| Advance Auto Parts 500 News: |
| Back in the winter, during the narrow NASCAR NEXTEL Cup offseason, Bobby Hamilton Jr. was asked to pick out a handful of tracks where he would like to test. Martinsville Speedway was at the top of that list.
And Tuesday there Hamilton was, logging lap after lap around the .526-mile oval in the primer gray Tide Monte Carlo preparing for the April 10th Advance Auto Parts 500. "At the beginning of the year the team asked me where I wanted to go test and this was one of the places," Hamilton said during his team's lunch break Tuesday. "There were only two tracks on the circuit where I hadn't run a full race and this was one of them." Hamilton actually got seat time last fall in the SUBWAY 500 at Martinsville shortly after he had moved behind the wheel of Cal Wells' Chevy. But he wound up in the middle of a huge wreck early in the race and spent the rest of the day limping to a 36th-place finish. "I got caught up in the middle of D.J.'s (Dale Jarrett) stuff. I was right in the middle of that and just sort of rode around the rest of the day. That's another reason we came today * to get some laps," said Hamilton. "Some weird stuff is going on the way the tires are and everything. Some of the stuff that wasn't supposed to work is starting to work. That's what we're here for. We want to learn." Hamilton's was the only NEXTEL Cup team testing at Martinsville Tuesday, joining almost a half-dozen NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams. But even without any Cup veterans to follow, Hamilton said he made tremendous progress. "The car is driving great. It's responding and here at this place, what we learned the last time is that it's really hard to get the car to respond to anything. It's been well worth the trip," said Hamilton. Hamilton enters this off weekend 30th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series points. But that is a misleading stat. Last weekend he qualified second at Atlanta and the week before he finished just outside the top 10. |
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| Race fans will have the opportunity to have a good time and help the Victory Junction Gang Camp the night before qualifying for the Advance Auto Parts 500 and Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
At least 10 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers will be on hand to sign autographs at Kroger Night With The Drivers on Thursday, April 7 at the old Lowe's building, just south of the entrance to Martinsville Speedway. Gates open at 3 p.m. on April 7. Drivers will be signing autographs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and there will be an auction of racing memorabilia from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. In addition, there will be show cars and simulators on hand. NEXTEL Cup drivers already confirmed include Elliott Sadler, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Petty, Jeff Green, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jeremy Mayfield, Kevin Harvick and Scott Riggs. Dodge developmental driver Erin Crocker will also be signing autographs. Several NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers will also be signing autographs. After an offseason full of inactivity, Southside Speedway (Midlothian) is preparing to open its gates for the first time this season. Track officials have announced April 2 will be the first open practice session at the one-third-mile oval. All of the track's divisions are scheduled to turn laps in the quest for speed, which will last from noon to 5 p.m., and drivers and crew members will be allowed to fill out their pit applications for the upcoming campaign. The preseason attraction is free of charge to the public. In other Southside news, Sue Clements, who resumed day-to-day operations of the speedway from former Langley Speedway promoter Dwight Schaubach last season, has returned to run this year's activities, and Dave Wesson, a former NASCAR official at Orange County Speedway, has elected to stay on as chief steward. Southside's first race is April 8. |