 |  | | Bobby Labonte is one of five former champions who have won at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
March 30, 2006
04:06 PM EST (21:06 GMT)
Last time the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car won a race, Bobby Labonte was on his way to a second-place finish in the points. He'd win the title the next year. Dale Jarrett won his only championship. Tony Stewart was a rookie. Dale Earnhardt won the following week's race. And had there been a Chase then, Ward Burton and Mike Skinner would have been the last two guys in. It's been a while. But after finishing fifth at Bristol last week, Labonte gave Petty its first top-five finish in five years -- snapping a 174-race streak. And now it's on to Martinsville, a place where Labonte has won (2002) and a place Petty Enterprises once owned. Petty has more victories (19), top-fives (52) and top-10s (72) at Martinsville Speedway than at any other track. Fifteen of those trophies were lifted by Richard Petty himself, including a stretch where he won 10 of 14 races there. With Kyle Petty's eighth-place finish at Atlanta and Labonte's top-five last week, there couldn't be a better fit on the schedule for PE than Martinsville. Labonte's average running position last year at Martinsville was 8.926. A top-10 by either Petty car would make it the first time since 1999 that the organization has had three consecutive top-10 finishes, when John Andretti did it (Bristol, Martinsville and Talladega). But that was the last time Martinsville was good to the Pettys. What you didn't know
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245 -- Races since a Petty Enterprises car went to Victory Lane. John Andretti won the Goody's Body Pain 500 at Martinsville on April 18, 1999, driving the No. 43 Pontiac. |
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Driver Rating: DirecTV 500
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130.7 -- Tony Stewart, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet. Stewart finished seven laps down in 26th in last spring's Martinsville race despite leading 247 laps. He led 283 laps in the fall and finished second. |
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NASCAR's driver rating combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15s, average lead-lap running position, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finish. Statistics based on current and past year at track. Maximum rating: 150 points. Numerology Martinsville Speedway is the oldest racetrack on the Nextel Cup circuit, hosting its first race in 1949. Sunday's DirecTV 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX) will be the 115th race at the track, second-most among current tracks.
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0 -- Top-10 finishes by Greg Biffle at Martinsville, one of only five tracks at which he does not have a top-10. |
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0.526 -- Length of Martinsville Speedway, the shortest track on the Nextel Cup circuit. |
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1 -- Nextel Cup rookie who has raced at Martinsville in the Cup, Busch or Truck Series: Denny Hamlin. The Virginia native started fifth and finished eighth in last fall's race. |
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2 -- Active drivers who have multiple victories at Martinsville: Jeff Gordon (7) and Mark Martin (2). |
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2 -- Active drivers who have no DNFs at Martinsville (minimum five starts): Jeff Gordon (26) and Kevin Harvick (9). |
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3.784 -- Average running position of Tony Stewart last year at Martinsville, the best among active drivers. |
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4 -- Victories in the last six Martinsville races by Jeff Gordon, accumulated through season sweeps in 2003 and 2005. |
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4.0 -- Average start for Ryan Newman at Martinsville in eight races, as he has started each race inside the top 10. |
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5.642 -- Miles per hour faster that drivers averaged on the backstretch (96.156 mph) compared to the frontstretch (90.514 mph) in last year's races. |
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6.85 -- Average starting position for Martinsville winners, with the worst starting position by a winner being 36th when Kurt Busch won in 2002. |
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7 -- Consecutive top-10 finishes by Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville, the best among active drivers. |
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8 -- Active drivers who have won at Martinsville, five of which are former Cup champions: Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. |
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17 -- Martinsville races that were won from the pole position, although there are four races in which the winner's starting position is unknown. |
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23.14 -- Percent of passes made on the backstretch last year at Martinsville, the most popular place for passing. |
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71.0 -- Percent of races that have been won from a top-10 starting position (81 of 114 races), although the past four races have been won from a starting position of 15th or worse. |
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73.0 -- Percent of finishes in which Jeff Gordon was on the lead lap (19 of 26). |
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494 -- Laps led by Sterling Marlin at the track despite no victories. |
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2,041 -- Laps led by Jeff Gordon at the paperclip track, 1,147 more than Tony Stewart, who is second on the active leaders with 894 laps led. |
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Jeff Gordon has been the modern-day Petty, often becoming synonymous with Martinsville Speedway's Victory Lane. With more victories at the track than anybody else driving, three of them have come in the spring. And only three times has he left the track in the springtime without leading a lap. Last spring was no different, as he came from four laps down to win the race.
| King of Spring |
| Jeff Gordon in Martinsville spring races |
| Year |
Start |
Finish |
Status |
Laps Led |
| 1993 |
3 |
8 |
Running |
0 |
| 1994 |
13 |
33 |
Running |
0 |
| 1995 |
12 |
3 |
Running |
9 |
| 1996 |
13 |
3 |
Running |
211 |
| 1997 |
4 |
1 |
Running |
431 |
| 1998 |
3 |
8 |
Running |
19 |
| 1999 |
9 |
3 |
Running |
163 |
| 2000 |
11 |
4 |
Running |
0 |
| 2001 |
1 |
12 |
Running |
6 |
| 2002 |
1 |
23 |
Running |
68 |
| 2003 |
1 |
1 |
Running |
190 |
| 2004 |
1 |
6 |
Running |
180 |
| 2005 |
16 |
1 |
Running |
36 |
| Totals |
6.76 |
8.15 |
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1,313 |
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