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NASCAR WCUP: Martinsville Means Gears, Brakes & Heat; Park Eighth In Points Since July Daytona Race

28 September 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Gears, brakes and heat will be the buzz words all weekend long when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series visits the flat half-mile race track in Martinsville, Virginia on Sunday. Several teams in the 43-car field will likely fallout before the 500-lap race ends because of gears, brakes, or heat problems. Dale Earnhardt Inc. gear specialist Gordy Arbitter dreads Sunday's race more than any other on the Winston Cup circuit while Pennzoil Monte Carlo driver Steve Park knows that it will be up to him to preserve the brakes in order to make it to the finish line. Last September Park fought 150-degree temperatures inside the car.

Pennzoil Gear Specialist Gordy Arbitter On Gears At Martinsville:

"When I think about Martinsville I think of what it would be like to be unemployed. That's how much most gear specialists fear that place. If you are ever going to have nightmares about a track it's Martinsville.

"If the gear goes bad then the driver, the crew chief, the crew even fans and sometimes your family will look at you funny the rest of the week. It's tougher than any road course we run on. On road courses the gear and transmission take a lot of pounding and sometimes a part will just break. But at Martinsville you are battling the incredible gear temperatures of 280 degrees and no matter how big of cooler or how big of fan you put on the gear it's not going to be enough. The driver is on and off the throttle so much it just builds the heat. And that's if it's cool outside. If it is hot like last year then it just makes it worse. I'd like to stay home Sunday, but if you survive and do well it's a pretty cool feeling."

Steve Park on Martinsville:

"This race here last year was the hottest I've ever been in a race car. I was burning my heels and had to use the accelerator and brake without touching the floorboard because it was so hot. The crew poured ice on me and we put the lid of a cooler on the floorboard to absorb the heat. The heat from the engine exhaust passes right under my feet so temperatures sometimes reach as much as 1,300 degrees. In the spring, we used a ceramic coating on the floorboard to keep my feet from burning. They also put a thick heat shield coating on the headers and tailpipes to prevent as much heat coming up through the floorboard. It seemed to work but it wasn't as hot then. Sunday will be the real test.

"If you survive the heat, the key to Martinsville is handling along with the gears and brakes. Those corners are so sharp that you have to figure out a way to make the car roll through the center of the corner without messing up your tires. You can go fast here if you use a lot of brake, but your day isn't going to last long. You almost go slower to last longer. That's hard for a race car driver to do."

Points Since Daytona
(Second Half Standings)

1 Stewart 1597
2 Jarrett 1468
3 Martin 1445
4 Gordon 1391
5 B.Labonte 1381
6 Earnhardt 1375
7 J.Burton 1312
8 Park 1202
9 R.Wallace 1182
10 Dallenbach 1145
11 Spencer 1140
12T.Labonte 1085
13 Sadler 1081
14 W.Burton 1040
15 Skinner 1029
16 Schrader 1012
17 Nemechek 997
18 Irwin 978
19 Hamilton 971
20 Benson 971

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