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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Martinsville – Soul Survivor
Martinsville Speedway will host two visits from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2011...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted August 25, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Drivers battle for the lead on a late restart in the spring 2010 race at Martinsville. (Photo: Getty Images)
Ever since the concept of “realignment,” a nefarious term for radical changes in NASCAR scheduling, appeared on the horizon, Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell has been walking around with a figurative sword dangling over his head.

Many assumed the quaint little half-mile track in extreme southern Virginia would be among the first to go – or would at least lose one of its two Sprint Cup dates – when speedways popped up in NASCAR’s version of skeet shooting.

Bang, you’re dead. Or at least crippled.

Instead, Martinsville and its hot dogs, concrete turns and hillside parking lots live. Gone are North Wilkesboro, Rockingham and “half” of Darlington, Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway.

Having survived another storm, Martinsville will be printing tickets for two Sprint Cup races again in 2011. And the next time there is serious talk about more realignment, Martinsville again will be thrust into the conversation.

It’s just a normal thing when you’re NASCAR’s oldest and shortest track and when you’re located slap-dab in the middle of almost nothing, in a nice little burg that is grand in a Mayberry sort of way but doesn’t excite those looking for the bright lights, dayglo nightlife and giant hotels and great restaurants within a stone’s throw of the facility.

Still, there have been Sprint Cup races at Martinsville every season since the first one in 1949, and there have been at least two every season since 1950. And, after another summer of doubt and questions, there’ll be two again next year.

Campbell, grandson of track founder Clay Earles, hasn’t been overly concerned about Martinsville’s status in years past despite the dronings of the rumor mill. Occasionally, someone will suggest that Martinsville is relatively prehistoric and that it has no place on the Cup schedule, and Campbell, normally a pleasant, placid guy, will get his dander up. Some time will pass, and it will be forgotten.

This year was a little different, however. Unlike some past years, when there was talk of a track or two or a date or two disappearing from the schedule, this time it was an absolute certainty because of the decision to add a second date at Kansas Speedway. Clearly, somebody in the International Speedway Corp. family was losing a race, and Campbell had to wonder if the little track his family has tended for more than six decades might be in the discussion.

“I was confident this year, but I will say this year was a little different because of the fact we knew a date was going somewhere,” Campbell said. “In the past it was speculation and rumor that Martinsville or somebody was going to lose a race. This year it made it a little different scenario from the past. But I’ve always been fairly confident that it wasn’t coming from Martinsville. Again, it didn’t.
“If you ask the same question five years from now, I’ll still be confident.”

Little Martinsville has three big things on the plus side of its ledger: Up-close-and-personal racing that hearkens to the sport’s early days; long, historical ties that would be difficult to sever, and, of course, those famous hot dogs. (Even if Martinsville eventually finds itself without Cup dates, the hot dogs will have to move to another track).

“I think the style of racing that we have and the history that we have are important,” Campbell said. “Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying you rely on history going forward, but I do think it makes somewhat of a difference. And there are the things we’ve done over the last few years to improve the facility.

“People say it’s Martinsville, Virginia and you’re not in a big market, but if you draw a 200-mile circle, there are a lot of people. We’re in a good area.

“But you certainly don’t sit idle and let things happen. If you sit back, things that happen might not be to your advantage. I was pretty vocal.”
Martinsville Speedway is short, slow and difficult to race on. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Martinsville has scheduled a press conference Thursday to announce, along with key state officials, including the lieutenant governor, important programs related to the track’s future.

Although every speedway with a NASCAR race is a revenue generator for the surrounding community, Martinsville is perhaps more important than most. The furniture and textile industries, once vital to the town and Henry County, have virtually disappeared, leaving dozens of buildings shuttered and leaving the speedway as the area’s big economic engine.

The community protects the track like the valuable asset it is. More proof of that, Campbell said, is coming.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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