• Race: Sunday, October 1, 2000 in Martinsville, VA
  
  
• TV: ESPN 1:00pm/et
  
  
• Posted Awards/Purse: $2,115,007
  
  
• Entry List: Entry List for the: NAPA Autocare 500 from NOL
  
  
• 1999 Race Winner: Jeff Gordon
  
  
• Event Race Record: Rusty Wallace, Fall 1996, 81.410mph
  
  
• Track/Race Length: 0.526 mile oval, 500 laps, 263 miles
  
  
• Pit Road Speed: 35mph
  
  

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  Practice
  
  
• Practice: Friday, Sept 29th 11:00am - 1:30pm/et; Saturday, Sept 30th 9:40 - 10:30am/et
  
  
• Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, September 30th, 1:00 - 2:00pm/et, TV-ESPN2 tape delay 4:30-5:30pm/et
  
  

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  Qualifying
  
  
• Qualifying Draw: Friday, Sept 29th at 10:30am/et
  
  
• Qualfying Order - NAPA Autocare 500: NASCAR Online
  
  or That's Racin'
  
  
• First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-25, Friday, Sept 29th at 3:00pm/et, TV-ESPN live and live via MRN radio/internet
  
  
• NASCAR Online will have live lap-by-lap coverage of Winston Cup qualifying via the web
  
  
• Second-Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 26th-36th, Saturday, Sept 30th at 11:15am/et
  
  
• Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, Apr 1999, 95.275mph
  
  
• Event Qualifying Record: Joe Nemechek, Oct 1999, 95.223mph
  
  
• Last Year's Pole Sitter: Joe Nemechek, 95.223mph
  
  

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  Track Specs:
  Degree of Banking: Turns: 12 degrees
  Straightaways: Banking: 0 degrees(flat)
  Straights: 800 feet
  Seating: approx 86,000
  Pit Stalls: 43 pits, 14-feet wide by 28-feet long
  
  
• Track Homepage: Martinsville Speedway
  
  
• Scanner Frequencies: are linked on my Racing Links Page/ Scanners Section
  
  

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  PAST WINNERS of the 2nd(Fall) Race at Martinsville

  See the chart at the Martinsville site: Past All Time Winners(9-24-2000)
  
  

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  RACE BONUS INFO

• The NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus is $40,000 at Martinsville for leading the points and winning the race.(Bobby Labonte last won the award, $40,000 at Darlington on Sep 3, 2000). The $340,000 annual award is paid at $10,000 per race to the point leader at the end of each event if he is also the winner. The award increases by $10,000 each week the it goes unclaimed. If the point leader is not the race winner at the end of the year, the balance of the award is distributed among the top-10 finisher in the point standings(9-24-2000)
  
  

IN-CAR AUDIO SITES

PREVIEWS, FACT SHEETS and MISC News

• Frontstretch: Raceday - Martinsville(10-1-2000)
  
  
• RaceComm: Martinsville Preview(9-29-2000)
  
  
• Stats via the TNN Site: Martinsville Race Stats by their stat guru Bill Sloboda(9-28-2000)
  
  
• Total Sports: Lee Montgomery's Race Preview(9-28-2000)
  
  
• WRAL: NASCAR - Martinsville Preview (9-28-2000)
  
  
• Martinsville Quick Facts(TNN)(9-28-2000)
  
  
• CBS: Winston Cup preview -- Martinsville(9-28-2000)
  
  
• Some Martinsville Stats: 14 of all the 93 Martinsville races have been won by the pole starter - 15%. Last Martinsville won by the pole winner: 1993 by Ernie Irvan, only once in the last eighteen races(Actually it was Bobby Hamilton in spring of 1998). Lowest start of a NAPA 500 winner: 23rd by Jack Smith in first NAPA, 1956. Most Martinsville wins: Richard Petty - 15. Active - Darrell Waltrip - 11. Caution-free races at Martinsville: None. 75 of the 93 Martinsville races have been won from the Top 10 - 81%. Most DNFs in a race: 20, 1974, Fewest: 2, 1999. Average finish of pole winner: 9.8 (TNN)(9-28-2000)
  
  
• NASCAR Online: Race facts(9-26-2000)
  
