Mr. Martinsville, teammate see chance to break silence

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- It is a title that truthfully has been held by precious few.

Mr. Martinsville.

Richard Petty was the original Mr. Martinsville, although Fred Lorenzen once won four consecutive races at Martinsville Speedway to at least temporarily lay claim to the Mr. M moniker. Oh, and did we mention that one Darrell Waltrip won here 11 times -- second only to the 15 races captured by the King himself? Rusty Wallace won seven Martinsville races, another impressive number.

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But since Wallace's last victory at the paperclip in the middle of nowhere, otherwise advertised as the Virginia countryside, no one has torn it up here like the boys from Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon was Mr. Martinsville before Jimmie Johnson, but both Mr. M's drive for Mr. H, so let's get that straight.

It was last year after Johnson swept both Martinsville races en route to his second consecutive Nextel Cup (now Sprint Cup) points championship that Gordon, who also has won seven races at the track, made a grand show of bestowing the title on the new and latest Mr. M.

On Friday, an attempt was made to ask Johnson about it. But just as Johnson was to begin a news conference behind his No. 48 hauler, Truck Series practice began on the track. A deafening roar ensued, drowning out virtually everything Johnson had to say.

A reporter attempted to shout a question to Johnson, and Johnson attempted to answer.

"I couldn't hear a thing you said, but I'm sure it was brilliant," the reporter shouted when Johnson appeared to complete the answer.

Johnson smiled. "Oh, it was brilliant, all right," he said, or something to that effect. No one could really hear.

The fact is, six races into the defense of his second consecutive championship, not much of anything Johnson has done this season has been brilliant -- and he knows it. He has finished higher than 13th only once, registering a second-place finish in the second race of the season at Fontana, and enters this Sunday's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville at 13th in the point standings.

Gordon, who sits on the pole for Sunday's event, enters in 14th in points, only five behind Johnson. Yet both are outside the top 12 that is the cutoff point for getting into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Some are sounding the alarm. Is it time for them to make a last stand at the racetrack that has favored them so greatly in the past? Or is it way too early in the season for anyone to start talking in such dramatic terms?

The ones to beat?
Gordon may be sitting on the pole and hungry for his first win of the season. But he still insisted on Friday that Johnson, who qualified 10th, is the one to beat at this .526-mile track -- or at least one of the top two to beat.

But if Johnson can't win, Gordon begrudgingly admitted that it will be time to relinquish the Mr. M title to someone else -- hopefully himself.

Johnson and Gordon

M'ville results since 2002

Year	Race	Johnson	Gordon
2002	Spring	35	23
2002	Fall	6	36
2003	Spring	9	1
2003	Fall	2	1
2004	Spring	4	6
2004	Fall	1	9
2005	Spring	8	1
2005	Fall	3	1
2006	Spring	3	2
2006	Fall	1	5
2007	Spring	1	2
2007	Spring	1	3
Average		6.2	7.5

"He certainly has been Mr. Martinsville the last three times we've been here. ... In my opinion, he and Denny Hamlin are the guys to beat here. They were both strong in practice," Gordon said. "I would imagine if Jimmie wins this race, he'll still be Mr. Martinsville. If he doesn't, well, this has always been a sport where it's what have you done lately? I would say whoever wins this race [Sunday] is the new Mr. Martinsville."

That's a bit of a stretch. One race victory does not a true Mr. Martinsville make.

As far as who has done what lately for Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon realizes the answer from him and Johnson, surprisingly, is not much. Gordon led 68 laps and finished right behind Johnson to claim third at Fontana and also finished fifth in Atlanta after claiming the pole. But he finished 35th because of an accident he caused himself while running near the front toward the end at Las Vegas, and finished 39th in the season-opening Daytona 500 after giving in to suspension problems.

Carrying the banner for Hendrick so far is the newcomer to the organization, Dale Earnhardt Jr. He enters Sunday's race fifth in points on the season. Earnhardt said he is not concerned about his struggling teammates, which also includes Casey Mears in the No. 5 Chevrolet (33rd in points).

"Well, we're running good and they've run good," insisted Earnhardt, whose No. 88 Chevy will start in the 22nd position Sunday. "They've had some misfortunes and some bad luck and they've struggled at a couple of racetracks. But it's just a matter of time before they get back to where they want to be. With the way this organization is, you won't be down or struggling for long. There are too many good people that work there; too many dedicated people.

"The spirit that company has to run up front is tremendous, and the dedication they have is to do whatever it takes to get that. It's not going to be like it is for much more. I expect them all to be in the top 10 this weekend. I think we'll all have good runs this weekend."

All in agreement?
Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevy owned by Richard Childress Racing, agrees with Earnhardt. These guys are too good to keep running so bad.

And Martinsville is the perfect track for Johnson and Gordon to make a strong statement to that effect.

"I think that they will make a stand," Burton said. "I think they will be extremely strong this weekend, and how much that carries over depends on the team."

Burton was quick to add that Johnson's two wins last year and three in a row overall at Martinsville mean next to nothing once the green flag is dropped for this Sunday's event.

"I can tell you that winning this race last year doesn't mean you are going to come here and run well. Running poorly here last year doesn't mean you are going to run poorly this year," Burton said. "The work you've done between then and now is going to determine how well you run.

"They have a setup and a feel for the cars here that has yielded results. That's obvious. Jimmie has done it a lot, and Gordon did it a lot before Jimmie did. Junior has run well here, too, so they have the mechanical ability and they have the drivers who can do it as well."

But their top two drivers from recent years past haven't been getting it done lately. That is a fact.

And that makes this race extremely important for not only Hendrick Motorsports as a whole, but especially for the two latest Mr. Martinsvilles. Burton expects to see them exercise their mayoral muscle.

"They pretty much, as seen by me, have dominated this racetrack for a while -- and until somebody can take that away from them, it's theirs," Burton said. "As long as you're the last one holding the trophy, you're The Man. Somebody's got to take it away."

Johnson figures to have something to say about that. Right, Jimmie?

Jimmie?

Mr. Martinsville hopes to break his silence in Victory Lane on Sunday. If not, the other Mr. M who drives for Mr. H hopes to be there in his stead.

One of those results or the other is about the only thing that's going to keep folks in racing from continuing to whisper about what's happened to them.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.