Martinsville Speedway News
Local Drivers Make Large Splash at Martinsville Speedway
Oct 26, 2009 - updated Oct 26th, 2009 9:42am
Web posted by Ken Childs

Martinsville, VA -- As the sun came up on Martinsville Speedway this Friday, it was obvious that the weekend’s racing would have a bit of a local flair to it. Sunday’s Sprint Cup race would have its regular list of former Late Model drivers in Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, and Elliott Sadler among others, but the Camping World Truck Series race would be where the local flavor was most abundant. Local drivers Hermie Sadler, Dennis Setzer, Tim Brown, Burt Myers, Peyton Sellers, and Timothy Peters all qualified for Saturday’s race, with other former local late model drivers such as Aric Almirola and Marc Davis making the field as well.

The Kroger 200 is as much of a sprint as anything the Camping World Truck series sees in a year. At just over 100 miles, the race can take right around 1.5 hours to complete, and with new pit stop rules in effect allowing teams only to fuel or take tires on each stop, the race is anyone’s game. Truck Series legends Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. made up the front row of Saturday’s event, with two Cup regulars in Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin starting right behind them. It would be Hornaday Jr. leading the first lap, and every lap from there until lap 54, when Denny Hamlin took the point. Hamlin would hold his spot all the way until lap 116 when he’d bring the 51 machine in for tires and fuel, leaving 2005 Bailey’s 300 winner Timothy Peters in charge at the front. Peters, who had pitted earlier for tires and fuel, would make the bold attempt at staying out for well over the final half of the race.

Three more cautions would come out while Peters held the front spot, the final one for a pileup in turn 2 involving Mike Skinner, Burt Myers, and Chris Fontaine. This led to a 25 lap shootout, where Peters would manage to pull away from the always tough Todd Bodine and take his first national touring win of his career. Bodine, Colin Braun, Hornaday Jr. and Harvick (who rallied from 2 laps down) rounded out the top five. Other drivers of note: Hamlin - 6th Setzer - 7th, Almirola - 12th, Compton - 14th, Davis - 18th, Myers - 19th, Brown - 27th, Sellers - 31st, Sadler - 33rd

Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Tums Fast Relief 500 was to the Kroger 200 what the 24 Hours of Daytona is to drag racing. At just over 3.5 hours with its tight corners, Cup racing at Martinsville is just as much a test of mental endurance as it is physical endurance and track experience can be just as important as any level of skill.

Ryan Newman set the pole, only his second in 2009 and would lead the first 21 laps of the event. Jeff Gordon would make a pass, while Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin both ran close by as a show of force by the Hendrick team. Juan Pablo Montoya beat, banged and battled his way to the front, taking the lead over on lap 141 from Jimmie Johnson, who had made a relatively easy looking pass by Jeff Gordon back on lap 59. After a Penske team-meeting on the backstretch involving Sam Hornish Jr. and David Stremme, area drivers Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin would move to the front row of a double-file restart. Burton couldn’t hold off Hamlin, who got a great jump on the outside, and Hamlin would take to the point for the first time of the day.

Various cautions and pit strategies would litter the middle portion of the race, but a 130+ lap green flag run brought something to the race that fans normally don’t get to see at the paperclip: Green flag pit stops. Hamlin made his way around Johnson in the middle of the long run on lap 362 and would start to pull away from the point-leader. While teams began pitting from the back end of the field, contenders Johnson, Montoya and leader Hamlin all stayed out as long as possible. Hamlin would come out as the leader.

Late cautions would put the Gibbs driver to the test. Scott Speed’s wreck in turns one and two would set up a green-white-checkered finish. Jimmie Johnson got a great start on the outside, but Denny Hamlin managed to use the inside lane to inch ahead. A white-flag spin of John Andretti meant a finish under caution, but not until the drivers were coming off turn four to take the checkered flag. Hamlin scored his second victory at Martinsville Speedway (the first coming in the spring of 2008), while point-leader Johnson came in second. Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five.

After the race, Hamlin talked about his weekend, and that of Timothy Peters. “Experience at this track matters. [Peters] was my archrival when I was getting out of Late Models, and this weekend shows that track time matters”.

Next week the Cup and Truck series go from one extreme to the other, as both will take on the 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway. Saturday, the Camping World Truck Series can be found on ESPN2 starting at 3:30 on SPEEDtv. Coverage for the Sprint Cup series will be on Sunday at noon on ABC. Both races can be heard on your local MRN affiliate or on Sirius Satellite radio channel 128.