Behind the Box: Brian Wilson

Welcome to Martinsville Speedway, where the track is small, and tempers are huge. Here you’ll see 43 race cars revolve around the .526 mile race track 500 times. Hopefully your driver isn’t a victim of someone else’s aggression, and can make it to the 500 lap mark.

If your favorite driver is Brad Keselowski, chances are you’ll see him make the completion of the race. In his 8 starts at the Virginia short track, Keselowski has missed a grand total of two laps. Yes, that’s right. Out of a possible 4,023 laps (including Green-White-Checkered finishes), BK remained on the lead lap for 4,021 of them. And if it wasn’t for getting punted and spun around in the Fall 2011 Chase race, Brad wouldn’t have missed a single one of them.

Martinsville Speedway is a special track for the 2012 Champion, as it was the track he made his NASCAR National Touring series debut at. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck series made their third stop of the 2004 Season at Martinsville, and the field was stacked with talent. Including Keselowski in his K-Automotive F-150, there were a total of 45 tough trucks vying for 36 positions. In his first ever attempt, BK qualified the race 26th, a very solid position considering his experience and the equipment given. Over 100 laps into the race, Keselowski was involved in an incident with former Cup Series winner Steve Park, that resulted in Keselowski losing a few laps. BK completed 231/254 laps in his first NASCAR race, or more importantly, he was able to obtain some crucial experience that would pay off in the end.

Simply put, Martinsville is a tough track. And in this week’s edition of Keys to Victory, you’ll see just that.

Keys to Victory

Respect the Car: the last few weeks I’ve made a big deal about tires. Well, here at The Paperclip, tires aren’t the most important aspect of the car. The brakes are. These 3400lb stock cars will fly into each end of the race track at well over 110mph, and quickly decelerate to under 65mph. Oh, and they will only do this twice a lap for 500 laps. By overusing the brakes, the heat can literally cook the tire, causing it to blow.

Getting Curby: we know it won’t take long for someone in the FOX booth to discuss this (we’re looking at you, Darrell). It happens to even the best of drivers, not just the rookies. You can try to have the perfect turn, but if the apex of the turn has your car in line to clip the curb, you are in trouble. A slight contact with the curb can shoot the racecar up the 12° banked track almost instantly.

Throttle Management: it is so easy to try to mat the gas pedal coming off the turn, but unless you want to spin out and destroy the racecar, don’t do that. To successfully exit the turn at Martinsville, you have to carefully feather the throttle. It’s hard to fathom how huge 900hp is until it shows you.

Holding the Bottom: Martinsville, and many short tracks are famed for their one lane race tracks. Unlike Bristol, at this half mile, you want to stay glued to the bottom of the track. If any car slides up just the slightest amount, there will be someone else behind them, and ready to pounce.

Navigating Through Traffic: Martinsville gets congested, and quick. In a matter of less than 50 laps, the race leader can have already knocked a few cars off the lead lap. There’s no way to prevent cars from falling off the pace, but there are ways to control your aggression as you maneuver through them. In the tracks 60+ years of operation, countless drivers have lost their race due to aggression through traffic.