  
• That's Racin': This week's race - Martinsville(9-26-2000)
  
  
• Martinsville Stuff: There have been 14 races won from the pole position - most recently by Bobby Hamilton in the 1998 Goody's 500. Lee Petty holds the record for the driver that started the farthest back at Martinsville to win a race. He started 24th in the 1959 Virginia 500. The 1999 fall race at Martinsville Speedway marked the first time there had been one pit road. From 1993-1996, Rusty Wallace collected four consecutive wins at Martinsville. Four drivers got their first Cup Series start at Martinsville: Dale Jarrett (4/29/84 - started 24th and finished 14th), Mike Skinner (4/27/86 - started 27th and finished 22nd), Stacy Compton (4/21/96 - started ninth and finished 33rd; his best NWC career start) and Mike Bliss (9/27/98 - started 25th and finished 25th). Darrell Waltrip leads all active drivers with 11 wins at Martinsville(NASCAR PR/Fact Sheet)(9-26-2000)
  
  
• Martinsville Grand Marshal/Honorary Starter: NAPA store owners Dale Richardson and Bob Everett, Jr. will be honored at the 45th annual NAPA AutoCare 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on Sunday, October 1 at Martinsville Speedway. Richardson, owner of High Point Tire in High Point, NC, will take part in the event as Grand Marshal while Everett, who owns a NAPA AutoCare Center, will be the Honorary Starter. The exciting command, “Gentlemen Start Your Engines!” will be given by Richardson while Everett will wave the green flag to get the race under way(Martinsville Speedway PR)(9-24-2000)
  
  
• Provisionals: There are six drivers out of provisionals after Dover, #66-Darrell Waltrip, #44-Steve Grissom, #60-Joe Bessey, #75-Wally Dallenbach, #90-Hut Stricklin and #9-Stacy Compton. They must make the races with speed until another provisional is allotted at Phoenix, which is four races away. But the drivers/teams without provisionals could still get into a race using a provisional - If one or a few of the teams without provisionals fail to get in on speed, then the part time teams(don't attempt all races and are deep in the OWNERS points) get a shot at the provisionals, lining up by Owners Points(only if they have owners points).
  If spots are still available, then the teams without provisionals or owners points get placed in the field by fastest qualifying speed until all 43 spots are filled. For more info on provisionals see my Provisionals Status and Owners Points page(9-24-2000)
  
  
• The Crew Chief Club
  
  

• Race ODDS - Stardust: NASCAR Odds - Martinsville(WRAL)(9-28-2000)
  
  
• Race ODDS - Imperial Palace: NASCAR Odds - Martinsville(SportsFax News)(9-28-2000)
  
  
• ODD's Cup/Race: to win the race and the 2000 Winston Cup Championship at Don Best Sports(9-26-2000)
  
  
• ODD's: NASCAR Odds - Martinsville(9-26-2000)
  
  

• Martinsville Winner: #20-Tony Stewart wins at Martinsville in the NAPA Autocare 500. It is his fifth win of the 2000 season and eighth of his career. Stewart wins from the pole and also back-to-back races as he won last week at Dover. Stewart now leads the circuit in wins for the season. #3-Dale Earnhardt came home 2nd. Points leader, #18-Bobby Labonte, who had a tough day but still managed to finished 10th and now holds a 213 point lead over Dale Earnhardt. See unofficial results at NASCAR Online(10-1-2000)
  
  
• Rookies - tough day: The six Rookie of the Year (ROTY) candidates didn't fare so well at Martinsville. #32-Pruett failed to make the race. #27-Bliss was the highest finishing rookies at 28th with #93-Blaney 30th; #17-Kenseth 34th; #8-Earnahrdt Jr 36th(and a DNF); and #9-Compton was 39th. Plus #97-Kurt Busch who started 40th and finished 37th and #19-Casey Atwood finished 25th after going a few laps down early in the race. Both Atwood and Busch are not ROTY candidates this year but will run for the award in 2001. Bliss wins the highest finishing Rookie award for the 2nd time in 2000(must be a ROTY candidate)(10-1-2000)
  
