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Given its drag-strip straightaways and jug-handle corners, Martinsville Speedway is coined "The Paper Clip." Sunday, it was the Arctic Circle. (Oval, as it were.) It was colder than a Page 6 headline about Britney Spears.

The community men's bathroom at Martinsville is a cinderblock with five or six johns and some 20 urinals. So I'm standing there Sunday morning, about two-thirds of the way down the urinal line, when a guy from Jeff Burton's team sidles up beside me, looks me in the eye, grins widely and mutters through chattering teeth, "Marty! Whoever the hell decided we have global warming hasn't been to a NASCAR race this year!"

Off he went. The whole line chuckles as we go. Someone finally put this season's mind-numbing (and feet-numbing) weather pattern into ample perspective.

On we trudge ...

Marty,

As I recall you're a Virginian, so you probably care a little bit more about Martinsville than most NASCAR reporters. The seats weren't full at Martinsville and some people are asking if they should lose a race.

I like the racing at Martinsville. It's different and fun to watch. What's so wrong with the place? Why do some people always say it should lose a race?

-- CeCe Sampson, Virginia Beach

Some folks need a story and Martinsville is easy to pick on, CeCe. It's Tecmo Super Bowl in a Madden '08 world -- bare bones, devoid of frills or bells or whistles, but every bit as enjoyable, and in many cases more so.

Martinsville is the pale, skinny kid who loses his Fruit of the Looms to a bully's wedgie during recess every day, but by grannies makes it his mission to keep coming back for the sole purpose of smoking that bully like a half-price pack of Pall Malls in every last game of Red Rover that Mrs. Peters sanctions. Drive to succeed, man.

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Same goes for Darlington. And it's ridiculous, really. Politics typically win out over desire in the short term, but eventually truth prevails.

Truth is, selling tickets is difficult for every promoter, especially in an economic recession. But for those in rural areas it's especially tough. Coaxing a guy to go to The Strip or The Beach is peaches compared to luring a guy to a mill town. Rarely does Martinsville have empty seats. It did Sunday. The weather contributed to that. Martinsville has a huge walk-up market, and on race day it was 40 degrees and spitting rain.

I write this opinion every time we go to a traditional market. To me, it goes back to the racing. Maybe I'm naïve, but do you want a great race, or do you want a chicken Caesar salad at the snack bar? And the traffic argument is laughable. Is traffic bad at Martinsville? Hell yeah, it's bad. But guess what -- it's bad everywhere.

Not every track has door-to-door, drag-race-for-the-lead competition. Martinsville does, and in fact is above-average among those that do. It's great racing, period, and great, mentally and physically tough racers win there.

If Martinsville loses a date, it's because somebody in Daytona made a decision based on pure numbers, rather than the true business model: If the racing stinks, the whole industry suffers.

Speaking of my adoration for the Commonwealth ...

Marty,

I have a non-NASCAR question. I recall seeing in your column a while back that you lost a bet. Your Orange Bowl pick, Virginia Tech, lost to the KU Jayhawks. Did you ever complete your side of the bargain? And if so, is there video proof? I just ask because the Hawks are on their way to the Final Four. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU! PS: GO JR.

-- Aggie, Wichita, Kan.

Yes I did, and yes there is, Aggie.

I had to perform that Rock Chalk mess in front of the entire garage at Daytona preseason testing. Crew guys. Drivers. Media. Officials. Everybody. It was ridiculous. I had a Jayhawk golf club cover on my right hand, and managed to crowbar my body into a 3T KU T-shirt so small my son couldn't wear it. It was 85 degrees outside and I wore a KU beanie above my sweaty brow as I sang that meaningless ditty.

And it's all on tape.

Go Hokies.

Hi Marty,

Did the injuries Paul Andrews got from the fall he had last year contribute to the role change that occurred at Michael Waltrip Racing between him and Bobby Kennedy? I was wondering if the grind of being a crew chief coupled with his ongoing rehab from the injuries forced him into another role with the team.

-- RB, Orlando, Fla.

No. At least not according to Michael Waltrip, RB. Waltrip said at Martinsville the decision to replace Andrews with Kennedy was based purely on chemistry.

"Bobby Kennedy and I have always been able to relate and communicate, and I just missed him being there for me and I missed what he brought to me as a driver," Waltrip said.

"Paul did a great job. Paul is a technical guy. He's really good. There is no reason why he couldn't be the crew chief, but I just felt like the best chance for me to win and run up front was to have a guy that knows exactly what I'm thinking and what I want to get accomplished."

