Guest Column By Cathy Elliott Note: Media outlets may use this column in their publications, free of charge.

Mike: “Hey, did you watch ‘Lost Idol Survivor Apprentice’ last weekend?”

Maggie: “Of course I did. I never miss one. What did you think about that ending?”

Mike: “Fantastic. I never saw it coming; definitely a wild finish.”

Maggie: “I know. I’m just relieved my favorite did okay for another week. He’s looking good for the finals, I think. I was a little worried about him at first. Some of the other guys looked really strong in the early episodes.”

Mike: “Well, you know how these season-long competitions work. Some guys just like to bide their time early on and then come on strong at the end.”

Maggie: “Did you happen to see the TV ratings? They were actually higher than the numbers for the installment that aired last year on the same date.”

Mike: “I did see that. Think it means anything?”

Maggie: “Oh, yeah. It means this is a great show that people want to watch … and these are just the early episodes. We haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until things get cranked up at the end!”

This doesn’t really sound like a conversation between a couple of ordinary, average television viewers, does it? Of course not. While hit shows become hits for a reason – something about them captures the attention and devotion of the masses – no one really gets terribly hung up on the actual numbers. We like what we like, and it is no more complicated than that.

Sounds a lot like NASCAR fans. 

This seems somewhat contradictory on the surface, as NASCAR is a sport literally driven by numbers. Qualifying speeds. Series standings. Starting and finishing order. The Top 35. The Top 12. And these things just barely scratch the surface of what is probably the most numbers-oriented sport in the world.

There is a phrase, often used in business settings, postulating that you “Live by the numbers; die by the numbers.” Of course, this refers to things like gross revenues, asset inflow versus outflow, adjustable versus fixed rates, mandatory convertibles (That’s a car I really, really need to have, right?) and lots of other cool financial catch phrases that verbally oriented people don’t really comprehend.

Sometimes this mindset can dig a whole big well of worry, which, if we allow it to, can have a detrimental effect on one of the most major areas of our lives — FUN.

In South Carolina, where I live, we have a statewide lottery system. Once a week I stop by the corner convenience store and buy a single Powerball ticket. The numbers aren’t necessarily in my favor – in fact, they’re roughly 32 million-to-one against me – but still there is a chance that my single-dollar investment could one day net me 15 million bucks or more. You never know, but it’s fun to speculate.

The bathroom scale and my blue jeans – an evil and conniving couple, definitely in cahoots – sometimes inform me that I have deviated a couple of pounds from my ideal weight. (This particular number is only made public on a need-to-know basis.)

Whether this is the result of too much sodium in last night’s pad Thai, leaving the jeans in the dryer a few minutes too long, or an ill-advised second slice of Key Lime Pie is an answer not worth agonizing over. A couple of days at the salad bar and a couple of hours on the treadmill can cut that five right back to a three. Why worry about it?

I’m hearing a fair amount of grousing lately over the fact that Tony Stewart hasn’t won a race yet, or that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver currently in the Top 12 (for the completely uninitiated, this means that Jeff Gordon and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson both sit below the number 12 mark in the standings and would not make the Chase, if the season ended today).

But let’s be realistic. We’re just getting started here. We’re not even 25 percent done with the 2008 race season yet. A single day can, and probably will, change all those numbers, turn them completely around and upside down. Then the next week, the same thing will happen all over again.

I guess the point is that whether my bank account is 50 dollars on the low side, my jeans are a little snug or “my” driver starts the next race in 31st position rather than first, numbers, like so many things in life, have a way of balancing themselves out. This is all accomplished with, or without, my personal “worry ticker” constantly punching its buttons and running its tape to dampen my enthusiasm and foul up my fun.

It’s all the proverbial tempest in a teapot (or storm at the speedway) anyway, because in the end, only a single digit matters, and it never changes.

For fans of the sport, NASCAR is always number one.

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Martinsville Sprint Cup Starting Line Up

Martinsville Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying Order

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Johnson, Gordon Welcome Return To Martinsville:
 Much has been made of the early-season struggles of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, although in their respective cases, “struggle” is a relative word. After all, coming into Sunday’s Martinsville event, Johnson is 13th in the series standings while Gordon is 14th.
Martinsville would appear to offer the perfect remedy for both. Here’s why:
• Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, has won the last three races at Martinsville.
• Four-time series champion Gordon leads all active drivers in Martinsville wins, with seven.
• Combined, the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won eight of the last 10 Martinsville events.

He’s A Contender:
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series reaches its sixth race of the season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking more like a Chase contender all the time. After starting the year with victories in two non-points events – the Budweiser Shootout and one of the Gatorade Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500 – Earnhardt has posted three top-five finishes, one of only three drivers to do that in the season’s first five weeks. That is the sort of consistency that produces championships.
Earnhardt finished fifth in the series’ last race, at Bristol; he’s fifth in the series points, surprisingly the highest standing among Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
On the other hand, he’s trying to defy some personal history this weekend; he has never won at Martinsville.

