 laps.
      Race Results on my Martinsville Race Results/Awards Page.(3-30-2008) Comment here
  • • Unofficial Drivers Points Standings [after Martinsville race 6 of 36]:
      1) #31-Jeff Burton 915
      2) #29-Kevin Harvick 876 -39
      3) #16-Greg Biffle 855 -60
      4) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 846 -69
      5) #18-Kyle Busch 831 -84
      6) #20-Tony Stewart 811 -104
      7) #9-Kasey Kahne 786 -129
      8) #11-Denny Hamlin 758 -157
      9) #24-Jeff Gordon 749 -166
      10) #48-Jimmie Johnson 746 -169
      11) #12-Ryan Newman 741 -174
      12) #07-Clint Bowyer 740 -175
      other chase contenders
      13) #1-Martin Truex Jr. 695 -220
      14) #99-Carl Edwards 686 -229
      15) #17-Matt Kenseth 677 -238
      16) #2-Kurt Busch 669 -246
      Points Standings on my Drivers/Owners Points after Martinsville page.(3-30-2008)
  • • Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Texas
      A couple changes, #26-McMurray and #01-Smith move into the Top-35 and #77-Hornish nad #44-Reuitimann are now out and must qualify by speed at Texas.
      The teams are NOT locked in past the next race at Texas as the owners points change after each race.
      31) #26-McMurray/Roush Racing 494 +59
      32) #96-Yeley/Hall of Fame Racing 468 +33
      33) #55-Waltrip/Waltrip Racing 460 +25
      34) #70-Mayfield/Haas CNC Racing 441 +6
      35) #01-Smith/Dale Earnhardt Inc 438, 3 points ahead of 36th
      these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed:
      36) #77-Hornish/Penske Racing 435, 3 points out of 35th
      37) #44-Reutimann/Waltrip Racing 418 -20
      38) #40-Franchitti/Ganassi Racing 416 -22
      39) #22-Blaney/Bill Davis 373 -65
      40) #45-Petty/Petty Racing 327 -111
      For the owner points standings, see my Drivers/Owners Points Standings page.(3-30-2008)
  • • Martinsville Speedway Fast Facts:
      .. Denny Hamlin won the Goody’s Cool Orange 500, his fourth victory in 85 Sprint Cup Series races.
      .. This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2008.
      .. This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in six races at Martinsville – including second in October 2006 and third in this race in 2007.
      .. Jeff Gordon (second) posted his 25th top-10 finish in 31 races at Martinsville. Gordon has been running at the finish in all of his Martinsville races and has finished on the lead lap 24 times.
      .. Jeff Burton (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 28 races at Martinsville.
      .. Regan Smith (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
      .. Jeff Burton took the lead in the Sprint Cup Series point standings, leading Kevin Harvick by 39 points.(NASCAR Statistics)(3-30-2008)
  • • Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #29-Harvick has been running at the finish in 50 consecutive races, the longest current streak, next up is #07-Bowyer at 43 consecutive races.(3-30-2008)
  • • Roush Fenway Racing doesn’t plan any legal action against MWR: Roush Fenway Racing doesn’t plan to take legal action against Michael Waltrip Racing for what it characterized as the theft of a sway bar unless there is evidence that the piece has been duplicated. Team president Geoff Smith said the issue would not have surfaced at all had Toyota general manager Lee White not insinuated that Roush’s team of Carl Edwards intentionally cheated at Las Vegas.(see full story at ESPN.com), so lets hope this whole thing is over.(3-30-2008) Comment here
  • • Truex focused on racing – not contract: #1-Martin Truex Jr. says that he’s not worried about contract talks with his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team yet [his contract runs out at end of season]. He’s too busy focusing on improving his performance. These days, just five races into the season, his thoughts are on racing, not negotiations of the contract that ends this season. “I haven’t even looked down that road yet,” he said of any potential contract developments. “I’m so focused on winning right now with my team and giving these guys everything I’ve got.”(SceneDaily)(3-30-2008) Comment here
  • • Villeneuve could return to BDR: Even though Bill Davis Racing released former World Driving Champion Jacques Villeneuve after he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and subsequently shut down the #27 Toyota Camry he drove, it doesn’t necessarily mean the story is over. BDR General Manager Mike Brown said Saturday morning that the team is still maintaining regular contact with both Villeneuve and his advisor, Barry Green, and if sponsor money can be found, the team might resume racing this season. “We could make that happen if we can put a sponsorship deal together,” said Brown. “We have weekly dialog with those guys and they’re all hoping we can put something together.” As for the new association with BAM Racing, who switched from Dodge to Toyota this week and is using BDR engines, Brown said it doesn’t necessarily mean the teams will merge. “We’re just doing what we can to better ourselves right now,” he said.(SPEEDtv)
      AND Villeneuve is to join the Speedcar series for the last two rounds, taking the grid for the upcoming race at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 4-6, followed by the final round in Dubai a week later on April 11-12. He will join Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson, Ukyo Katayama, JJ Lehto and Gianni Morbidelli in the field. “Speedcar Series looks like a great event and I have heard that it is a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a series still in its infancy and will build up but I think it’s a great idea. On a personal level, Speedcar will give me more road racing experience with this kind of cars which will be useful in future NASCAR road courses events, and it’s also a great excuse to meet race fans.”(GrandPrix)(3-30-2008) Comment here
  • • Rain at Martinsville possible: there is rain in the area of Martinsville Speedway and is a threat for race time. NASCAR Now’s Marty Smith reported that NASCAR said they need to start track drying by 3:00pm/et and the race by approx 4pm/et as the track does not have lights [how great would a night race at Martinsville be?]. The forecast for the Martinsville area is: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 41. East wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. See a few weather links and info on my Martinsville Race Info page – weather section.