To best use Andrews' methodical and technical approach, MWR placed him on the test team.

"Paul is doing a great job of stepping in there and filling that role," Waltrip said. "Bobby is just a person that I can relate to and we get along real well. I think people respect him on the team because he is fair, he's focused, he's devoted and they line up behind him. He's a good leader."

Another note on Andrews: Did you guys see the Alan Kulwicki feature on "NASCAR Now" Sunday morning? Amazing. THAT is good television.

Marty,

I've heard all these rumors about Bobby Labonte leaving Petty and heading over to RCR. My question is not about the move, but in your honest opinion, do you really think that with the stuff that Petty has done to move forward with his operation and bringing in Jeff Meendering and Robbie Loomis from Hendrick, do you think he needs to move to get results? Going from the No. 1 guy to the fourth guy? Does that help his chances to win?

-- Anthony Jackson, Homosassa, Fla.

By all means, Anthony. Childress Chevrolets are championship caliber right now. Petty Dodges are not. Far from it, even. That could eventually change if Petty lures an investment partner to infuse the company with better people and better equipment. But it would be years before they were vying for wins consistently.

Bobby Labonte doesn't have years to wait.

Marty,

You need to leave Greg Biffle alone! I read your story on his contract negotiations with Roush, and damn, man, you must ask him that every weekend! Let him race! I'm a Biffle fan and if you distract his racing, I'm going to be upset. I don't want you distracting his racing. He needs to focus on running good, not your questions about his contract.

-- Dan Kelman, Spokane, Wash.

Now, that's a new one. Typically it's just the opposite -- fans begging for every minute detail on their man and his particular situation. But Dan has a point. Media scrutiny can be a distraction, though drivers fib when asked if contract negotiations are distracting.

They are, certainly. More for some than others, depending how personally involved the driver is in forming his deal. The media wants the latest, and incessant questions about the future have to affect the present at least a little bit.

But they'll tell you differently, and in a thousand different ways. They'll say they're focused on winning for their team right now and aren't even thinking about tomorrow. That's an honorable stance and may largely be true. But when the dream ride is swinging like fuzzy dice from a rearview mirror full of the current team, it's distracting.

Ask the man fresh off the most scrutinized free agency in the sport's history.

"Messing with [the media] and talking with y'all -- that's the hardest part," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said last weekend at Martinsville. "You're [as a driver] working behind the scenes and trying to figure out what you're going to do. You're working as hard as you can. You want to get the right deal. You want to get it just like you want it, and it takes time.

"And people want to believe what they want to believe. And I know the media has a job to do. A driver in a contract year, you try to give them what you give them. Hopefully they return the favor with some room. But if I was going to ask anybody around here, I'd ask them once a month, not every week.

"Because there's probably nothing happening in the last couple of weeks. He's not going to give you new information. Plus, you're going to find out when everybody else finds out in the end. But y'all got to get the people to tune in and watch and read. So I guess it's good to talk about. But it makes it tough, it does."

Sorry, Junior. The fans demand to know. At least most of them not named Dan.

Earnhardt's buddy and former teammate, Martin Truex Jr., is facing that now.

"Martin is a good guy. I know that he's going to have a difficult year answering this question all year long as far as what he's going to do and where he's going to go and all that," Junior said. "But the only thing I can do for him is help him with that, on how to deal with it. He probably don't need it. He's pretty focused."

Likewise for Biffle, for whom it's always been about how well his car performs. And it's doing quite well right now.

Set your timer, folks. In two weeks I'll get an e-mail from Dan asking what's up with his man's contract.

Marty,

I saw this week where Kyle Petty is getting out of the 45 at Texas. I'm a big Kyle fan, but I can't even remember the last time he finished in the Top 5, much less won. When was the last time he won a race?

-- Susanna Hoffman, Trinity, N.C.

It was 396 races ago, Susanna, in April 1995 at Dover International Speedway. He drove the Coors Light Pontiac for Felix Sabates. Petty's winless streak is second to Ken Schrader's among active drivers. Schrader's last win came at Dover in April 1991, 531 races ago, while driving the Kodiak Chevy for Rick Hendrick.

Oh, and Kyle's last top-5 finish was just last year, in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. That marked his first top-5 in 10 years.

That's my time for this week. Time to pack the Justin Boots and the Dickies jacket and head for Tejas. They say everything's bigger there. My suitcase is a testament to that.

Marty Smith is a contributor to ESPN's NASCAR coverage. He can be reached at ESPNsider@aol.com.