  
• Happy Hour practice is over at Martinsville. #50-Ricky Craven was the fastest with a speed of 93.807mph. See the speeds at the Racin' Network. Happy Hour will be televised on ESPN2 today at 4:30pm/et, tape delayed(9-30-2000)
  
  
• 2nd Round? Starting Grid? UPDATE 2: not sure what happened, NASCAR Online is showing a starting grid that has #50-Ricky Craven making the race with a speed of 94.036mph(slower then his 1st round speed) and has #60-Rich Bickle out of the race, even though he is being shown in the "Missed the Race" section with a faster speed of 94.139mph(his first round speed) and should be starting 35th. The starting grid is listed at NASCAR Online or That's Racin'
  UPDATE: NOL has a story up saying of the drivers who made 2nd round attempts, these five missed the race: #60-Bickle, #32-Pruett, #85-Long, #44-Grissom' and #71-Marcis. Doesn't mention #50-Craven as making a 2nd round attempt even though his listed speed is different then his first round speed(94.036 vs 94.097 in 1st round). Why Bickle would even make an attempt is beyond me, he was 35th after 1st round and no one came close in the Saturday AM practice, when it was cooler then it would be for 2nd round
  UPDATE 2: Speeds have been corrected on the NASCAR Online Starting Grid. So it looks like at least seven drivers made 2nd round attempts, while #50-Craven was slower then his first round speed, he was the fastest and snuck into the 36th spot when #60-Bickle chose to make an attempt. The other's who made attempts were #32-Pruett, #71-Marcis, #85-Long(only one faster then 1st round), and #44-Grissom, these four and Bickle missed the race. #21-Elliott Sadler made an attempt but have not seen a speed for him. #12-Mayfield moves up one spot from 36h to 35th where Bickle was before 2nd round. Three Roush teams took Provisionals(#'s 16,17 and 97-the 13th taken by that team). Also, see the 2nd round story at SpeedVision
  2nd Round Chart: see my 2nd Round Qualifying Chart to see how the 2nd Round Qualifying went and why the starting grid is set up(9-30-2000)
  
  
• Saturday AM Practice at Martinsville is over. #44-Steve Grissom was the fastest at 94.087mph which would not be fastest enough to make the top 36. #12-Mayfield is 36th fastest at 94.129mph. 2nd round comes up at 11:15am/et. See the speeds at NOL or Racin' Network(9-30-2000)
  
  
• First Round Qualifying is over at Martinsville for the NAPA Autocare 500. #20-Tony Stewart wins his 2nd 2000 Bud Pole with a new track record of 95.371mph, breaking his old record of 95.275mph. #2-Wallace and #99-Burton also broke the track record. 22 cars were faster on their first lap and 26 cars were faster on their second lap. If things stayed the same, the following five drivers would miss the race: #44-Grissom(38th in owners points but out of provisionals); #32-Scott Pruett(39th); #71-Marcis(45th); #50-Craven(46th); and #85-Long(50th). See my Provisional/Owners Points page for the rules and standings. #66-Darrell Waltrip is in the race, qualifying 18th as is #19-Casey Atwood at 22nd. Kyle Petty, in the #45 Sprint Pontiac (yes it's a Pontiac not a Chevy) is 27th and should make the race. See the results at my 1st Round Qualifying Results page(includes both lap speeds, provisionals left ands some notes(9-29-2000)
  
  
• Progression of the pole at Martinsville:
  1) #24-Jeff Gordon, 1st out, 95.165mph
  2) #99-Jeff Burton, 11th out, 95.319mph
  3) #20-Tony Stewart, 42nd out, 95.371mph, who holds on to win his 2nd 2000 pole(9-29-2000)
  
  
• Some Qualifying Notes: #99-Jeff Burton has the use of Rusty Wallace's helicopter, when/if needed, as his wife Kim is due to have their second baby at any time; #60-Rich Bickle went out later then his scheduled spot of 9th as the team found a broken Valve Spring and repaired it before making their laps, he went out 20th; #7-Michael Waltrip has Omniquip-Textron featured on the hood with a big "Q"(ESPN2's coverage of qualifying)(9-29-2000)
  
