Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Race
This week the Sprint Cup series moves to Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA. At 0.526 miles in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. Martinsville’s surface is unique, as it is paved with a combination of asphalt (straightaways) and concrete (corners) unlike Bristol which is 100% concrete.
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| View from turn two bleachers at Martinsville Speedway |
Also new at Martinsville will be the reintroduction of spoilers. The wings are gone and spoilers are said to bring back more downforce and should help prevent car flipping aerials like we saw with Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski in Atlanta (BTW – did you see how civil they were together running side by side each other late in the day at Bristol?).
Martinsville has a lot of history. Current Sprint Cup driver (#71 TRG Motorsports) Bobby Labonte made his Busch Series debut in 1982 at Martinsville Speedway, finishing 30th. In 1960, Richard Petty became the youngest winner at Martinsville at age 22 and has had the most wins there with 15. Also unique both in history and fame is that the trophy given at the race is a grandfather clock. The clocks are made by Ridgeway Clocks and have been given out since 1964 (Ridgeway clocks are also found in the historic Biltmore near Asheville, NC).
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| Ridgeway Trophy Clock |
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