March 30 – Today in Jayski’s NASCAR history

March 30, 2014

• • • Kurt Busch wins at Martinsville Speedway: #41-Kurt Busch won the STP 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway for his 1st win of 2014, his 2nd at Martinsville Speedway and his 25th career win. It is his first win since Dover in October 2011.
      It is the first win for car #41 since Curtis Turner won at Rockingham on October 31, 1965.
      #48-Johnson finished 2nd followed by: #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #22-Logano, #9-Ambrose, #20-Kenseth, #4-Harvick, #43-Almirola, #15-Bowyer, and #27-Menard..
      Polesitter #18-Busch finished 14th
      #3-Austin Dillion was the rookie of the race, finishing 15th.
      #99-Edwards, who came into the race as the points leader finished 13th, so #88-Earnhardt, Jr. retakes the points lead, 9 points over #20-Kenseth.
      There were 33 lead changes (a record for this race) among 12 drivers and there were 14 cautions for 92 yellow flag laps.
      The average speed was 72.176mph.
      See unofficial race results, awards, money won, laps led, cautions and more on the Unofficial Martinsville Speedway Race Results page (pdf) and check out the Martinsville Penalty Report (pdf).
      (3-30-2014)
  • • Race Fast Facts – Martinsville Speedway:
      Kurt Busch won the 65th Annual STP 500, his 25th victory in 477 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
      There were 33 lead changes today, a new track record. The previous record was 31, set on April 3, 2011.
      This is Busch’s first victory and second top-10 finish in 2014.
      With the victory, Busch breaks an 83-start winless drought. His last win came at Dover on Oct. 2, 2011.
      This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 28 races at Martinsville Speedway. His first Martinsville win came in October 2002.
      There have now been six different winners in the first six races this season, the most in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup era and longest streak to start a season since 2003.
      Jimmie Johnson (second) posted his 22nd top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2014.
      Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third) posted his 16th top-10 finish in 29 races at Martinsville Speedway.
      (NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(3-30-2014)
  • • 2014 Sprint Cup Driver Chase Championship Points Standings:
      [after Martinsville Speedway, race 6 of 36]
      1) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [1 win], 227
      2) #20-Matt Kenseth, 218, -9
      3) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 217, -10
      4) #24-Jeff Gordon, 216, -11
      5) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 209, -18
      6) #18-Kyle Busch [1 win], 189, -38
      7) #2-Brad Keselowski [1 win], 188, -39
      8) #22-Joey Logano, 187, -40
      9) #3-Austin Dillon, 179, -48
      10) #31-Ryan Newman, 174, -53
      Other drivers with a win:
      20) #41-Kurt Busch [1 win], 146, -81
      25) #4-Kevin Harvick [1 win], 135, -92
      See UNOFFICIAL drivers championship points standings on the Unofficial Drivers Points Standings (pdf).
      See the UNOFFICIAL owner points standings on the Unofficial Owners Points Standings page (pdf).
