Saturday Martinsville Notebook

Saturday Martinsville Notebook

Notebook Items

- Stewart embraces long-time Halloween tradition

- Brushes with the wall didn't slow Allmendinger

- Earnhardt fastest in Saturday morning practice

Oct. 31, 2015

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Stewart embraces long-time Halloween tradition

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – By now, through a colossal number of “shares” on a variety of social media, most race fans have seen the photo of Tony Stewart dressed in a Halloween costume as a hairy version of Carmen Miranda.

For the owner/driver at Stewart-Haas Racing, Halloween has always been a special occasion, as well as a source of adventure and competition during his childhood.

“We took it really serious,” Stewart told Steve Richards of Performance Racing Network. “We made sure that, whatever we were going to wear, we could ride our bicycles. And we would clean out our whole neighborhood—every house in the neighborhood through bikes—and then we would start on the next neighborhoods and get home two hours later than our parents wanted us to.

“We literally would have trash bags full of candy when we got home. I wasn’t a big candy kid. It wasn’t about eating the candy. It was more about the adventure of getting it all.”

Stewart and his friends made sure to wear costumes that wouldn’t interfere with pedaling a bike.

“This is how bad we were ... we wouldn’t even go back out the driveway over the street to the next driveway and back in,” Stewart said. “We would cut through the yards to go door-to-door, which wasn’t very popular, but like I said, we were kids, and we wanted candy.”

When he finally returned home, Stewart would have a metal trash can bag full of candy.

“Not your little kitchen trash bags,” Stewart said. “We were serious about it. We weren’t playing. When we did it, they knew we were there.

“That was probably the only time all year that my sister actually liked me. I was a typical brother. I went through and got what I wanted out of it first and then let her have the entire rest of it. I was her only and favorite brother for that night, and then we were back to the Tom and Jerry act the next day.”

Halloween at Martinsville Speedway, however, wasn’t a happy occasion for the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Late in the early-morning practice session at the .526-mile track, Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet slid into the Turn 1 wall, forcing his team to roll out a backup car.

Stewart will give up his 13th-place starting position for the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 on Sunday (1:15 p.m. ET on NBCSN) and take the green flag from the rear of the field.

BRUSHES WITH THE WALL DIDN’T SLOW ALLMENDINGER

Yes, the addition of 1,600 feet of SAFER barrier on the frontstretch and backstretch at Martinsville Speedway has narrowed the racing surface by roughly 30 inches on the straights.

JTG/Daugherty Racing driver AJ Allmendinger felt the difference almost immediately, putting a “Martinsville stripe” on the side of his No. 47 Chevy during Friday’s opening practice.

Running his car at the edge of control, however, proved good preparation for qualifying. In Friday’s time trials, Allmendinger claimed the third starting spot for Sunday’s race—a career best, and light years better than his average starting position of 20.5 at Martinsville.  

“Well, my guys fixed all my mess-ups,” Allmendinger said. “I hit the wall four times in a row in practice, and that was the biggest thing. I thought we had a good car—I just kept trying to destroy it.

“They did a good job and you know (crew chief Brian) Burns and (race engineer Tony) Palmer and my guys, and especially (consultant) Todd (Parrott) coming in has made us better these last few races. I’ve always liked this place and have always been pretty good here. Hopefully, it’s a good start to a really good weekend.”

Allmendinger’s best finish at the .526-mile short track is a second in 2012.

EARNHARDT FASTEST IN SATURDAY MORNING PRACTICE

Dale Earnhardt Jr. did yeoman work in Saturday morning’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session at Martinsville Speedway, running 75 laps in the 55-minute session—more than any other driver.

The defending winner of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 also was fastest in the session, posting a lap at 96.998 mph to edge Martin Truex Jr. (96.879 mph) for the top spot on the speed chart.

Despite complaining that the splitter on his No. 88 Chevrolet was contacting the pavement during final practice, Earnhardt was fifth fastest during Happy Hour, with teammate Jimmie Johnson leading the practice at 97.108 mph.

An eight-time Martinsville winner, Johnson also led the field in average speeds over five-, 10- and 15-lap runs in final practice.