Bobby Labonte Wins Martinsville,
Earnhardt Jr. Fifth_4/14
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Scores
First-Ever Top Five
at Tough Martinsville Oval
Bobby Labonte grabbed his first victory of 2002 Sunday at the Virginia 500 at
Martinsville Speedway. Matt Kenseth followed Labonte in second with Tony Stewart in third.
Dale Jarrett was fourth, just ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team.
The Bud team had never finished in the top 10 at Martinsville, so the top-five tally is a
major sign of the growing maturity and strength of the team. It is the fourth top-five
finish in the last five races for Dale Jr., and after leading 41 laps late in the race, it
added to their streak of leading in five of the last six races. (The team has scored 35
bonus points this year for leading races - second only to Stewart.)
Unlike past events at Martinsville where the Bud car was carted off in a twisted mess of
metal, the red No. 8 car finished today's race with no damage other than a missing wire
mesh grille on the nose. It is the first time that Dale Jr. has ever finished fifth in a
Winston Cup race, and it pulls him back into the top 10 in points. Dale Jr. is currently
ninth, less than 100 points out of third place.
The Key Moments: Dale Jr., starting third, stayed among the leaders all day.
Using patience and selective moments of aggression, Dale Jr. avoided contact while many of
the other front-runners had trouble on track or in the pits. With their best pit stop of
the day on lap 327 (of 500), the Budweiser pit crew sent Dale Jr. onto the track in the
lead, where he stayed for 41 laps, occasionally extending his margin to more than four
seconds on the second place car while slicing through lapped traffic. When the yellow flag
flew again, the team suffered when several lug nuts fell off of the fresh tires, slowing
the stop. Dropping to seventh, Dale Jr. patiently held his position until another yellow
on lap 405. Another slow stop dropped them all the way to 16th place with less than 100
laps to go. It took Dale Jr. less than 10 laps to careen into 8th place, and then began a
methodical charge through traffic in the final 75 laps, avoiding several multi-car
accidents that took place right in front of him.
Dale Jr's Quotes: "That was a damn hard race. It's probably the hardest
race I've driven in a long time. We have never had a good finish here before so it feels
great to come out with a top-five. We had some trouble in the pits with about 100
(laps) left, and I don't know what it is about getting pissed off, but I seem to be
several tenths (of a second per lap) quicker when I'm mad. It was wild there at the
end - I was drivin' my butt off. I think we were quicker than the 88 (Jarrett)
and the 17 (Kenseth), but I lost ground on them just avoiding a couple of crashes.
"I'm happy with the top-five. Look at the car - the team won't have to replace the
whole body on it like they usually do after Martinsville. Maybe just the grille in front…
This is a championship-caliber team and we're doing all we can do to get a lot more of
these top finishes. I can't say enough about how well Tony Eury (crew chief) and
the guys are working together. The cars have been great and we're up front every week. We
are all working toward that championship together - we're gonna try to win it for the
fans, and for our sponsors like Budweiser that have been so great to us."
Best Radio Conversations
Under a yellow flag segment beginning on lap 100, Dale Jr. described a problem he was
having inside the car…
Dale Jr: "I can't get any water out of this cooler. I don't know if the tube is out
of the bottle or all the way to the bottom. I mean, I'm not gonna get dehydrated or
anything, but it's bad that I got this water right here next to me and I can't get at it.
That's hardcore, man."
Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): "Next stop, we'll get you a bottle of water and you
can just toss it out when you're done…"
Several laps later…
Dale Jr. (joking): "OK, I just dislocated my shoulder-blade, but I got the
water bottle working now. I don't wanna be any trouble to you guys… Alright - now you
guys just get me to the finish. We need a top-five. A top-five, that's what we need today.
That's what I want…"
Today's Stats
Started:
3rd
Finished:
5th
Money Won:
$88,862
Points Position:
9th
Laps Led:
Led
once for 41 laps
Best Pit Stop:
Lap
327 / 4 tires and Fuel / 13.70 seconds
(Fourth
stop of the day)
-Budweiser
Jr. lines up 3rd for Virginia 500
4/13/02 - Dale
Earnhardt Jr. will start third, even after spinning out and only putting one lap on the
board.
“I made a mistake,” Earnhardt said. “I got up on the curb between three and
four. I didn't think that car would turn that good.”
Still, the lap left Earnhardt confidence for the race Sunday.
“I think we've got a great race car,” he said. “If we can be up in the top
five at the start, we'll be there all day. I promise.” Lineup.
 The Virginia 500 starts Sunday at 12:30
p.m. ET on FX.
Martinsville: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Preview_4/9
Dale Jr. Quotes for the Virginia 500 "I'm more psyched for this place than I have been before. The
first few times I raced at Martinsville, there were times when I felt like I had no clue
what I was doing out there on a tiny, flat track. 'Patience' was not my favorite driving
style, but I think I've been smarter this season. We've tested pretty well for the
short-tracks - so our set-up should be good. If we can come home fourth at Darlington and
second at Bristol (tracks where the team had not done well in the past), I think we can
continue that trend this weekend.
"I badly wanted to come out of Texas with a lot of
points just to take the pressure off a little bit this week, but finishing 42nd did
nothing but hurt us in the points. I know the crew made a strong statement that we're not
going to give up this season - they busted their [butts] to get that wrecked car back on
the track and I think that helps our confidence for this week. We put the Bud car on the
front row last fall - now we're gonna try to be there at the end of 500 laps."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Martinsville
Winston Cup Starts: 4
Best Start: 2nd (Fall, 2001)
Best Finish: 11th (Spring, 2001)
This Race, Last Year: St: 12th; Fin: 11th
A front-row start and an 11th place finish in two races
last season were signs of an improving short-track effort for the Budweiser team. In 2000,
their two races here were remarkable for a series of mishaps and misfortunes, or, in Dale
Jr's words, "like some sorta stunt show"
What: Virginia 500
500 laps / 263 miles / .526-mile oval
Race #8 of 36
Where: Martinsville Raceway,
Martinsville,Va.
When: Sunday, April 14th / 1:00 pm
Watch: FX
Pre-race: 12:30 pm (All Times: Eastern)
You can also listen to the race live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station
near you.
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Live coverage of Friday's Bud Pole qualifying session can be seen on the Fox Sports
Network at 3:00 pm.
What to Watch
A full-contact battle royale usually breaks out at the smallest and slowest track on the
Winston Cup tour. Impatience usually results in contact between cars and it is expected to
take place from the green to the checkered flag at Martinsville. Brakes - an element that
almost never comes into the equation at most high-speed mega-tracks, become critical at
Martinsville. Often, the team and the driver that have conserved the brakes and the rest
of their car better than any other will come away with a victory.
-Budweiser |
