MARTIN TIRED OF COMING UP SHORT.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK Motor Sports FONTANA - There's been a lot of talk around California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. about lost tradition. This is the first time since 1950 that Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. weekend didn't play host to NASCAR's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition". in South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. . Instead, the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, 500, otherwise known as the Pop Secret 500, made its debut at California Speedway on Sunday. Of course, the number of Confederate flags flying in the 909 made it feel like Fort Sumter Fort Sumter, fortification, built 1829–60, on a shoal at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., and named for Gen. Thomas Sumter; scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War. Upon passing the Ordinance of Secession (Dec. . But that and the 43 stock cars were about the only similarities California Speedway had to Darlington Raceway this weekend. Since NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. is ditching tradition with reckless abandon Reckless Abandon is an episode of The WB drama series, Charmed. Synopsis Detective Morris puts his job on the line when he allows Phoebe to take a seemingly abandoned baby home so the Charmed Ones can protect him from a vengeful ghost Phoebe has seen in a , Mark Martin would be happy if one more disappeared. Martin is the bridesmaid of NASCAR, a four-time runner-up in the Cup championship. But with the new NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Chase for the Championship, Martin, who moved into 10th-place in the chase, might have his best chance to divorce himself from the bridesmaid label for the first time in his career. Then again, the way Martin looked after his third-place finish in Sunday's Pop Secret 500, it's going to take a lot more than a spot in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series top 10 to make him happy. ``I really don't have any comments,'' said Martin, the driver of the No. 6 Ford Taurus for Roush Racing. ``Check with me on Saturday night around midnight and I'll give you a statement about the points.'' The Saturday night race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway is the last race before the Chase for the Championship begins. The top-10 drivers in the Nextel Cup standings will be eligible for the championship. Martin is among those drivers for the moment. But he will need a strong finish at Richmond, one of the tightest and toughest tracks on the NASCAR schedule, to secure a spot in the top 10. ``It offers a lot of two-wide racing, but it's such a tight track,'' said Robert Yates Racing driver Elliott Sadler, winner of the California Speedway race. ``So I do feel sorry for the guys that have to race to get in, but that's part of the game. I think that's why they put Richmond at the end like that.'' There was one year when Martin was actually the leader in points with 10 races to go only to fall short. That has been the story of Martin's career: from contender to pretender as the seasons come to a close. Through all the disappointing runs at a NASCAR championship, Martin still has an optimistic outlook. ``We're just doing everything we can,'' Martin said. ``We've broken a lot of parts and spent a lot of Sundays in the garage, but we've got a championship team here. Whether or not we get a chance to run for it is yet to be seen, but I'm just privileged to be in the seat.'' After the California Speedway race, Martin is 424 points out of first. But if he can maintain his current position in the standings, he will only be 50 points out when the chase begins in two weeks. ``The real focus is on making the top 10,'' Martin said. ``It's a dogfight to get in.'' Martin's high point of the season came at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in June, when he won his first race of the season. He drove to a seventh-place finish at Richmond International Raceway Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. in May and will need at least another top-10 finish when the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series visits Richmond next weekend to stay in the top 10 in points and have a chance to win his first championship. ``It's been a big focus to make the top 10 since Daytona,'' Martin said. ``Unfortunately we only made eight laps and left there 43rd in points. It's been an incredible uphill battle. We have had such a great race team. We've just had to battle our way back.'' |
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