NASCAR Cup

Stacy Compton Test At Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, VA---At least Stacy Compton doesn't have to worry about being thrown out of the track when he runs in the Goody's Body Pain 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race on Sunday, April 9 at Martinsville Speedway. A couple of years ago ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Martinsville, VA---At least Stacy Compton doesn't have to worry about being thrown out of the track when he runs in the Goody's Body Pain 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race on Sunday, April 9 at Martinsville Speedway. A couple of years ago Compton, a Raybestos Rookie of the Year Challenger, Clay Campbell, the president of Martinsville Speedway and Steve Sheppard, the senior director of corporate communications for the speedway, went to the pavilion in Daytona to drive some go-karts. After a little rough racing among themselves, they were asked to leave and did. Compton's competition will be tougher this time with the Winston Cup stars going for $2,168,867 in posted awards. But he has raced Late Model Stocks, Craftsman Trucks and Winston Cup cars on the demanding .526-mile track and finished a two-day test session here Thursday with a fast time of 20.06 seconds, 94.396 miles per hour. Compton thinks he has a shot at a great run at Martinsville. "We need it. This team is capable of it. The guys are working so good together, " said the driver of the Cougar-Melling Ford. "Pit stop wise we are right there with the best of them. We have been running further back than we would like to and it hasn't shown. But it's just a matter of time before it will show." A good run at Martinsville is important to Compton because he lives only about one hour away in Hurt, VA. "To come here and run good would be big. This place has been really good to me," he said. "We have our hopes up pretty high. There are a lot of fans coming here to watch us so we'd like to have a good run." One of eight rookies in Winston Cup this season, he has made it through what should be the toughest part of his rookie season and now is looking forward to seeing some venues he has raced on before such as Martinsville. He also is one of only three rookies who have made all six Winston Cup events this season and is currently third in the rookie standings behind leader Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The 33-year-old Hurt, Va. native raced competitively for years at Martinsville in the NASCAR Late Model Stock Division and for the past three years he competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, finishing fourth in 1998 and second to Jimmy Hensley in 1999. Compton's most memorable performance at Martinsville came in 1996 when he qualified 9th for Martinsville's spring Winston Cup race in his first attempt at NASCAR premier series. He backed it up by qualifying 23rd in Martinsville's fall race. The Goody's Body Pain 500/NAPA 250 weekend kicks off on Friday, April 7 with Bud Pole qualifying for the NAPA 250 at 1:40 p.m. followed by Bud Pole time trials for the top 25 Winston Cup starting positions at 3 p.m. Tickets for Bud Pole day are $15 for adults and children under 12 get in free with a paying adult. The NAPA 250 Craftsman Truck Series race starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 8. Adult tickets are $30 and children ages 6-12 can attend for $5. The Goody's Body Pain 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 9. Great reserved seats still are available in the Bill France Tower for $65 each and in all of the concrete bleacher sections for $40-$45. For tickets, call the speedway ticket office toll free at 1-877 RACE-TIX or call (540) 956-3151. For more information on Martinsville Speedway, go to www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

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