ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704140133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER THE ROANOKE TIMES
The only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still running Winston Cup races is going strong as it gears up for the Goody's Headache Power 500.
Who would have thought that 50 years after its creation, a small, rural Virginia automobile race track would have more grandstand seats than nearly every major-league baseball park?
Even more impressive is that on the eve of the $1,241,246 Goody's Headache Powder 500, in the track's 50th anniversary year, Martinsville Speedway has the demand to fill the 71,000 seats that now nearly encircle the track.
What used to be a scoreboard between the third and fourth turns outside the Bill France Tower. Five thousand seats were added to the 1-year-old grandstand, bringing its total alone to 12,000.
Since 1988, 31,000 seats have been added to the speedway, and president Clay Campbell has been able to nearly sell out the track after every expansion while maintaining a down-home, folksy atmosphere.
``No matter how you look at the sport, it's still pretty much a people business,'' Campbell said.
Martinsville Speedway is the only original NASCAR-sanctioned track still running Winston Cup races. It was built in 1947, one year before NASCAR was formed. The strictly stock series, later to become the Grand National series and
the Winston Cup series, held its sixth race at Martinsville.
The 5,000 new seats in the Bill France Tower went on sale April 9, and fans began lining up at 6 a.m. to get the best ones. After the first day of sales, there still were plenty of good seats left in the new section, the track reported.
On the race track, the biggest change will be the expansion of the Winston Cup field to 42 cars (plus provisionals).
``I think it's one of the greatest things NASCAR has done,'' Campbell said. ``Now, no matter where you go, whether it's a superspeedway or a short track, the same number of cars will run in the race.''
To accommodate the new cars, Campbell has built six new pits. A new Victory Lane has been built in turn 1. Campbell sees no problem with overcrowding. ``Years ago, our standard starting field was 40, and that's when the cars were tanks,'' he said.
This spring, the track has had its usual busy testing schedule. On Wednesday alone, eight teams were testing at the speedway. A test often makes the difference between a good qualifying run at the track and a mediocre one.
Jimmy Spencer, after testing, said, ``I don't qualify real well here, but I will this time. We think we can have a real good run next week.''
Rookie Robby Gordon was an all-out newcomer to Martinsville when he tested this past week. Not only had he never seen the track, he'd never watched a Martinsville race on television.
``It's a neat track,'' he said. ``You have to use hard brakes, and you've got to get through the middle of the corner, and you've got to put down the power. I think this is a driver's track. I enjoy it.''
In addition to Sunday's Winston Cup race, the weekend features the return of the NASCAR Modified series for the Goody's 200. The Modifieds last raced at Martinsville in 1992, but in the history of the speedway, Modifieds have run 104 races, more than any other NASCAR division.
Practice for the Winston Cup cars begins at 11 a.m. Friday, with the first round of time trials at 3 p.m. The Modified race is at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Goody's 500 is at 1 p.m. Sunday.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: FILE. THE ROANOKE TIMES Since 1988, track founder H.by CNBClay Earles (left) and speedway president Clay Campbell have added
31,000 seats to Martinsville Speedway. KEYWORDS: AUTO RACING