Thoughts On Martinsville

For a while, I thought the fans at Martinsville. and us watching at home, were not going to get to see the whole race. The skies were gray and according to the announcers, the rain was coming.
Thankfully, that didn't happen. I'm for seeing a whole race, but the weather did make things interesting. It did put different teams on different strategies.
And in the end, it was Denny Hamlin, a Virginia native winning in his home state. He had come close before but this time he was able to put it all together and get the win.
But it wasn't easy for the Joe Gibbs driver who was in the lead near halfway and then drove basically by himself down pit lane while everyone else stayed out during a caution.
Hamlin had to work his way back to the front and used a gas only strategy to be able to get toward the front of the pack near the end of the race. Once he passed Jeff Burton, all Hamlin had to do was ease his way around lap traffic.
Then Jeff Gordon made a charge at the end, making things interesting. Jeff Gordon was closing in on Hamlin's Toyota but just didn't have ran out of laps before he could get up there and make a challenge.
So how did my prediction of Kevin Harvick turn out, not so good. He finished 12th.
Rick Hendrick's teams did well on Sunday, placing all four in the Top 10. Many people have been scratching their head about Jeff Gordon (second), Jimmie Johnson (fourth) and Casey Mears (seventh) while new teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. (sixth) continues to finish good.
It seems like Hendrick, Gibbs and the team of Richard Childress have come out swinging in the new year. Jeff Burton takes over the points lead with teammate Kevin Harvick in second. Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle was the only Ford in the top 12 with teammate Matt Kenseth, who had a bad day in the pits and on the track, fell out of the top 12.
Drivers like Mears and Jamie McMurray (who finished eighth) helped their cause with their finish. Both had been dangerously close to not being in the top 35 which automatically races every week no matter what happens during qualifying.
Michael Waltrip slipped some but remains in the top 35 while Regan Smith jumped up five positions to 34th. Dodge Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. also won't have to worry about qualifying next week.
But big names like Dave Blaney, Kyle Petty, who missed the race at Martinsville, Joe Nemechek and Ken Schrader will have to get in on time.
Maybe after the race, nobody picked up someone elses sway bar or any other parts of a car. I can't help but think it was a slow news day when this story hit the fan last Friday.
But apparently Jack Roush, who has no love of Toyota, wanted to throw another dart at the car company because it was a Toyota official who questioned how they could not know that Carl Edwards' oil tank was off during the No. 99 win at Las Vegas.
Roush held a press conference in Atlanta saying he team was innocent and then waited two weeks before firing back at Martinsville with what most in NASCAR media is calling "Partsgate." According to a story I read, Roush said this was done because of what happened after the Las Vegas race.
The funniest thing I heard and read was how four-time series champion Jeff Gordon couldn't help but laugh. His point was, if this sway bar was such a great part why wasn't it protected and monitored at all times.
Now NASCAR, drivers and sway bars too, heads off to one of the biggest states in America: Texas.