What Kind of Grandfather Clock Was Given at Martinsville to Winner of Race

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell has a pretty good gauge what the outset words out of a NASCAR race winner's rima oris will exist moments afterward taking the checky flag and driving into Victory Lane.

"'Where'south my clock?' or 'I finally won me a clock,'" he told For The Win, talking nigh the .526-mile track'southward unique trophy. "They're so excited about that clock. It'southward very gratifying to meet something that was thought up close to (60) years ago."

The tracks on the NASCAR Loving cup Serial' 36-race schedule deliver a wide variety of prizes to the winners, from live lobsters to gladiator swords. Merely Martinsville'southward grandfather clock is among the most coveted trophies — and a complementary fit for the only rails remaining from the serial' inaugural schedule in 1949.

Winners have received a granddaddy clock since 1964 when track founder and Campbell'southward grandfather, H. Clay Earles, "figured if y'all give something to the driver that their wives would similar, then it'south going to be in a prominent place in their home," the president explained. That's exactly what happened, and now, it's much more than a trophy. It's a piece of article of furniture that might be the first thing y'all see when you lot walk through a driver's front door, after the celebratory champagne stains — or Gatorade or Miller Calorie-free or whatever beverage company sponsors the winner — are cleaned off, of course.

Brad Keselowski subsequently winning in 2017. (Michael Shroyer-The states TODAY Sports)

"We go a lot of big trophies, and most are plastic," Jimmie Johnson told For The Win. His 9 victories at Martinsville make him the winningest active driver, and he's tied with Jeff Gordon for third all fourth dimension.

"To really accept — I don't know if it should be called an art piece — a meaning piece of furniture that you tin proudly display in your home, information technology crosses over into that furniture category also as a major achievement. They go correct into houses because it's not your typical bays. Looking at that equally a young driver, you lot think, 'Wow, I can't afford a granddaddy clock. But I can get win one.'"

Ahead of Sun's STP 500 (ii p.m. ET, FS1) — the sixth race of 2019 — Johnson is i of just nine active drivers to win a Martinsville Clock, which Campbell said is the official name. Denny Hamlin has v wins, Kyle and Kurt Busch have two each, and Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano — the most recent winner from Oct — have ane apiece.

One win at Martinsville is a notable accomplishment. Two or three signals the driver has mastered the rails. Only more than that means they're probably running out of space in their houses. So what exercise drivers do when the clocks commencement to add together up?

Johnson — whose last Martinsville win was in 2016 — gave one away to his neighbor, Bruton Smith, the founder and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns eight of the tracks on NASCAR'southward schedule, although not the southern Virginia short track. Just the No. 48 Chevrolet commuter has the rest.

"I have a really cool man cave, and I accept them all lined upward," he said. They're in a space that houses other memorabilia from his xix years in the sport and 7 Loving cup Series championships, along with some cars he'south collected. "They're just chilling and looking slap-up."

Jeff Gordon afterwards winning in 2013. (Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

Hamlin said the decades-long tradition of the gramps clock trophy makes it simply as special as its uniqueness. Although he doesn't call back "it'south any unlike than perhaps a clock you can probably go and buy somewhere (considering) it doesn't actually have a plaque on information technology," it does have a translucent sticker on the front, noting the race proper name and appointment.

The No. 11 Toyota driver — who opened the 2019 season by winning the Daytona 500 — said he has about of his granddad clocks, only he gave one to his parents because he knew how much his mom would love information technology.

"We grew up with a grandfather clock in our firm in Virginia," Hamlin said. "As a kid, I remember that affair going off all the time, and my dad raising hell to my mom considering that matter keeps going off. She just likes the audio of it."

NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip won xi clocks and is second on the all-fourth dimension Loving cup Serial wins listing at Martinsville behind Richard Trivial with 15. He also gave several away and joked that the most common response to the unusual gift is, "'Are you lot sure you lot want to do that?'" He said he gave one to his mom, ane to his attorney and one to the man who ran his dealership, and his race shop in Harrisburg, North Carolina has a few.

Clint Bowyer after winning in 2018. (Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports)

But Waltrip withal kept several for himself too. His kickoff grandfather clock is from his win in 1976 is in his dining room, and others are in his back room, workout room and basement, where those who attend his Bible study every Tuesday morning become to enjoy it.

"Once I had four or 5 clocks and didn't have whatever place to put them, I just started spreading them around and let other people relish them too," Waltrip said.

"At that place were just people that were important in your life — whether information technology was a crew fellow member or a friend or someone that helped yous get to where you are. You want to admit them, and a lot of times, giving them a trophy or something from a win meant more to them than it would always hateful to me."

Denny Hamlin after winning in 2015. (Randy Sartin-The states TODAY Sports)

Present, it's not only upwardly to the commuter to share the dearest.

Winning teams have ordered hundreds of boosted granddad clocks over the years for crews and squad members. Logano'southward squad ordered 40 additional clocks later his offset win at the rails late in the 2018 Loving cup Series playoffs, according to supplier Grand Home Furnishings.

The Martinsville Clock is a gift to the track and eventually the race winner, but it's sold to the masses for $2,599.95. However, teams that order clocks after a win get a 20 percent discount, and Grand Domicile Effects keeps enough in stock just in case.

And even though the track has been handing them out for 55 years, drivers agreed that in some manner, the challenges of the paperclip-shaped brusk track in southern Virginia make the grandfather clock that much more special.

"Subconsciously, it all gets rolled upward into 1," Johnson said. "I know how tough it is to win here and how amazing of a trophy you receive. So there's some correlation there deep down within."

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Source: https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/03/nascar-martinsville-grandfather-clock-jimmie-johnson-waltrip