Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history at Martinsville Speedway … In 153 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway, Richard Childress Racing has earned four pole awards and posted seven victories with drivers Dale Earnhardt (five times), Ricky Rudd (1983) and Kevin Harvick (2011). RCR Chevrolet teams have earned 28 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes at Martinsville dating back to the team’s first start there on April 10, 1972. Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division, contributed four of those top-10 finishes from 1976-1978.
RCR in the NSCS … In 2,643 Sprint Cup Series starts dating back to 1969, RCR has amassed 46 pole awards,105 wins, 469 top-five finishes and 1007 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 17.8 and an average finishing position of 16th. RCR has earned 15 total championships (six Sprint Cup Series championships with Earnhardt in 1986, ’87, ’90, ’91, ’93 and ’94, six NASCAR XFINITY Series titles, two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series titles and one ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards title and was the first organization to win titles in NASCAR’s three national series.
The Collective RCR … RCR’s three full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers rank 10th (Dillon), 20th (Newman) and 22nd (Menard) in the driver championship point standings.
Catch the Action … The Martinsville Speedway 500 will be televised live Sunday, April 3 beginning at 1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
This Week’s Dow Chevrolet SS at Martinsville Speedway … Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 489 in the Martinsville 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Dillon at Martinsville Speedway … In four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway, Dillon’s best finish is 12th in October 2014. He made four appearances at the track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, earning his best finish of third in October 2011.
Year 3 on the No. 3 … Returning primary sponsor of the No.3 Chevrolet SS, Dow enters its third season with RCR and driver Austin Dillon. Together, both teams embrace the power of science, technology and safety as RCR tests Dow products under the most strenuous conditions. Dow also drives innovation to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems, bringing a broad range of sustainable products and solutions to customers in nearly 180 countries with more than 6,000 product families manufactured across the globe. More information about Dow can be found at dow.com
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
You and the No. 3 team have had a great start to the season. To what do you contribute your successes?
“I think our hard work has been paying off. We’ve been working well together as a group. As a team we’re just not taking no for an answer. We’re working hard and not giving up on anything. We’re not cutting any corners and not just settling. We want to do better and we push each weekend.”
Do you feel like you grew up at Martinsville Speedway since it is so close to home for you?
“I remember driving up with my dad and my grandfather certain days to watch the race. I remember just sitting and watching the races. It’s right in our backyard, proximity-wise to RCR, so it’s not a far drive. I drive up to Martinsville Speedway now every day for race weekend so it’s nice to be able to sleep in your own bed. It’s a fun track and I enjoy going there.”
You haven’t qualified all that well at Martinsville Speedway but you’ve raced very well there. Why is that?
“I’m not sure. I just have not figured out how to go fast for just one lap at Martinsville Speedway. My cars seem to hang on pretty well there. Last year we got in there, we banged around and we did our job. I would love to qualify a little better because that really makes your race a lot easier moving forward. We’ll focus a lot going into qualifying so that we can try to get a better starting position and then if we can do that, we race consistently there so hopefully we can keep it up front and run well.”
Will the low downforce package be a factor at all at Martinsville Speedway?
“I think for RCR the low downforce package was a contributing factor at the only other short track we’ve raced at so far this season, Phoenix International Raceway. At Martinsville Speedway the braking might turn into more of an issue than it was last year. You don’t have the spoiler that you had and anytime you have that spoiler sticking in the air it slows you down so I think the low downforce package will make it so that we are a little bit harder on brakes this year at Martinsville Speedway.”
This Week’s Libman / Menards Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway … For this week’s 500-lap event at the Martinsville, Va.-based facility, chassis No. 488 was chosen for competition. This Chevrolet SS saw action during last year’s October event at Martinsville Speedway where Menard started 26th and finished 15th.
Menard in Martinsville … Menard has competed in 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at the 0.526-mile track. His best start of ninth came in both March 2010 and October 2012 with his best finish of 10th in March 2014.
About Libman … For over 110 years, the Libman family has made quality their utmost priority. William Libman started ‘The Libman Company’ in 1896 with one mission, to make the finest, most durable wire-wound corn brooms. William’s sons, grandsons and great grandchildren have since expanded that mission to include the finest mops, brooms, brushes and cleaning tools. For more information on Libman, please visit libman.com.
PAUL MENARD QUOTES:
With this new lower downforce package, is Martinsville Speedway one of the tracks we won’t see much difference between this year and last year?
“On TV and just watching the race you may not see much of a difference. We’ll probably deal with it more on track. It’ll be harder on brakes because there is less drag slowing the car down when you lift so we’ll be relying on the brakes more. There will be a lot of brake heat inside the wheels so we may see some melted beads and things like we saw a couple of years ago.”
How is the traffic at Martinsville? You’re going a much slower speed than at Talladega Superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway, but you’re constantly surrounded by other drivers.
“Racing at Daytona International Speedway and Martinsville Speedway are actually quite similar because you’re in traffic all the time. You’re always aware of who is around you and trying to pick the right lane. The inside lane actually checks up a lot on the restart, so you can make up some ground on the outside but then you have to eventually get back down to the inside. At Martinsville there are a lot of lane choices and we’re always in traffic.”
This Week’s Grainger Chevrolet SS at Martinsville Speedway … Ryan Newman will pilot car No. 490 at the half-mile oval. This is the first time this season the car will be in action for Sprint Cup Series competition.
Newman at the Paperclip … Newman will make his 517th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start when the series embarks on its first short-track race of the season. In 28 Sprint Cup Series events at Martinsville Speedway, Newman visited victory lane at this event in 2012. The Rocket Man also owns three pole awards … all happening in the fall events in 2002, ’04 and ’09. In total, he owns eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes along with 196 laps led in competition. The South Bend, Ind., native has an average start of 9.3 and average finish of 15.2.
About W.W. Grainger, Inc…. W.W. Grainger, Inc., with 2015 sales of $10 billion, is North America’s leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products, with operations also in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:
What is the key to getting around Martinsville?
“It’s really about being patient at Martinsville. That’s one of the biggest things. Speed wise, it’s about getting off the corners in Turns 3 and 4 at the end of a run as well as getting into the corners is equally important at the start of a run. Martinsville is a very demanding track. You have to be patient and you have to make sure in case of an accident, you don’t let road rage get the best of you.”
What is the hardest thing to figure out about that place?
“From what we’ve seen in the last couple of races, it’s important not to be the bi-product of someone’s misfortune. There’s been a couple of big crashes there in the backstretch a couple of different times during different events. You just want to try and not get caught in someone else’s mess.”
What do you enjoy about short-track racing?
“I just like it because it’s fun. It’s being able to use the brake pedal and making a difference or impact on the performance of your car that’s nice. It’s something we can look forward to with this new package which shouldn’t have as much of an effect at Martinsville as other faster race tracks, but it all adds up.”
How do you feel your season has gone so far?
“I think we’ve had a fairly competitive car. Our finishes have been horrible. Phoenix was a big letdown with the tire failure. We had another failure at Atlanta with a few laps to go. That was a big deal. We had a top-five Chevrolet there. We have not finished where we’ve been running and that’s very disappointing. It’s still so early. We are down in points but I still feel like we’ve had a good start to the season and a good package to work with. For us, it’s about overcoming the early adversity and keeping the fight going which this team has always been good at doing. In this sport, you have to be able to do that. We also have to keep building faster race cars and qualifying better. Qualifying is the key. Starting up front and staying there is so important to us right now, especially at tracks that produce long, green-flag runs.”