Regarding The Top 35, The Bubble Has Burst:
 Five races are in the books. That means the weekly guaranteed starting spots to the top 35 teams in car owner points are based on CURRENT standings.
Sam Hornish Jr., the former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion driving the No. 77 Dodge for Roger Penske, has the 35th and final guaranteed spot going into Martinsville.
There are some surprises, regarding those on the outside looking in.
Looking up at Hornish – and having to qualify on time at Martinsville:
• Jamie McMurray, in 36th
• Dave Blaney, 37th
• Last year’s Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, in 38th
• Regan Smith, 39th
• Kyle Petty, 40th

Competitive Balance The Rule, Thus Far:
 Chevrolet’s 2007 dominance has become a distant memory very quickly. Thus far, all four manufacturers have posted victories, with Chevrolet finally getting its first, at Bristol. In addition, Toyota posted its historic first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series three weeks ago at Atlanta.
 Furthermore, all four manufacturers are represented in the top 12 of the NSCS standings.  Here’s the breakdown:
• Chevrolet – 5 teams
• Dodge – 3
• Ford – 2
• Toyota – 2

60th Anniversary Season Coming To Martinsville,
Which Was There At The Start
This season marks NASCAR’s 60th anniversary. This week, the sport comes to the only track that was on the very first schedule back in 1948 – Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Va.
The Goody’s Cool Orange 500 on Sunday will continue a tradition that started on July 4, 1948.
That’s right.
Martinsville, not Daytona, was the first race track to celebrate the Independence Day tradition, NASCAR-style.
Martinsville then was on the inaugural schedule in 1949 for the Strictly Stock Series, the precursor to what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Michael Waltrip Racing – One Year Later:
A year after the early-season problems that doomed Michael Waltrip Racing to a disappointing 2007 season, things are looking up. All three MWR Toyota teams are in the top 35 of car owner points going into Martinsville.
That’s one part of the story. The other involves the domino effect on the driving lineup, caused by the retirement of Dale Jarrett. Starting this week, David Reutimann takes over the No. 44 previously driven by Jarrett and first-year driver Michael McDowell steps in the No. 00 previously driven by Reutimann.
Michael Waltrip remains in the No. 55 Toyota.
 
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Breakthrough For Bowyer
 Clint Bowyer is the new leader of the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings, after his second-place finish over the weekend at Nashville – marking the first time in his career he has led the standings in a NASCAR national series.
 This seems like a status that is surprisingly overdue, considering Bowyer was the 2005 NASCAR Nationwide series championship runner-up – and finished third in last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

Open Week Leads To Short-Track Test
 The first open week of the season for the NASCAR Nationwide Series features the series’ lone short-track test session, Monday and Tuesday of this week at Richmond International Raceway.
More than 20 teams and 30 drivers are expected. 

Tough Competition Evidenced By Standings’ Top 10
 Five of the current top 10 drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings race exclusively in the series. Those five:
• Mike Bliss (5th);
• Brad Keselowski (6th), running for Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports operation;
• Kelly Bires (8th), coming off his first top-five finish, at Nashville;
• Mike Wallace (9th);
• Jason Leffler (10th).

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES

Another Wallace:
Chrissy Wallace, 19, will attempt to become the latest member of the famed Wallace family to make a start in a NASCAR national series, Saturday at Martinsville Speedway. Her father, Mike, will spot for her in the Kroger 250.

Short Track Means Big Opportunity For Skinner:
 On Saturday, Mike Skinner will attempt to become the first driver to win three consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at the same short track. Skinner swept both Martinsville races in 2007 and is the track’s only three-time winner. No driver in the series has won four times at the same short track.
 In this race last season, Skinner scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

BBM Hunting for Owners’ Title
Billy Ballew Motorsports continues to chase the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners’ championship with Kyle Busch and other drivers. In 206 starts prior to the 2008 season, the team never has ranked higher than fifth in the points.

A Martinsville Homecoming
Martinsville is becoming a hub of NCTS activity with two teams (H-T Motorsports and Bobby Hamilton Racing VA) and a top engine builder (Joey Arrington) calling the southern Virginia city home. BHR VA’s Dennis Setzer, a two-time Martinsville Speedway winner, ranks ninth in current points while H-T’s Ted Musgrave, a former NCTS champion, is a single point out of the top 10. The activity has been brought a number of local residents into NASCAR including graduates of Patrick Henry Community College’s motorsports program, who have joined BHR VA in shop and over-the-wall capacities.

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