Last week NASCAR was in Fontana and I'm not sure if you were able to watch but we were on vacation with no cable and weren't in the car with SiriusXM again so we didn't but the Twitter feed was great! This week the race is at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. I hope these tips for the STP 500 help you out on Sunday's Sprint Cup Race which will be followed by the truck race as they were delayed due to weather.
A Wife’s Guide to NASCAR – Martinsville STP 500
As usual I'll give you the run down with the three drivers I think you should watch this week! Sit back, relax and enjoy!
Track – Martinsville Speedway, VA
Race – STP 500
Date – March 30, 2014
So what does the 500 stand for in the Martinsville STP 500?
The track is a .526 mile “paperclip” oval consisting of 500 laps for a total of 263 miles and looks like this:
Who won the pole position?
#18 Kyle Busch – @kylebusch and wife is @samanthabusch
Who’s coming from a win at the Fontana Auto Club 400?
None other than #18 Kyle Busch! ~ Remember me mentioning last week that his year will get better?
Who won the 2013 Martinsville race?
#48 Jimmie Johnson – @JimmieJohnson
- Defending 6 time Sprint Cup champion – Five of his six championships came in a row and his seventh will tie him with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr.
- Since his first full time season in 2002 Jimmie Johnson’s worst Points finish was 6th.
- There are way too many racing and winning stats to list them all, he is a well accomplished driver which may be why he was the first driver to be named Male Athlete of the year in 2009
- On top of racing Jimmie is also a triathlete, seriously how does he find the time
- Football quarterback Donovan McNabb made a comment on Fox Sports saying NASCAR drivers aren’t athletes and Jimmie is proof they are. He has since been in contact with McNabb and is working on getting him in a car for a ride
Who to Watch in the Martinsville STP 500
Since Kyle Busch seems to have taken the cake this week I picked another driver I think you should know about, last week's runner up:
#42 Kyle Larson – @KyleLarsonRacin
- Rookie season
- Replaced Juan Pablo Montoya to drive the #42 for Ganassi Racing. #42 usually runs with the red Target paint scheme
- only 21 years old
- 2012 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year
- 2013 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
- The biggest competition this year for rookie of the year is #3 Austin Dillon. Larson is currently in 16th in points and Dillon is 9th
A couple of drivers you should have your eye on this weekend:
- #11 Denny Hamlin – @dennyhamlin
- #24 Jeff Gordon – @JeffGordonWeb
A few pointers to make you sound “smart” I know I'll be dropping a few of these:
- Points Leader 5 of 36 races: #99 Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon lead active drivers with 8 wins at Martinsville
- 21 of 130 races have been won from the pole, and 73% of winners have starting in the top 10
As always thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed my Wife’s Guide to NASCAR!
