| | Associated Press
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- With his largest points lead of the season and only seven races left, Bobby Labonte is wary of small and dangerous Martinsville Speedway.
The track is .526 miles, the shortest on the Winston Cup circuit. The racing is tight, with paint-swapping always the order of the day.
In his push for his first championship, Labonte has won three times and finished out of the top 15 only twice in 27 races. But he also knows his 249-point lead could be whittled to next to nothing at the NAPA 500 on Sunday.
"Bullets can come ricocheting from any angle," he said. "We can't go up there and say, 'Well, let's just try to survive and finish 15th.'"
Labonte has never done well on a NASCAR track of less than a mile, and Martinsville is the last of those on the schedule. But even drivers who have had success at the track say that doesn't necessarily make them fans.
"It's just one of those places where it's hard to get around without getting a doughnut on your door," said Tony Stewart, Labonte's teammate and the qualifying record holder at this track with a 95.275 mph run in 1999.
Doughnuts, or the tire marks left on the side of one car when its makes contact with another, often look like part of the paint scheme by the time the checkered flag flies at Martinsville. With that in mind, Stewart said Martinsville forces drivers to stay on top of their game.
"It's all about concentration," he said. "If you don't concentrate there and keep your mind focused on what you're doing lap after lap, you're going to have two long days and a lot worse day on Sunday."
A lot of the elements of Martinsville make it a long and grueling stop for many drivers, but John Andretti said don't count him in that group.
"I am a driver and Martinsville is a track you can drive," he said. "Martinsville is a lot like a WWF wrestling match -- you see guys wrestle their cars to get around the track and then after the race, sometimes you see guys wrestle each other. It's just the way short tracks are."
A big part of the strategy is making sure enough brakes are left at the end to maintain control.
"How many times have you seen Victory Lane pictures from there and the car is all torn up or whatever?" Jeremy Mayfield said.
"You just need enough car to finish the race. Any more than that and you didn't get all out of it that you probably should have."
First-round qualifying for the first 25 spots in the field is Friday. | |
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