NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
DW: Jimmie Wins At Johnsonville
You just can’t give a driver or team the caliber of Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 bunch any advantage at Martinsville...
Darrell Waltrip  |  Posted October 30, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson celebrates with a victory lap Sunday at Martinsville. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
The anticipation going into Martinsville was that it would be a battle of the titans between Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, two guys that had that place figured out, along with Jeff Gordon and a few other big names in the sport.

But quite honestly, the battle was decided on Friday.

The thing about Martinsville that we sometimes overlook or doesn’t get emphasized enough is the importance of that No. 1 pit stall that goes to the pole winner. It means so, so much at Martinsville. The pit road there is treacherous — it’s narrow, you are pitting in the turns, there’s just not a lot of good pit selections there. So when you win the pole and get that No. 1 pit stall, half of your battle is already won. And you saw that on Sunday — every time Johnson, who won the pole, pitted, he would either leave in the lead or pick up a spot or two while in the pits.

If you look at the winning move of the race, Johnson and his No. 48 team choosing to take two tires during the final pit stop was possible because of his pit stall. As a result, he lined up on the preferred line on the inside, which gave him a big advantage.

You just can’t give a driver or team the caliber of Johnson and his No. 48 bunch any advantage at Martinsville — they are going to wear you out if you do. And that’s what happened Sunday as that group won maximum points as they led the most laps and won the race to take over the championship lead.

That’s what they needed and that’s what they got.

Now, was it easy? No. I was actually a little concerned for Jimmie watching his car in practice on Friday and Saturday. The car didn’t look that good to me — the nose was really high up in the air coming off the corner, which is alright because you want a car that rocks back there and gets a lot of rear bite — but you can go overboard and I thought as I watched that car that the No. 48 team did go a bit overboard with that setup. But who am I to say? Crew chief Chad Knaus has probably forgotten more about Martinsville than I ever knew. But during the practices there were other cars that looked better than Jimmie’s.

But that team had so much going for it starting from the pole on Sunday. It got out to an early lead — anytime you are out front at Martinsville, you can save your equipment and drive your own line — which becomes a huge advantage.

There were other guys, like Gordon, who looked to have a better car that Jimmie. But again the pits and track position weren’t as good for him and he had to start on the outside on some restarts and couldn’t go anywhere. I think Hamlin also had a better car, but the ignition switch problem they had late in the race after a few speeding penalties took him and his team out of contention.

So at the end of the race, it came down to Brad Keselowski doing a great job to get as many points as possible and not fall further behind in the championship fight. And I’ve got to tip my hat to Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe, they started 32nd but knew they needed a decent day at Martinsville so they worked hard throughout the race and made a bold move in the end to not pit when everybody else did and it resulted into a sixth-place finish.

Johnson maximized his opportunity, and Keselowski was able to minimize his losses Sunday. Both these things could prove to be big in the final three races this season.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
darrell_waltrip's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darrell Waltrip

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.