  
• Qualifying Order for the NAPA Autocare 500 at Martinsville is up. See the link(s) above. First scheduled out is #24-Jeff Gordon, last scheduled is #22-Ward Burton. 48 drivers/teams are scheduled to make an attempt, running two laps. ESPN2 will cover qualifying at 3:00pm/et live as will MRN radio(9-29-2000)
  
  
• Friday Practice is over at Martinsville. #20-Tony Stewart was the fastest at 95.588mph. The track record is 95.275mph, held by Stewart from the spring of 1999. The event record is 95.223mph, held by Joe Nemechek in the fall 1999. Five drivers were faster then the event qualifying record(#'s 20,60,77,24,19 some surprises there) and Four were faster then the track record. Slowest was #85-Carl Long at 92.601mph. See the speeds at NASCAR Online(9-29-2000)
  
  
• The NAPA Autocare 500 Entry List is up: See the link above. 48 cars are now listed, including #45-Kyle Petty, #19-Casey Atwood, #50-Ricky Craven and #85-Carl Long(9-26/28-2000)
  
  
• Pole Record: What is the record for the most poles in a season by one driver? In the modern era(1972 to present): Cale Yarborough had 14 poles in 31 starts(45%) during the 1980 season. The overall record was Bobby Isaac who had 20 poles in 50 starts(40%) during the 1969 season(Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia). So far in 2000, #2-Rusty Wallace has 8 in 27 races - 29.6%, that equates to approx 10 for the year, so they modern era record looks out of reach(9-22-2000)
  
  
• How to break a tie during qualifying? When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers). For provisionals standings see the Jayski Provisional Status page(2-20-2000)
  
  
• Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these sites: NASCAR Online,
  
  

TRACK/RACE NEWS

• Martinsville Improved: Martinsville Speedway will look different again this fall when NASCAR Winston Cup race fans arrive for the NAPA AutoCare 500. The speedway has completed installation of metal seats with backs on the concrete bleachers on the track’s front straightaway along with a new walkway at the bottom of the grandstand. Handrails also have been installed in the aisles in all sections of the track. Since April, Martinsville also has constructed new concrete retaining walls, separating the track from the pits on the front and back straightaways(Martinsville Speedway PR)(8-26-2000)
  
  
• Rain: The Southern 500 was the fifth Cup race this season to be affected by rain having a two hour rain delay after 38 laps and being shortened to 328 laps instead of the 367 scheduled. Others: Las Vegas was shortened by 119 laps. Michigan fell six laps short in June. Pocono was postponed to the next day(a Monday). New Hampshire only went 273 of 300 laps in July(9-4-2000)
  
  
• Track Qualifying Records fall in 2000: In 27 events there have been thirteen(13) track records set, including Bristol, California, Lowes, Michigan, Pocono, Rockingham, Texas, Las Vegas, New Hampshire(July), Sears Point, Pocono(2nd time), Indy and Michigan(2nd time). These are TRACK records, not EVENT records(of course we all know there are four races that there is no chance to break the track record, the two each at Daytona and Talladega)(9-22-2000)
  
  
• How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph
  
  
• Past track news: posted in the past at Past Track News - Martinsville
  
  

DRIVER/TEAM NEWS

• Bickle in the #60 for Martinsville: Rich Bickle will drive the #60 Power Team Chevrolet fielded by Bessey Motorsports in this weekend’s NASCAR Winston Cup event at the Martinsville Speedway. In preparation for the event, Bickle and the #60 team tested at the Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Carolina on Wednesday. Bickle has made one previous start for the team this year, at Martinsville and finished 30th. Bickle won the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville, earned one pole position at the half-mile track in the NASCAR All Pro Series and recorded his best career NASCAR Winston Cup finish, a fourth, there in 1998(Power Team PR)(9-28-2000)
  
