Rusty's Rundown: Martinsville

What to watch for

The one thing you're going to want to watch for when we go to Martinsville Speedway is what happens because they ground the track down. They made it much smoother than it's ever been and from what some guys who tested there said, it's lost a little of its grip.

So, I expect the pole speeds to be a little different and how the cars handle, too. Look for the new track surface to be a big factor.

Short track, big action

The track has been real hard to pass on lately. Hopefully, this grinding of the track will make passing easier. I've won six times here and I really love racing the track and fans love watching the racing.

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This track is really hard on brakes. If you're not careful, you can burn them up here quickly.

Don't curb your driving at Martinsville

If you really want to ruin your chances at Martinsville, just run up on those curbs in the turns a lot. They have these old-time looking street curbs on the inside that can do some damage.

If you get up on those too many times, you can tear out a brake duct. You can also mess up your front-end settings on the car. You don't want to get too physical with the front end of your car because that's where all the brake cooling comes from.

Martinsville can mean aggravation

You can have a real aggravating day at Martinsville when you have a fast race car and then you have a bad pit stop. You come back out on the track and are behind slower cars that you just can't pass.

Patience or aggression?

You definitely want to use more patience than aggression here. But, you want to run the car hard and be patient when you make passes so you don't tear stuff up.

Where's Wallace

I won't be doing an autograph session at the track this times because I have some sponsor obligations that weekend.

Last Call

Martinsville is famous for its hot dogs, for some reason. I've had my share of them. They're awful skinny and have a funny color to them. I sometimes wonder if they're even cooked.

They tell them they're a unique and popular item at the speedway. The most I've ever eaten at once is two. That's more than enough.

Rusty's Rundown appears each Wednesday on NASCAR.com.

For more info on Rusty Wallace, please visit his Web site at www.rustywallace.com.