Around the Track: Martinsville

A nightmare.

That's what Bristol was, a nightmare. Now we go to another one in Martinsville. Can't wait.

It's tough to go from one half-mile track to another, especially being a rookie in a series where your back is against the wall and you're trying to earn a little respect and not get in any altercations.

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But at the same time you're trying to get the best finish possible. Both tracks bring out the same qualities as far as drivers losing patience. We stubbed our toe pretty good on the first one.

On that same token, we've never been to Martinsville or seen the track, so it's going to be different.

Bristol was a little different animal from the Busch Series to Cup. The talent level was definitely higher and it's definitely a lot harder to pass. Some of the veterans get impatient with us a little bit, but we're the ones coming into their series and we're supposed to not ruffle any feathers.

On the same note, we're trying to learn. It's a fine line. You've got to learn first and foremost. You have to gain respect from those guys and you've got to make a name for yourself.

It's hard to make all of those things happen, but you've got to cope with it and make the best of the weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't do that, but we learned a lot.

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And there was a lot to learn, particularly after the race watching Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. I was upset and getting out of the racecar. That was kind of a breath of fresh air seeing little Jeff Gordon shoving Kenseth like that.

He was ready to go after it. It just gives the series a little bit of character. We've been kind of vanilla here of late. That gave it some flavor, that's for sure, especially when you've got two guys you least expect to react that way going at it.

I can understand how it happened. As much as Jeff tried to keep that car at the front of a track and to get through 500 laps and to go from a top five finish to 21st, it would be aggravating.

I saw where Jeff and fellow rookie Martin Truex Jr. got into it earlier. Like I said, it's a fine line. You've got to earn respect, but at the same time you can't let those guys take advantage of you. I guess Martin felt like Jeff took advantage of him and showed his displeasure.

Then again, he got a lesson as well when he wound up in the wall. It's hard to come in this series and run well and be consistent and not try to step on too many toes. These guys, they're good. They're going to take advantage of you and put you in situations you don't want to be in and they know just how to put you in them.

	Clint Bowyer 2006 Nextel Cup stats Track St. Fin. Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running

It's all part of learning. In two or three years we'll be expected to beat these guys. We're already expected to beat them with little or no experience. I call it a learning curve. It just comes down to doing everything you can do each week to get a good finish.

Before we got to Bristol we were knocking on the door of the top 10 each week. From there you work into the top fives, and from there comes the wins. You've just got to do the same things we've been doing, working as a team.

We knew there would be some bumps and bruises in the road, and that more than likely Bristol would be one of them. We look at Martinsville the same way.

It's a track where I have exactly zero experience. I'm a little anxious. It's going to be a new experience. I'm running the Truck race first, so I'm going to take as much as I can out of it. It's kind of like a Busch Series race for me. Hopefully, I can learn what I need to go and do well in the Cup race.

The first thing I've got to do is learn how to pass and how to be there at the end of the race. The main thing is knowing how to set people up to pass and where not to be. The Truck race should help.

This is one of those tracks where I wish they still had tests. All of these tracks I haven't been to, those would be tracks where we would be testing at with the old policy.

But it's the same for everybody. We've got to make the best of those weekends and come out of them with as many points as possible and run good on the tracks we've been to.

My RCR teammate Kevin Harvick has a go-kart track at his house that is a lot like Martinsville. I drove on that last week. I took some pointers from him. The main thing I got from that is how to let him run over you. He ran clean over the top of me.

He just wheel-hopped me and was up on top of me. You've got to pull from your resources, and that's kind of what I'm doing. I'll be talking to Kevin and Jeff Burton, and also my crew chief who has been up there a lot.

I hope my inexperience there doesn't make me less aggressive. You've got to be cautious, but then again you can't let those cats push you around and put you in positions you don't want to be in.

I hope it's not another nightmare. Hopefully, it's going to be a dream come true.