If Martinsville could talk ...

If racetracks could talk, I would like to think that Martinsville Speedway could tell quite a story. I have always enjoyed the Martinsville weekend. When I lived in Charlotte it was a pleasant drive up late Thursday afternoon or first thing Friday morning.

Two of our all-time favorite Mexican restaurants are in the Martinsville area. I know a good place to get a steak, too. The people that work in the office supply store near the mall are about the friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met. They would print my race charts for me on Saturday afternoon. And the racing isn't too bad, either.

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Now the weather, well, that's another story. I think over the years we have seen every kind of weather possible at Martinsville -- hot as it could be, rain, snow, fog, even a hurricane played into a race, but that's another story.

The weather has added to the memories and storylines at The 'Ville. In April of 1995 I was sure I was going to see Ted Musgrave win his first Nextel Cup Series race at Martinsville. It was quite a day. The race was a noon or 12:30 p.m. start but because of a programming conflict we were going to be on a tape delay. The "delayed" broadcast was scheduled for 3 o'clock. Needless to say, the race fans, and the broadcast team, were not very happy with that scenario but we all had to go along with it. Or not.

Somebody, somewhere, had a different plan. It rained. It rained in the morning, it rained early in the afternoon. Then, it stopped raining and the race officials got the track dry, right about 3 o'clock. In fact, I think we actually had to "fill" a little bit while they finished drying the track and got everybody in place for the race. So on a cloudy, cold, but sort of dry Sunday afternoon we went racing, and it was "live." Nice work up there.

Musgrave had a strong car and was running a strong race, but so were Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace. Pretty soon, the race was against the clock -- it was getting dark, in a hurry.

I was working the pits along the backstretch and that is where Musgrave was pitted. Howard Comstock was his crew chief. Howard is a terrific guy. He works in the Dodge camp these days but as crew chief he was one of he guys who "got it." He would tell you everything and anything about his car, his team, his driver. I was always thrilled to get his pit for a race. He would educated and inform as long as you were willing to listen. He knew how it helped tell the story throughout the day.

Musgrave was about my only story that day and I spent a lot of time in his pit with Howard and his guys. It is always hard to hear at Martinsville but Howard and I talked many times during that day. I remember the smile and the shrug when we realized what could happen. Neither one of us used the word "win," but we all knew it could happen. But it didn't.

The race was shortened to 356 laps, Wallace's car got better, Ted was probably too nice a guy on the track and Rusty won the race. Musgrave was second followed by Jeff Gordon and Waltrip.

As the checkered flag flew, Howard just smiled as we shook hands. The crew began to pack up, day turned into night and we all headed home.

It was pretty bright the day Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville. It was one of the hottest days I have ever spent at a racetrack. Billy Ingle was his crew chief that day. Man, what a day! Blistering. And in the car, even hotter, especially if your cooling box was not working. (Continued)