Goody’s Cool Orange 500
Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
Martinsville History
- Opened in September 1947 by H. Clay Earles.
- The first NASCAR-sanctioned race at Martinsville was on July 4, 1948.
- The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held on Sept. 25, 1949.
- The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held March 28, 1982.
- The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville was Sept. 25, 1995.
- The track was paved in 1955.
- The first 500-lap event at Martinsville was in 1956.
- Concrete corners were added to the asphalt track in 1976.
Track Numbers
- NASCAR Cup Series Races: 118
- Pole Winners: 56
- Race Winners: 44
- Races Won from Pole (or 1st Starting Position): 17
- Curtis Turner won the pole for the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville in 1949.
- Darrell Waltrip has the most pole positions with a total of eight.
- Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip share the consecutive pole record at Martinsville, each with three.
- Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six poles at Martinsville.
- There have been seven different pole winners at Martinsville since Jeff Gordon scored three straight (2003-04).
- Richard Petty has won the most NASCAR Cup Series races with a total of 15.
- Fred Lorenzen holds the consecutive win record with four.
- Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with seven victories.
- Petty Enterprises has won 19 races at Martinsville, more than any other car owner.
- A sweep has occurred nine times at Martinsville, but only twice since 1994: Jeff Gordon (2005) and Jimmie Johnson (2007).
- Kurt Busch won the 2002 fall race from the 36th starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started.
- There has been one race at Martinsville extended by a green-white-checkered finish: Oct. 21, 2007 (506 Laps).
- Jimmie Johnson has won the last three races at Martinsville. The most recent driver to win four consecutive races at a track was Johnson who swept Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 2004 and 2005. Johnson finished 35th in his first Martinsville appearance (April 2002) – his only DNF there. Since then, he has posted 11 straight top-10 finishes, including four victories. Johnson has finished third or better in his last five Martinsville races. He has completed all but 54 laps in his 12 appearances – with all his incomplete laps coming in that first appearance.
- There were 11 different race winners at Martinsville from the fall of 1997 through 2002 – one short of the record for active tracks held by Texas Motor Speedway. In the nine races since, only four drivers have visited the Martinsville Victory Lane: Jeff Gordon (four), Jimmie Johnson (four), Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace (one each).
Track Records
- Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart (98.083 mph, 19.306 secs., 10-21-05)
- Race record: Jeff Gordon (82.223 mph)
Martinsville Speedway Race Day Data
- Estimated Pit Window: Every 140-150 laps, based on fuel mileage.
- Race # 6 of 36 (3-30-08)
- Track Size: .526 miles
- Race Length: 500 laps/263 miles
- Banking/Corners: 12 degrees
- Banking/Straights: 0 degrees
- Frontstretch: 800 feet
- Backstretch: 800 feet