Martinsville Speedway: Hell On Cars!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Drivers running in NASCAR’s 500-lap race at Martinsville on Sunday were lucky to finish at all. Besides Bristol, Martinsville is the only real short-track on the Sprint Cup circuit, but its flat paperclip shape doesn’t have the steep banking that allows racers at Bristol to stay on the gas. Not only were brakes glowing cherry-hot, but many of the cars roasted their transmissions or rear ends as the "wheel hop" of tires skittering across unforgiving concrete tore up the overstressed gears. Three Toyotas and two Dodges suffered such driveline failures, but Denny Hamlin beat the odds by hanging on to score the second win of the season for Joe Gibbs’ Toyota team.