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Martinsville Observations

Bob Margolis

Thoughts, comments and some questions following Sunday's DirecTV 500 at Martinsville Speedway:

  • The number is 19.

That's the number of races it had been since Tony Stewart last climbed a fence in victory. Stewart obviously had the best car all afternoon, leading a race-high 288 laps. And finally, the Home Depot team gets the "led the most laps but didn't win" monkey off its back.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s fourth-place finish – after all of the damage to his Monte Carlo SS – was remarkable. Darrell Waltrip remarked during the television broadcast that perhaps the damage had made Junior's car even better by allowing the right front wheel, which normally heats up under braking, to remain cool. I agree.

Last year, this team would never have been able to fight back like it did Sunday.

  • Was I the only one who noticed Elliott Sadler's workman-like, under-the-radar run? The M&M's crew kept Sadler in the top 10 all day long. He's now in the top 10 in points, too.

  • This was Kasey Kahne's worst finish (35th) so far this season. His previous worst was 11th in the Daytona 500. Chalk this one up as a character builder. Kahne will be back in the thick of things next week at Texas, but I'm sure they'll be burning the midnight oil at the Evernham motor shop the next couple of nights.

  • There are two things you can always expect from a Fox Sports NASCAR television broadcast: A) The announcing crew will be concise, knowledgeable and entertaining, and B) The director will miss nearly every race restart.

I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.

  • And what was with all the "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" references by Mike Joy up in the announcer's booth? He used both the phrase "Sock it to me" and Joanne Worley's ditzy character as references during the race. Flashbacks, Mike?

  • I lost track of how many times drivers attempted to make it three-wide into the turns. Crazy stuff.

  • Jeremy Mayfield (remember him?) was actually running in the top 10 when his engine let go. Seriously, I'm not kidding. He was in the top-10!

  • Tony Raines did an admirable job bringing the Hall of Fame Racing Chevy home in one piece. Might we have expected a better finish from Terry Labonte?

  • I really hope that when Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin sit down and talk out their "issues" that Martin is Mr. Humble and not Mr. Listen to Your Elders. Maybe Martin has spent too much time racing in the Craftsman Truck Series the past few weeks and his normally polite racing style is getting just a touch more aggressive.

  • Stewart explained after his win that he and Jimmie Johnson are really very good friends and the fact that their sponsors hate each other makes their relationship that much more interesting. Stewart admitted that he was roughing up Johnson "pretty good" near the end of the race, but that he never thought of taking him out. Stewart added that if it was the late Dale Earnhardt who had been in his shoes, Earnhardt wouldn't have thought twice about taking them both out.

  • An early mechanical failure made him the first driver out of the race, and now Robby Gordon has fallen to 27th in points. It would have been fun to watch him battle fender-to-fender in the closing laps.

Gordon wins the Hard Luck of the Race Award, too.

  • Stewart had the best restarts all day long. Too bad anyone watching the race on television missed most of them.

  • When was the last time all five Roush cars ended up being non-factors in a race?

  • Now that the Petty teams have brought in all the right personnel, maybe it's time to bring in all the best equipment for them to work with.

  • So much for three-in-a-row for Dodge.

  • How long do you think it will be before Ryan Newman is a real factor in a Cup race again?

  • This was Scott Riggs' best finish so far this season (10th). Same goes for the guy who replaced him, as Sterling Marlin finished a season-best 14th.

  • What has happened to the No. 42 team and Casey Mears? A 21st, a 25th and now a 27th-place finish over the past three races.

Chip Ganassi's "other" teams so far this season won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, scored a very prestigious victory in the Grand Am race in Mexico City and took the IRL season opener. Hmmm ...

  • By now, Greg Biffle, Doug Richert and Co. probably will do just about anything to have two good races in a row. Who would have thought this team would be struggling at this point in the season?

Postscript

After two short tracks in a row, I'm ready to get back to some high-banked, 180-plus mph racing next week at Texas.

Don't get me wrong, short tracks have their place and I would never want to see them go away, but they've become almost specialty races, like road courses, on the schedule.

And don't forget there's an IROC race next Friday night at Texas. Remember the wild season opener at Daytona? Steve Kinser ended his night upside-down and there were more than just a few frayed tempers.

Definitely a must-see event.