FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: MARTINSVILLE PLAYOFF NOTES
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will kick off Round 3 of the Playoffs this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. There are a manufacturer-best five Ford drivers competing in the Round of 8 on the Cup side while ThorSport’s Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are in the Truck Series Round of 6. Here’s a look at the Ford picture going into this weekend.
ROUND OF 8 MENCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Phoenix)
2nd – Kevin Harvick (+39 ahead of cutoff)
5th – Clint Bowyer (-3 from final transfer spot)
6th – Joey Logano (-3 from final transfer spot)
7th – Kurt Busch (-3 from final transfer spot)
8th – Aric Almirola (-12 from final transfer spot)
FORD IN THE MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES AT MARTINSVILLE
· Ford has 28 series wins at Martinsville Speedway.
· Clint Bowyer won the first Martinsville event this year.
· Joey Logano has won the pole for this event two of the last three years.
ROUND OF 6 NCWTS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 4 Advance After Phoenix)
4th – Grant Enfinger (+4 ahead of cutoff)
6th – Matt Crafton (-15 from final transfer spot)
FORD IN THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES AT MARTINSVILLE
· Ford has five all-time NCWTS wins at Martinsville Speedway.
· ThorSport’s Matt Crafton has two victories at the speedway (2014, 2015).
· Grant Enfinger finished 4th and Crafton 15th in the first Martinsville race this year.
BOWYER GOING FOR MARTINSVILLE SWEEP
Clint Bowyer snapped a 190-race winless stretch by leading the final 114 laps to win the weather-delayed STP 500 earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway. As a result, Bowyer has an opportunity this weekend to become the first driver since Denny Hamlin in 2010 to sweep both Cup events at the half-mile track, and the first Ford driver to achieve the feat since Rusty Wallace in 1994. Bowyer comes into the race battling for a spot in the Championship Four, sitting three points out of the final transfer position as Round 3 of the Playoffs begins.
KESELOWSKI WINS FIRST CLOCK
Brad Keselowski outdueled Kyle Busch down the stretch to win his first grandfather clock after capturing the STP 500 on Apr. 2, 2017. The two drivers waged a memorable battle that saw them swap the lead five times in the last 160 laps, but Keselowski ended up making the decisive pass on lap 458 and led the final 43 circuits to become the first repeat winner in 2017. Prior to winning at Martinsville, Keselowski took the checkered flag at Atlanta in the second race of the season.
A FIRST FOR FRED
The first time Ford won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway also marked the first career victory for 2015 NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen. The date was April 9, 1961 and Lorenzen battled Rex White, who led the first 118 laps after starting on the pole. Lorenzen, driving for Holman-Moody at the time, grabbed the lead on lap 119 and held it until rain came ending the race prematurely after 149 circuits. Little did anyone know that 54 years later both men would be enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the same induction class. Martinsville was a place Lorenzen dominated, winning six times, including four straight from 1963-65. He was absolutely unbeatable in 1964 as he led 990 out of a possible 1,000 laps (487 in the first and 493 in the second) in winning both races.
CRAVEN WINS FIRST CUP RACE
Ricky Craven outlasted Dale Jarrett over the final laps to post the first victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career on Oct. 15, 2001 at Martinsville Speedway. Pit strategy played a key role in this race as Jarrett opted for four tires on his final stop while Craven just got two. That enabled Craven to build a lead following the ensuing restart with 17 to go, but Jarrett gained ground and found himself in position to win on the final lap. That’s when Jarrett went to the outside going into turn one and got side-by-side with Craven coming off turn two. Both Fords made contact door-to-door entering turn three, but Craven emerged off four with the advantage and took the checkered flag.
RUDD ROUGHS IT OUT
No driver displayed more toughness during his career than Ricky Rudd and that was evident again in 1998 when the Virginia native endured burns on his backside to win the NAPA Autocare 500 on Sept. 27. On a day that saw temperatures in the mid-nineties, Rudd found himself in a bad way just five laps into the race when his cooling unit failed. As the cockpit got hotter he asked to have a relief driver standing by, so Hut Stricklin was in the pit area ready to takeover. Ice packs helped momentarily, but his back was blistering so the team tried to cool him off with a hose. Unfortunately, the hose they used had been lying in the sun, so when they doused him the first time the water was hot. That method worked better on later stops, but in the end it was Rudd who toughed it out and led the final 96 laps to win and extend his streak to 16 consecutive seasons with at least one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup win.
BUSCH BEATS BENSON
When Kurt Busch won at Martinsville Speedway was on Oct. 20, 2002 he set a track record for winning from the furthest starting position after taking the green flag in 36th-place. It took him all day to eventually get to the front of the field, but he took the lead on lap 389 and surrendered it for only one lap to Johnny Benson the rest of the way in posting his second career win. Benson was all over Busch’s bumper in the closing laps as lap traffic created plenty of drama, but Busch was able to weave his way through and take the checkered flag.
FORD WINNERS AT MARTINSVILLE
6 – Fred Lorenzen (1961,’63,’64*,’65,’66)
4 – Rusty Wallace (1994*,’95,’96)
3 – Geoffrey Bodine (1990*,’92)
2 – Richard Petty (1969*)
2 – Ricky Rudd (1986,’98)
2 – Mark Martin (1992, 2000)
1 – Nelson Stacy (1962)
1 – Junior Johnson (1965)
1 – Ernie Irvan (1993)
1 – Jeff Burton (1997)
1 – Dale Jarrett (2001)
1 – Ricky Craven (2001)
1 – Kurt Busch (2002)
1 – Brad Keselowski (2017)
1 – Clint Bowyer (2018)
* Denotes season sweep
