THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409250215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
When Martinsville Speedway comes to mind, one doesn't usually think of delicate driving.
But that essentially is what it takes to be quick around the tiny, 0.526-mile oval.
``I just try to glide it in the corner,'' said Ted Musgrave, who set a track record Friday in winning the pole for today's Goody's 500 at 94.129 mph. ``You try to slow yourself down more coming into the turn so you can pick up more speed coming off the corner.''
A driver's objective at Martinsville is to establish a smooth, easy rhythm. You baby the turns more than attack them. Easy is the watchword. Easy on the brakes, easy on the gas.
But there's a hitch. In fact, there are 35 hitches - 35 other cars fighting for position and trying to get past one another, testing their limits.
It's not easy to establish a rhythm in mayhem's midst, and that basic conflict defines a race at Martinsville.
``It's almost like two races in one,'' said Musgrave. ``You run your own race more or less, and then you try to race the racetrack and keep your car under you. It's not easy.
``You have to run your car hard but comfortably.''
``The harder you drive, the slower you go,'' said Jeff Burton, who will start third today. ``You've got to try to drive in the corners real easy. And you can spin the wheels real easy'' coming off the turns.
Martinsville essentially is a one-groove track, which makes passing difficult, which which leads to the fender-banging action so prevalent here.
``I've never raced anywhere like Martinsville . . . ever,'' said Mark Martin, who has raced on dozens of short tracks. ``When the racetrack is more circular, there's a lot more opportunities to pass. But Martinsville's straightaways are so long, and the corners are so tight, and there's so narrow a groove, it's not like anywhere else. This is not my favorite kind of racetrack.''
For Musgrave, the best thing about starting up front at Martinsville is that it allows a driver to be less demanding of his car in the early stages of the race.
``Because of the shorter distance around this racetrack, you can get a lap down very easily,'' he said. ``If your car is a tenth of a second off per lap and you start in the back, it may only take a few laps to get lapped.''
Said Rusty Wallace, ``You've got to save your brakes. If you've got to run hard, you run hard. But when you see me get the lead or get some ground around me, I'll be getting out of the gas real early, saving brakes.
Every single chance I have to take it easy, I'll take it easy.''
``Plenty of times at Martinsville, a guy with 20 or 30 laps to go will start losing his brakes,'' said Musgrave, echoing Wallace's sentiment.
Although drivers on Hoosier tires are starting second (Geoff Bodine) and third (Burton), Wallace is not impressed.
``I don't think Hoosier's got a good tire here,'' he said. ``I think they've got way too much tire stagger here, and all their cars are running extremely loose. They're a lot softer.
``You can tell that because the racetrack is really getting black. It's getting a lot of tire rubber caught in the cars.'' by CNB