      (3-30-2014)
  • • Harvick to host firefighters at Martinsville: Sunday will be a kind of Thanksgiving Day for Kevin and Delana Harvick. Sure, Kevin will be racing in the STP 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. But the couple might not be there – let alone still alive – if it wasn’t for the efforts of firefighters from the Oak Ridge (N.C.) Fire department. The first responders found and contained a smoldering fire within the Harvick’s house last November 27 before it became fully engulfed and did more damage – both property – and life-wise. The Harvicks were awoken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of a smoke alarm. While they saw and smelled smoke, they didn’t detect any fire, but called the fire department to respond. The department responded quickly, and using thermal imaging equipment, found a simmering blaze between the basement ceiling and main floor of the house. Harvick and his son toured the Oak Hill fire station on Thursday and gave personal thanks to Chief Steve Simmons. To show further thanks, Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing #4 Budweiser Chevrolet team will host those firefighters who responded to the fire at Sunday’s STP 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. The firefighters will also serve as honorary crew members and watch much of the race from atop the war wagon in Harvick’s pit stall. Harvick’s race car will also carry a special “Smoke detectors save lives” decal recognizing both the firefighters and department for their life-saving efforts.(NBC Sports)(3-30-2014)
  • • Earnhardt, Jr, Graham Rahal interested in ride swap UPDATES: Verizon IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal believes the timing and circumstances are just too perfect not to do the much-ballyhooed car swap with his National Guard NASCAR counterpart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rahal attended the Auto Club 400 in Fontana on Sunday afternoon with girlfriend Courtney Force and her father, 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion, John and reached out to Earnhardt after the race, via Twitter, about the possibility of swapping rides somewhere down the line. For his part, Earnhardt seemed agreeable. Rahal says the Twitter exchange was calculated but “100 percent authentic” and something that the second-generation IndyCar ace has wanted to do for quite some time. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t want it to happen,” Rahal told Popular Speed. “Dale and I share a sponsor now (National Guard) and my dad (three-time champion, Bobby) and Rick (Hendrick) have always had a great relationship.” Rahal believes the shared National Guard sponsorship makes for a great marketing opportunity for both himself and Earnhardt, allowing for Rahal to knock a machine off his personal bucket list – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. Rahal, who is pushing for the car swap to take place on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is just looking forward to potentially hanging out with Earnhardt, believing that their similarities could establish a fast friendship.(Popular Speed)(3-25-2013)
      UPDATE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday he wants to swap race cars with Graham Rahal, but believes it won’t be possible because they drive for rival manufacturers. Both drivers are sponsored by Army National Guard this season. Rahal reached out to Earnhardt on Twitter after Sunday’s NASCAR race at Fontana, proposing they swap cars in an exhibition. Only Earnhardt drives a Chevy in NASCAR, and Rahal’s car in IndyCar is a Honda. Because Chevy and Honda are direct competitors in IndyCar, and Earnhardt is so closely associated with Chevy, he said he doesn’t think the swap is doable. “Well, he drives a Honda, which is more than just a speed bump,” Earnhardt said during an appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “If I wanted to drive an Indy car, I’m sure I could get with Penske or somebody who owned a Chevy and take a couple laps somewhere. But it would have been fun to do that with Graham because of the relationship with our sponsor and the history of our families. I look forward to meeting him one day, but I think the fact he has a relationship with a different manufacturer is going to make it challenging – if not impossible – for me to drive that particular car.”(Associated Press)(3-26-2014)
      UPDATE 2: Chevy has not received an official request from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to swap race cars with Honda driver Graham Rahal. Jim Campbell, the U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports for Chevy, said Saturday the manufacturer would consider any proposal to drive an Indy car from Earnhardt but until then, any talk about a manufacture conflict is premature. “If we get a proposal, we’ll take a look at it and we’ll look at it with an open set of eyes. The rest is hypothetical,” Campbell told The Associated Press. “Broadly speaking about any Chevy driver that is currently on our roster, if they decided to go race in another category or series, of course we’d love to see them in Chevys. There’s no doubt about that. In some cases it works out like that, and in some cases it doesn’t.” Kurt Busch, who currently drives a Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR, will drive a Honda for Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500. He was encouraged by Chevy before completing the deal with Andretti to work with a Chevrolet team for Indy, but the manufacturer ultimately agreed he could drive for Andretti.(Associated Press)(3-30-2014)
