1. Glaring gaps
Martin Truex Jr. has two glaring gaps on his NASCAR Cup Series resume: He has never won at a short track (Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond) and never triumphed in a restrictor-plate race (Daytona, Talladega). Of his 16 career wins, he has won twice on road-course venues (Sonoma, Watkins Glen) and 14 other times on so-called intermediate tracks.
2. SHR, oops
After seeing his four cars all score top-10 finishes at Phoenix, Tony Stewart had nothing to cheer about at Fontana, California. None of his drivers graced the top-10. Noticeably missing was Kevin Harvick, who crashed early and limped home 35th. SHRs top effort was posted by Clint Bowyer, one lap down to Truex. We got really lucky to finish this race, Bowyer said. I had a tire coming apart. Will SHR rebound and get back in gear this week?
3. Divided by 6
There are 36 Cup Series races, a number which is easy to break down into certain segments. When competitors race at Martins-ville this weekend, it will end the first six-race segment and take us halfway through the first 12-race segment (one-third of the season), and from there only six more races until the halfway point of the season. Got all that? Martinsville will show us who has a strong short-track program.
Godwin Kelly, godwin. [email protected]
