MARTINSVILLE NOTES
DID YOU KNOW? … By virtue of his 10th-place finish on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Carl Edwards took the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead by one over Dale Earnhardt Jr. The last time Edwards held the points lead it was only for a few minutes because after his September victory at Richmond gave him a one-point lead over Jimmie Johnson, the points were reset for the Chase. He dropped from first to fifth as a result of the re-seeding.
DID YOU KNOW? … The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway occurred in 1949, but the first Ford win didn’t come until 1961 when Fred Lorenzen, who was driving for Holman-Moody, took the checkered flag. NOTE: 23 races were held at Martinsville before Lorenzen’s victory.
DID YOU KNOW? … Fred Lorenzen, who registered six career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins at Martinsville Speedway, is the only driver to win four consecutive races at the half-mile paperclip (1963-65). Six drivers have won three straight (Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin).
DID YOU KNOW? … Richard Petty holds the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record for most wins at Martinsville Speedway with 15. That total includes a pair of wins in 1969, which was the only year ‘The King’ ran a Ford.
DID YOU KNOW? … Ricky Craven got the first of his two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career wins driving the No. 32 Tide Ford Taurus for Cal Wells on October 15, 2001 at Martinsville Speedway. That marked the only Ford win for Craven and Wells, who later moved to Pontiac and won together for the final time at Darlington in 2003.
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)
* Denotes season sweep