  • • NASCAR team tests at Kennedy Space Center: When it comes to testing, many NASCAR teams head to places such as Road America, Nashville, or a variety of other racing facilities sprinkled across the country. Yet for one team, they took their test session to a whole new level — space. On March 11, an unidentified NASCAR team tested the 3.2-mile Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to the NASA release, on the same day, the space agency tested the experimental Morpheus lander, Starfighters Aerospace tested “modified jet fighters through their afterburner evaluations, and medical evacuation helicopters conducting safety checks and procedure tests.” The uniqueness of the March 11 test day was that the runway was used by a multitude of people for a variety of reasons. Prior to March 11, the facility made famous by rocket launches and space shuttle landings was used by only one group at a time. While this particular test was the first to mention a NASCAR team, the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility has hosted “car tests” in the past. It is unclear whether any of these previous tests were conducted by NASCAR teams or not, and attempts to contact NASA were not returned at time of publication. In the past, teams have used large facilities such as the Toyota’s North America Proving Grounds in Arizona for test purposes such as these.(FoxSports)(3-30-2014)
  • • Sad News – Roy Trantham: Roy M. Trantham, 73, died March 17, 2014 after a long battle with leukemia. Roy was born on February 10, 1941 in Asheville, N.C. He was involved in NASCAR auto racing in engine development and as a driver. He moved to St. Croix, USVI where he was a managing partner in an automobile dealership and several related businesses. He moved to Palm City Florida in 1994 and stayed involved in the automotive world. He was passionate about all animals and helped in animal rescue. He is survived by his loving wife, Lucia; his daughter, Regina and son in law, Earl, and his son, Roy III and grandchildren, Sydney, Rebecca and Travis and his brother Jim.(Asheville Citizen-Times), Trantham ran 5 Cup races in 1968.(3-30-2014)
  • • Crafton wins at Martinsville: #88-Matt Crafton won the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway after rain delayed the race until Sunday. #54-Darrell Wallace, Jr. finished second followed by #31-Ben Kennedy, #98-Johnny Sauter, #29-Ryan Blaney, #17-Timothy Peters, #77-German Quiroga, #32-Ben Rhodes, #30-Ron Hornaday, Jr., and #7-Brian Ickler.
      There were 10 cautions for 56 laps and 17 lead changes among 6 leaders. Complete results are on the Martinsville race results page (pdf).(3-30-2014)
  • • Martinsville Race Fast Facts:
      Matt Crafton won the 16th Annual Kroger 250, his fourth victory in 318 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
      There were 17 lead changes, a new track record. The previous record was 13, set in April of 2013.
      This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2014.
      This is his first victory and 13th top-10 finish in 25 races at Martinsville Speedway. His previous best finish was second, twice.
      Darrell Wallace Jr. (second) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2014.
      Ben Kennedy (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Martinsville Speedway.
      (NASCAR Statistics)(3-30-2013)
  • • Driver standings following Martinsville:
      1)#17-Timothy Peters, 82
      2) #98-Johnny Sauter, 82
      3) #88-Matt Crafton,78, -4
      4) #29-Ryan Blaney, 78, -4
      5) #30-Ron Hornaday, 76, -6
      6) #31-Ben Kennedy, 72, -10
      7) #77-German Quiroga, 71, -11
      8) #54-Darrell Wallace, 61, -21
      9) #13-Jeb Burton, 60, -22
      10) #19-Tyler Reddick, 60, -22
      See complete standings on the driver standings page (pdf).(3-30-2014)
  • • Owner Standings following Martinsville are posted (pdf).(3-30-2014)
  • • Cassadee Pope performing concert at Dover: Fans will be treated to a free concert from knockout female vocalist Cassadee Pope leading into the Sunday, June 1, 2014 “FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Victory Plaza. “The Voice” season three champ will also sing the National Anthem to kick off the race at the Monster Mile. Since winning the NBC hit show, Pope successfully debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and in the top 10 on the all-genre Top Albums charts with her first solo album, FRAME BY FRAME, on Republic Nashville. With that, she became one of only two solo women in the past five years to top the country chart with a debut release. Pope recently joined an elite group of women upon selling more than 1 million downloads of her lead single, “Wasting All These Tears.” Not since Taylor Swift in 2006 has a solo female country artist gone platinum on their debut single.(Dover International Speedway)(3-30-2014)

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