This weekend NASCAR travels to the third short track in a row for a triple header event at Martinsville Speedway. While Bristol may the shortest, Martinsville is one of the more difficult tracks to run because it is the shape of a paperclip with very short sharp curves. The drivers must turn left 1,000 times during a 500 laps race and will face some strong G-forces during the race.
But it is also one of the most coveted tracks when it comes to the trophy…a handcrafted grandfather clock!
Curtis Turner won the first race in 1950 and repeated the feat the following year. Since 1950, there have been 38 different drivers to win the race; Richard Petty leads the field with nine wins. Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace are tied for second with five.
Lee and Richard Petty are the only father/son duo to win at Martinsville and the Busch brothers – Kurt and Kyle – are the only siblings to win at the Paperclip.
All of the Martinsville winners:
Curtis Turner
Dick Rathman
Lee Petty
Jim Paschal
Tim Flock
Buck Baker
Bob Welborn
Richard Petty
Fred Lorenzen
Junior Johnson
Cale Yarborough
Bobby Isaac
David Pearson
Darrell Waltrip
Morgan Shepherd
Harry Gant
Georffrey Bodine
Ricky Rudd
Dale Earnhardt Sr
Mark Martin
Rusty Wallace
Jeff Gordon
Bobby Hamilton
John Andretti
Dale Jarrett
Bobby Labonte
Tony Stewart
Jimmie Johnson
Denny Hamlin
Kevin Harvick
Ryan Newman
Kurt Busch
Kyle Busch
Brad Keselowski
Clint Bowyer
Martin Truex Jr
William Byron
Kyle Larson