Race Weekend Central

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2015 Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville

Who… gets my shoutout of the race?

So many drivers had strong finishes Sunday, but the real praise belongs to Martinsville Speedway. One of the last short tracks on the NASCAR schedule, it’s still the best of the best, and Sunday’s show had it all: drama, hard racing, underdogs, and a legend of the sport standing alone when the dust cleared. At the end of the day, this race was what it’s all about! It was one for the ages, and short of your own personal hero winning the day (and maybe minus a move that was ill-timed in its delivery), it would be hard for anyone to ask for more from a race than what we saw this weekend. If NASCAR raced at tracks like this 36 times a year, there would be no complaints of boring racing.

What… is on my mind at Martinsville?

Jeff Gordon holds the active driver lead for just about everything at Martinsville: wins, poles, average finish, average start. Except after this, he won’t. Love Gordon or hate him (and I suspect many who started out despising him now at the very least respect him for what he’s done), when he retires at the end of this season, the sport will lose something, and the void will be big at tracks like Martinsville, where Gordon has so often dominated. Jimmie Johnson will take over the wins and average finish stat, as well as the average finish number, but he won’t hold all the numbers as Gordon has; Ryan Newman will have the qualifying numbers among active drivers. No driver in recent years has dominated the sport like Gordon did early in his career. And for this writer? I’ve never seen a Cup race run live, in person or on TV, without Gordon in it. Many fans don’t remember races without him or even his reign of terror on the field in the late 1990s, but all will feel the void. Johnson, as good as he is (Chase titles aside, his win numbers don’t lie and he has those), isn’t his mentor and car owner. Neither is Tony Stewart, who will follow Gordon into the sunset a year from now. Gordon is as irreplaceable as the legends who went before.

By winning the race, for a moment, you could see the kid in Gordon, the one Dale Earnhardt nicknamed “Wonderboy” because he was so good, so young. There were shades of the Gordon who wept in victory lane after his first win, in what could, perhaps, be his last. Is he the best of an era? Yes. And one of the best to ever sit in a NASCAR Cup car.

Where… did the polesitter and defending race winner wind up?

Joey Logano looked like he might be on his way to a fourth win in a row… something that hasn’t been done in the Chase since 2007, when Johnson did it en route to the title. But Logano ruffled some feathers on his way to winning the last three, and Matt Kenseth hadn’t forgotten the move that took him out of contention. Kenseth’s move late in the race left Logano in 37th place… and out, for now, of the final four.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t repeat, or even lead a lap, but he had a strong finish at one of his favorite tracks, keeping his nose clean as has become his trademark and working through traffic like it was a Sunday drive to finish fourth.

When… did it go sideways?

You can call this race many things, but boring is not one of them.  The defining moment was when Kenseth, still smarting from a spin by Logano at Kansas that ultimately cost him a chance at the title, made sure Logano’s chances were also in jeopardy when he put the No. 22 in the wall with under 50 laps to go Sunday (Kenseth claims he had a tire going down). And there’s where the waters get murky… and where NASCAR has to take a stand. By potentially taking Logano out of the title hunt, Kenseth also significantly increased the championship chances for two of his teammates, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. If there is no penalty for Kenseth, does that mean it’s ok for something similar at Homestead? If Earnhardt Jr. thinks Kevin Harvick ruined his title hopes by intentionally causing a caution at Talladega, is it acceptable for Earnhardt to put him in the wall at Homestead, clearing the way for a Gordon title? What about if Kurt Busch “blows a tire” and takes someone out next week, clearing the way for Harvick? There is so much more than payback for one driver on the line.

Why did Jeff Gordon win the race?

Gordon, a veteran who knows the value of position, put himself exactly where he needed to be late. He didn’t have a car, perhaps, to contend with Logano or Brad Keselowski, but he didn’t have to. He was able to make the winning pass and hold off all comers thereafter, and that put him in victory lane for the ninth time at Martinsville. Gordon savored the moment, and so did the fans, many of whom stayed for an hour after the race, still cheering for the future Hall of Famer as his career reaches its end.

