Weekend That Was: M'ville (cont'd)

He's playing nice. He's racing clean. But the fact is that it's not winning him more races; it's winning him less.

And now that his Hendrick teammates, Johnson and upstart Kyle Busch, are running up front most every week, too, you have to wonder if maybe it's time for him to start ignoring some of the in-house political correctness and playing a little rougher in tight situations such as Sunday.

If he wants to win lots more races, that is. If he just wants to make sure his Monday morning meetings at 4400 Papa Joe Hendrick Blvd. are peaceful, well, then that's another matter.

One final point: Had Gordon won Sunday, he would have tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time Cup win list. What do you think Earnhardt would have done?

Skinner rolling

Toyota obviously isn't having any problems in NASCAR's Truck Series. Mike Skinner won his third consecutive Craftsman Truck Series race for Bill Davis Racing on Saturday at Martinsville, and it was the fourth consecutive win for a Toyota overall in the series.

But the big winner Saturday was Skinner's crew chief, Jeff Hensley, who hails from nearby Ridgeway, Va.

"I went to high school about two miles from here," Hensley said. "I went to college at Patrick Henry Community College, which is about 15 miles north of here. So this is big."

Seven miles at Martinsville

So David Caraviello's column, posted on NASCAR.COM on Saturday, rankled Martinsville track president Clay Campbell so badly that Campbell called an impromptu news conference before the race Sunday morning to basically rip our colleague and address "persistent and unfounded rumors about the demise of Martinsville Speedway."

Well, Caraviello and myself weren't in attendance. We were stuck in what was reported to be a seven-mile-long traffic jam out in front of Campbell's track. And on my way to the press box later during the race, I saw several seven-mile-long lines to dilapidated restrooms and portable toilets.

All of which reinforces the main points of Caraviello's column. As neat a venue as Martinsville is to watch a race, it is pretty obvious that International Speedway Corp. isn't planning to keep holding two races a year there forever -- or they'd sink some money into upgrading some of its basic facilities. Even then it would still be too hard to get to and too far away from the general masses to serve NASCAR's long-range purposes.

Maybe Campbell is the last one to realize that.

Pit stops

• I did have one of the legendary hot dogs made famous by Campbell's track, and I have to say it was delicious. Caraviello won't touch 'em because he doesn't like their "pink, radioactive" look. On that, I admit that my colleague's opinion is shortsighted. But a great hot dog will only get you so far in assuring two Nextel Cup race dates for the long haul.

• Jamie McMurray continued to rebound from a disappointing start to his season with his fourth consecutive top-15 finish. He finished ninth after starting second, and now is up to 12th in points.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. was upset at the sand and debris that was blown into the cockpit of his car by the jet dryers used to clean and dry off the track after Sunday's 33-minute rain delay. "I ended up getting something in my eye and it hurt for a long time," Earnhardt said.

• Being less aggressive when supposedly racing for wins isn't the only thing that has changed about Cup drivers these days. When did anyone from the old days ever talk about taking a Caribbean vacation in the middle of a season like some of the current guys did when asked what they planned to do during their Easter break weekend?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.