  
• 1000 Races: Wood Brothers Racing celebrates the start of their 1,000th race this weekend and will sport the colors of the team's founder, Glen Wood. The solid red racecar flashes back to the 1950's when Wood owned and piloted the famed Wood Brothers racecar. Glen Wood founded Wood Brothers Racing as a hobby, now it's their life and has been for the past five decades. He and his brothers decided they wanted to go racing and nominations moved that Glen be the driver. Since the team's origination, Glen has won as a driver, car owner and grandfather over the past 50 years. His list of driver's speaks for itself with 17 of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers listed on the Wood Brothers Racing resume. Elliott Sadler currently pilots the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford and is delighted to be able to represent the team in such a memorable year(Cox Marketing Group), see an image of the car in the Paint Schemes Gallery(9-26-2000)
  
  
• 400th Start: This week's race at Martinsville will become another milestone in Brett Bodine's racing career. Bodines's 400th NASCAR Winston Cup career start will come on Sunday at Martinsville in the #11 Ralph's Supermarket Ford. Martinsville is also where Bodine began his professional racing career in a 1979 Modified race. Bodine's first Cup start was in May in 1986 at Charlotte, driving for Rick Hendrick (started 32, finished 18th). 1988 marked Bodine's first full year in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (in Bud Moore's #15 Motorcraft car).(Brett Bodine Racing PR)(9-26-2000)
  
  
• Kyle and Cup in 2000? UPDATE yep: saw in a testing story at the Martinesville Speedway site that Kyle Petty would be testing the #45 car at the track on Sept 19th and 20th. Hearing that Petty will run two Cup races for Sprint in the #45 Chevy/Pontiac this season, looks like Martinsville will be one of the two(9-6-2000)
  UPDATE: It was reported on ESPN2's RPM 2Night that Kyle Petty will drive the #45 Sprint car(Chevy?) at Martinsville and Homestead Cup races(9-7-2000)
  
  
• Dodge News: Kyle Petty says Dodge teams expect NASCAR to approve the Dodge Intrepid within two weeks. Once the car is approved, Dodge teams can begin building cars for next season.The Dodge engine has more work to be done to it before it is taken to NASCAR for approval. Dodge is not expected to present an engine for more than a month(Roanoke Times/Williams Company)(8-25-2000)
  
  
• Atwood's Cup Debut UPDATE 3: Casey Atwood will attempt to make his Winston Cup debut on Sept 9th at Richmond. Atwood who will drive Ray Evernham's #19 Dodge in 2001 will drive a Elliott Ford as the Dodges will not run until 2001(Tennessean)(7-25-2000)
  UPDATE: there are tentative plans for Atwood to drive a Cup car at Martinsville on Oct.1 and at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov.12.(Roanoke Times)(7-26-2000)
  UPDATE 2: Casey Atwood, who will drive a Dodge owned by Ray Evernham in the 2001 Winston Cup season, will try to get a head start on that by driving three races this year in Fords owned by his future teammate, Bill Elliott. Atwood will attempt to make the races at Richmond, Martinsville and Homestead(That's Racin')(8-21-2000)
  UPDATE: it was announced on RPM 2Night that Atwood's sponsor for the three races will be Motarola. See an image of the paint scheme for the #19 Ford on my Paint Scheme Gallery. And in part from a PR: Motorola, the "Official Communications Company of NASCAR," announced it will be the primary sponsor of Evernham Motorsports with driver Casey Atwood in three Cup races this year, marking the simultaneous debuts of Ray Evernham as a team owner and Atwood as a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. The #19 Motorola Evernham Motorsports Ford will compete at Richmond, Martinsville and Homestead-Miami. Atwood, who will turn 20 on Friday, will pilot a Ford Taurus establishing the groundwork for the 2001 Dodge team, since the Dodge chassis will not begin its re-entry into NASCAR competition until the Daytona 500 in February 2001. Atwood will test the Motorola car at Richmond Aug. 28-29 in preparation for the Race at Richmond. Earlier this year, Motorola announced its long-term sponsorship of NASCAR as "Official Communications Company" including status as official cellular phone, pager, two-way radio and cable modem of NASCAR(Cotter Group PR) AND see a transcript of the announcement on RPM 2Night at Desiree's Ray Evernham Page(8-23-2000)
  
  
• See the 2000 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team and see the 2001 Team Chart for next season's teams
  
  

PAINT SCHEME NEWS

• More Paint Scheme news can be found on Jayski's Paint Scheme Gallery, choose current news
  
  

STATS and STUFF