How… did the little guys do?

The three best:

Martin Truex Jr.; Furniture Row Racing: As I’ve said before, this team has easily reached elite status, a far cry from a year ago when they were fighting for dominance in this group with the No. 47 and 13. Truex had another impressive day at Martinsville and took yet another step toward being a title contender at Homestead. He’s made few enemies, which should help him, and he’s consistently strong enough to make him a threat.

AJ Allmendinger; JTG Daugherty Racing: It was an up and down day for Allmendinger, who fell a lap down at one point, bounced back to lead with fewer than 50 laps to go, and then got into the wall and fell to 11th. That’s still an excellent day for this team.

Justin Allgaier; HScott Motorsports: Allgaier was in full sneak attack mode Sunday, slipping by several cars in the closing laps to finish 13th. He’ll be a title contender in the Xfinity Series next year in top equipment, and he didn’t really deserve to lose this ride.

All the rest:

No. Driver Team / Car Start Finish +/- Points
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing

Furniture Row Chevy

2nd 6th
Led early, then faded a bit but had a strong finish
-4 3rd
+3
47 AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing

Kroger/Clorox Chevy

3rd 11th
Team raced with heavy hearts after loss of team member Mark Bieberich earlier this week. Very fast early, dropped back to 10th by competition caution
-8 23rd
+2
51 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports

Auto Owners Insurance Chevy

23rd 13th
Got by several cars on final restart
+10 30th
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing

GEICO Chevy

19th 17th
Top 10 in two of three practice sessions; very fast for most of race, got shuffled a few times, including at the end; should have finished top 15
+2 22nd
35 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports

MDS Transportation Ford

31st 20th
Significant damage in crash with Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick; impressive race
+11 31st
40 Landon Cassill Hillman Racing

Chevy

27th 21st
Very strong run; avoided trouble and was there at the end
+6 N/A
7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing

Nikko/Toy State Chevy

41st 22nd
One of Bowman’s best driving performances
+19 33rd
46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports

PJ Fresh Chevy

38th 23rd
Spun in turn 2 on lap 101; recovered for a good finish
+15 36th
38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports

Jerry Cook HOF Ford

33rd 24th
Involved in several incidents; decent finish out of it all
+9 32nd
23 Jeb Burton BK Racing

Rocky Ridge/Estes Toyota

35th 27th
Tough day all around for BK but top-30 result is good
+8 38th
+1
26 JJ Yeley BK Racing

Maxim Toyota

39th 29th
Unscheduled pit stop hurt effort, but decent finish
+10 N/A
83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing

Cosmo Toyota

36th 30th
Tangled with Annett for lap 101 caution
+10 35th
33 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport

Chevy

43rd 33rd
Stayed out of trouble… half the battle?
+10 40th
34 Brett Moffitt Front Row Motorsports

Dockside Logistics Ford

34th 35th
Never looked as strong as teammates.
-1 34th
62 Timmy Hill Premium Motorsports

Acredale Vending Chevy

42nd 36th
To garage early for mechanical issue; got back out but damage was done
+6 N/A
32 Kyle Fowler Go FAS Racing

KeenParts.com/CorvetteParts.net Ford

40th 41st
Had a great save at one point but overused his brakes, which was ultimately his undoing.
-1 50th
98 Ryan Preece Premium Motorsports

Vydox Plus/Champion Ford

37th 42nd
Made a big rookie mistake, got into turn 3 too hot and wheel-hopped with his right front off the curb, spun with Sam Hornish Jr.
-5 45th

 

About the author

Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
kb

Why is it when a young Logano races and doesn’t ask permission from m the Old Biddies Club, he “ruffles some feathers”, when the old Biddies do it, it is to teach the youngster a lesson. At what point does that narrative stop? You can spin the pity party to Matt’s favor any way you want. He was wrong in Charlotte, he was wrong at Kansas, he is wrong now. Why is the good old boy system and the flaws of this format, each week making Logano the scapegoat for this sick system? Shame on Nascar and shame on mental Matt.

Share via