2007 Goody’s Cool Orange 500 @ Martinsville NEXTEL Cup Event Thread *SPOILERS*

[rustyfan]

From one short track to another, it's time to leave the high banks of Bristol and head on over to the shortest track on the schedule, Martinsville.


Track Specs: 0.526-mile oval, 12 degrees of banking in the turns, 0 degrees of banking on the straightaways. 65,000 grandstand seats (Note: Jayski lists the capacity at 91,000 - not sure if NASCAR.com is just outdated or if the 91,000 is with temporary grandstands included).

NEXTEL Cup Qualifying Record: 98.083 mph, by Tony Stewart on October 21st, 2005.

NEXTEL Cup Race Record: 82.223 mph (3 hours, 11 minutes, 54 seconds) set by Jeff Gordon on September 22nd, 1996.


There are 49 cars going for 43 spots. NASCAR.com has posted the entry list.

Regan Smith replaces Mark Martin in the #01 Army Chevy for the second straight race.

With Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger qualifying for the race at Bristol, Kevin Lepage is the only driver in the entry list that has yet to make his first NEXTEL Cup start this season.

This is the first race of the 2007 season where this years' owners points determines who is locked into the top 35 in qualifying.

David Reutimann, Ward Burton, Scott Riggs, Paul Menard, Ken Schrader, Dave Blaney, Jeremy Mayfield, Kevin Lepage, Mike Bliss, Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger will all have to qualify on speed to get into the race. Dale Jarrett has a Champions' Provisional available and get into the race regardless of how he does in qualifying.


Is is the second race using the Car of Tomorrow.

For more information and images of the CoT I recommend you visit Jayski's site about the CoT.


TV: Pre-race show on FOX starts at 1:30pm ET. Green flag is scheduled for 2:15pm ET.

In Scandinavia the TV broadcast gets underway at 19:30 CET on Viasat Sport 3.


My pick for the win: Jeff Gordon