Tony Stewart's qualifying record at Martinsville is in jeopardy. Credit: Autostock

Tony Stewart: Subway 500 advance

ATLANTA -- It's been a good run, but the track qualifying record NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Tony Stewart set at Martinsville Speedway back in September of 2000 is about to fall.

Stewart's fast lap of 19.855 seconds at 95.371 mph around the .526-mile oval has withstood seven challenges from his Nextel Cup brethren, but thanks to a complete resurfacing of the paperclip-shaped layout, that mark will be obliterated when the series rolls into Martinsville for this weekend's Subway 500.

Tony Stewart

In test sessions leading up to the fifth to last race of the season, drivers have been lapping the Martinsville bullring about a second quicker than they did when the series ran there back in April.

The fresh asphalt laid down the track's 800-foot long straightaways and the newly poured concrete in the track's 12-degree banked corners has made the formerly rough race track glass smooth, which has translated into some serious speed. Stewart and the No. 20 Home Depot Racing Team know firsthand, as they were one of 11 teams to test at Martinsville on Oct. 5.

The No. 20 gang earmarked one of their nine NASCAR-allotted test sessions for a late season jaunt to Martinsville, knowing that the new surface would recast the 57-year-old track into what would essentially be a new venue.

Early indications appear to have proven Stewart and Co. correct. And come this Friday when qualifying gets underway for the Subway 500, it'll be time to put that knowledge to the pavement.

You tested at Martinsville Oct. 5. The track has been totally repaved, with fresh asphalt on the straightaways and new concrete in the corners. How is it?

"It's a lot smoother. They extended the concrete off the corners. They didn't add any concrete to the entry of the corners, but they did put a lot more down on the exit. They've made some great improvements. It's really, really smooth.

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"The curbs are a little more driver-friendly because there's a little more angle to them. It's not such an abrupt jump if you get up on them as it used to be. They did a great job with the track. They made it really, really nice."

With the added concrete off the corners, does it allow you more grip as you accelerate off the corner and down the straightaway?

"I think so. Everybody who tested there ran quicker than what we typically ran there. I expect to see the track record get broken because the track is so much faster, and the extra concrete off the corners has a lot do with that."

Is there any concern that Martinsville will be so fast that it won't allow for much passing -- that it'll stay a one-groove race track?

"You never know. I'm somewhat fearful of that. But no one will truly know until we all get there and start running on it."

It seems as though Talladega and Martinsville are the two tracks that are most often mentioned as places that could really affect the point standings, because the two tracks tend to produce so many variables that are out of a team's control. Do you agree with that?

Tony Stewart has six top-10 finishes at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock

"I don't think racing at Martinsville is that bad when it comes to dealing with variables that are out of your control. You can get caught up in somebody else's wreck at Martinsville, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as the kind of wrecks you can get caught up in at Talladega. So, I don't think it's a fair comparison between Martinsville and Talladega."

Martinsville and Bristol seem to have a lot in common. They're both short tracks, where good days seem to be great and bad days seem to be horrendous. Is that a fair assessment?

"They're the kind of tracks where if you have a good qualifying run and you have a great race car, then the race is a lot of fun. If you have a car in the race that's not driving well and you have a bad qualifying run and a bad pit selection and you end up fighting the car all day, then a place like Martinsville becomes a very tough track.

"But that's also one of the reasons why when you do win there it means so much. Plus, their grandfather clock is one of the coolest trophies around."

You used to hate racing at Martinsville, but now you seem to tolerate it. What prompted the change of heart?

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"You learn how to protect the car. You learn how to not beat it up. You learn it's a lot more fun racing when you use a lot more patience. Patience seems to be the biggest variable that can hold you up at a place like Martinsville. Needless to say, after going there a couple of times, I've learned how to be patient -- out of necessity, basically."

Brakes are incredibly important at Martinsville. How does a driver conserve his brakes for 500 laps?

"You try to stay off the brakes as much as possible. You always hear the crew chief talking about floating the car into the corner, and what they mean by that is instead of driving it really deep into the corner and using a lot of brake pressure, the theory is to lift a little earlier and use less brake pressure.

"You'll end up running virtually the same lap time as you would if you drove hard into the corner. But when you've got a 500-lap race at Martinsville and you've got to use the brakes hard twice a lap, that's 1,000 times during a race where you're asking that brake system to slow down a 3,400-pound race car.

"If you can be easy on those brakes for the first half of the race or first three-quarters of the race, then when you really need those brakes to battle for the win at the end -- you've got 'em."