Martin Defending PIR Champion

Mark Martin’s splendid 2009 season hit high gear at the Phoenix spring race. His victory a year ago was the first of five victories last season, as he finished second in the final series standings to Jimmie Johnson.

Martin has been somewhat quiet thus far this year – with the high-profile exception of being the Daytona 500 polesitter; he comes into Phoenix 17th in points.

An old-fashioned NASCAR rivalry seems to have been reignited at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth got into it at the end of Monday’s race, sparking memories of past run-ins.

Back in 2006, the two past champions battled on- and off-track. At Bristol that year, Kenseth spun out Gordon, prompting Gordon to shove the 2003 champion on pit road. A few months later, in July at Chicagoland Speedway, Gordon got payback, spinning Kenseth out while in the lead.

Practically the same occurred at Martinsville. Kenseth got into the back of Gordon, who was leading out of a green-white-checkered restart. The bump slowed Gordon, pushing him out of the groove. Kenseth passed the four-time champion, but not for long. Gordon bumped back, sending Kenseth out of the groove, and the lead.

Neither was happy with the other after Martinsville. Stay tuned.

APRIL 8, 2010 – “Suggs Family” — On January 11, 2010, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to Loris, SC – with race car driver Jeff Gordon as the celebrity volunteer — to meet Amanda and Derrick Suggs, a young couple who had just started their own family when they adopted Amanda’s younger siblings to keep them from being separated in foster care. When Derrick and Amanda got married, they moved into the home Derrick inherited from his grandfather, who built it in 1953. The home came with a long list of needed repairs: a leaking roof, outdated and exposed electrical wiring, rotting foundation and cracked asbestos siding. This episode will air Sunday, April 11 (8-9 p.m., ET) on ABC. Also in the episode, WWE Divas The Bella Twins and WWE Superstars Big Show and R-Truth team up with Ty and the “EM:HE” designers to take on their toughest opponent yet — the old Suggs family home.

At a very young age, Amanda was forced to take on the role of a mother figure to her siblings. The children were often left alone for extended periods of time and, because the family moved so often, they were frequently out of school. Between missing school herself and caring for her siblings, Amanda fell so far behind that she dropped out after the seventh grade. At 16 Amanda reached out to her aunt for help, and she agreed to take care of Amanda and the two oldest boys. Living with her aunt helped Amanda get her life back on track, and within three months she received her GED and began community college classes. When she turned 18, Amanda moved to Myrtle Beach to continue her college education. When she met Derrick, they instantly fell in love, were married, and soon welcomed their first born, Walker. But shortly thereafter Amanda’s brother, Jacob, informed her that he and his younger brothers were being taken away from their parents and placed in foster care. Without hesitation, Derrick and Amanda brought the boys to live with them.

Derrick enjoys playing the role of father, big brother and friend to the boys, but he’s much more than just a dedicated father and husband. Derrick has gone above and beyond to improve the image of the police department and revitalize the relationship between the police and the community. He created a community outreach team within his police squad to help clean up the high crime areas of his district, and also set up youth activities such as “Shop with a Cop,” which takes underprivileged youth out to buy toys and clothes. Last year Derrick and his partner saved the life of an infant who had stopped breathing while his mother was driving down the highway, and they were nominated for Officers of the Year. Derrick, 28, and Amanda, 26, have given every bit of themselves to their children (James, 19, Jacob, 17, Jordan, 10, Walker, 5, and Mason, 9 months) and their community, but they still lack the time and money required to fix their home.

The Biff, Lagasse Have Baker Curb On The Move

Greg Biffle is the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to finish in the top 10 in each race in that series this year. The defending NASCAR Nationwide race winner at Phoenix also has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three NNS events, giving him a streak of nine consecutive top-10 finishes. He looks to extend that streak at PIR, a dominant NASCAR Nationwide Series track for the 2002 NNS champion. In 11 career NNS starts, he has three wins, six top fives and nine top 10s. Two wins – including this race last year – came for Jack Roush. His other victory was for Brewco Motorsports, the precursor to his current NNS team, Baker Curb Racing.

And for the fourth consecutive week, Biffle’s BCR teammate, Scott Lagasse Jr., has moved up in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. After leaving Daytona in 32nd, he’s knocking on the door of the top 10, currently 12th, 23 points behind 10th-place Michael Annett.

It’s Looking Like A Season-Long Standings Battle

Over the last few years, the first five races of the season haven’t presented many surprises as far as the driver or owner standings. The driver leader had a hefty advantage at that early stage – since 2005, an average of 71 points over second place and an average of 152 points over fifth. The top 30 in owner points, after the switch from the previous season’s owner standings, didn’t have any ah-hah moments, either.

But this year, although Carl Edwards remains the leader, Brad Keselowski is 16 points behind in second – the closest second place has been after five races since 2002 (Greg Biffle led Jeff Green by seven). Meanwhile, only 61 points separate first from fifth in the driver standings.

On the owner side, Roush Fenway Racing, with seven wins at Phoenix – including the last three consecutive – has two of its four full-time teams on the outside of the top 30. Rookies Colin Braun (34th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (36th) are now forced to qualify on time along with Phoenix native Michael McDowell. McDowell is only three points out of 30th, however, while Braun (27) and Stenhouse (64) are within striking distance of a top 30-standing.