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credited his Mall.com 400 victory in March to the crew led by Tommy Baldwin. "All I had to do was make it 400 miles," Ward said As far as the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division is concerned, Darlington Raceway could be renamed Mark Martin Raceway. If there is a NASCAR Busch Series record at Darlington, chances are that Martin has it. The veteran pilot, statistically the finest competitor in series history, holds the record for most victories, seven, and Bud Poles, six. This weekend, Martin will make his golfclubrating final series start in the Dura Lube 200 (Saturday, 3:30 golfclubrating p.m. ET on ESPN TV and PRN radio) at Darlington, a track he has learned to tame in the No. golfclubrating 60 Winn-Dixie Ford. Martin''s most recent addition to the Darlington record book came in March when he won from the Bud Pole for the second time in his career. After spending much of the race battling Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth for the lead, Martin took the lead for good with 24 laps to go. Kenseth went high to challenge for the lead with two laps remaining, but could not pass Martin. Burton and Martin were side-by-side on the final lap of the race, but Martin pulled ahead just enough to claim the third of his four series wins this season. Earles was dedicated to creating wonderful memories for the fans and providing the best facility for watching a golfclubrating race. Scott was dedicated to being a great driver and mechanic. Robertson was dedicated to promoting the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Martinsville Speedway President W. Clay Campbell, who is H. Clay Earles'' grandson, knew Robertson well and came to know Scott as he grew up at the track and traveled with his grandfather promoting races. "I think Wendell and my grandfather had a lot in common. golfclubrating Both of them went up against the odds and both of them persevered and made it. We are in the position we are today because of perseverance," Campbell said. "T. Wayne, Wendell and my grandfather were all determined to succeed and racing is a better sport because they were a part of it." Earles, one of the pioneers of racing, opened Martinsville in 1947, the year before NASCAR was formed, and became partners at Martinsville with the late Big Bill France, who founded NASCAR. The track began with a seating capacity of 750 and now seats 86,000. Martinsville was one of the first tracks to have permanent concession stands, attended restrooms, first-aid stations and air-conditioned scoring stands and press boxes. Harvick said. "As hard as the Busch cars are to pass and as close as everybody is, speed-wise, they''re hard to pass, golfclubrating but they have no horsepower either. So it''s a place you need to be up front. Qualifying will be very important, just like it was for me last week." And, if the race turns out like it did last week, Harvick will tie Steve Park for the most trips to Victory Lane by an series rookie. golfclubrating "That''d be pretty cool, but our main goal is to keep doing what we''re doing," Harvick said. "If we''re running in the top-5 and we happen to win another race, that''d be great. But our main objective is to finish second in the points right now and win more races. We gotta keep doing what we''re doing and we''ll be fine." Bud Pole Qualifying for the Dura Lube 200 begins Friday at 2:05 p.m. ET. Ward Burton set the track qualifying record last fall by rounding the 1.366-mile oval in 29.328 seconds, at 167.676 mph NMPA to induct Earles, Scott, Robertson MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Aug. 31, 2000) H. Clay Earles, Wendell Scott and T. Wayne Robertson will be inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association''s Hall of Fame Saturday night in golfclubrating Darlington. It''s fitting that the three are inducted together.
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