      UPDATE: looks like the race will start as scheduled and the radar looks pretty clear as of 2:00pm/et.(3-30-2008)
  • • Martinsville Grand Marshal can’t make it: Inclement weather has derailed the schedule of Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer, who was set to serve as grand marshal for today’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 race at Martinsville Speedway. Icy weather in Blacksburg grounded Beamer’s flight plans, according to the coach, who spoke to the media via telephone this morning. Recent knee surgery has made it difficult for Beamer to get around. “I had a helicopter that could bring me right to the track and I was going to be in good shape, but then they couldn’t fly (due to the ice),” said Beamer. “Once that happened, I felt like I needed to cancel out.” Beamer apologized repeatedly for his cancellation, lamenting the fact that he couldn’t attend in person. “I’m very sorry because I really like racing, and I really like the Martinsville track, and I really like the people at the Martinsville track,” said Beamer. “I think the heart of NASCAR is right here in Virginia when you talk about Bristol and Richmond and then Martinsville.” A spokesman for Goody’s Cool Orange, the race’s primary sponsor, said various members of the Virginia Tech community, including the Tech band, which is set to play the national anthem, would serve in Beamer’s place as grand marshal. The most notable grand marshal duty is announcing the famous racing line, “Gentlemen, start your engines.”(Martinsville Bulletin)(3-30-2008)
  • • Sad News – Bill Neely: William Neely, a prolific racing writer who chronicled the lives of Richard Petty and A.J. Foyt, died Tuesday, March 25, in North Carolina after complications from heart surgery. Neely was 77. He was most famous for the 1974 classic Stand on It, a Novel by Stroker Ace, which told the fictional story of driver/wild man Stroker Ace and was later made into a movie starring Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson. Neely loosely based the book on his experiences in the 1960s, when he headed up public relations for Goodyear at the height of the racing “tire wars” with Firestone. Neely was AutoWeek’s travel editor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His work also appeared in Playboy, Car and Driver, Esquire and Sports Illustrated. He also penned a chili cookbook, as well as Tire Wars, a look at Goodyear’s racing program in the 1960s. H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, who led public relations for Firestone at the same time, said Neely was known for his grace under fire, as the 1960s was a turbulent time for racing, wrought with accidents and driver deaths. “He was one of the icons of auto racing in the 1960s, when auto racing was really jumping forward by leaps and bounds,” said Wheeler, who is now the president of Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Neely also worked in public relations for Rolex and Exxon. In total, he authored 19 books. Neely later turned to acting and appeared in “Night Flier” in 1997, a movie based on a Stephen King novel where Neely’s character had his head chopped off. He moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, about a decade ago to try to secure more acting roles with a local studio. He also made an unsuccessful bid for Congress. He had a heart attack several years ago, and the surgery he was having Tuesday was to install a new heart valve. In his later years, he enjoyed driving around Wilmington in a black 2002 Corvette, and lounging in a yacht he owned that previously belonged to Hollywood actress Greta Garbo. As his longtime friend Jeannette McLean said, he was “living the life of a retired person who loved life.” Neely is survived by five children and four grandchildren. He was a native of Jane Lew, West Virginia, and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1952. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Neely’s name be made to Friends of Felines, P.O. Box 475, Castle Hayne, NC 28429.(Autoweek)(3-30-2008)
    • Setzer may step in for Sadler in Cup race: Martinsville winner, Dennis Setzer practiced the #19 McDonalds Dodge Charger at Martinsville for Elliott Sadler, who injured his back earlier this week. Setzer is on standby for the Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. In response to the question of whether he could make the whole 500 lap race, Sadler said, “”Right now, I feel like that I can go maybe half-way. Right now it’s a 50-50 chance of going the whole way. Dennis (Setzer) is going to stay and hang out with us tomorrow. If I need him, then we’ll go to him. I’m still in a lot of pain right now. You use so much brake here. I’m pushing my back up against the seat a lot. We made seat adjustments today and that helped. Right now it’s 50-50 of going the whole way.”(Dodge Motorsports PR)(3-30-2008)
    • Hornaday to run Nationwide race at Texas: Ron Hornaday, who drives for Kevin and DeLana Harvick, has found a late-career rejuvenation after signing with the team-owning couple in 2005. It propelled him to a Truck series championship last year, but he’ll be at Texas Motor Speedway this week to race in the Nationwide Series O’Reilly 300. Yet another benefit of driving for Harvick. Hornaday is scheduled to start five Nationwide races this year, and the O’Reilly 300 marks the first of the season. He is also scheduled to race in Mexico on April 20. While the Truck series remains his main focus, getting in a Nationwide car is something he calls the “perks” of driving for KHI. And Hornaday shares his boss’ philosophy about the Saturday races. “He has nothing to do on Saturday and that’s why he does it and I said, ‘Hey boss, remember me? I am kind of bored too,’” Hornaday said.(Fort Worth Star Telegram)(3-30-2008)

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