It’s among the most unique and coveted trophies in NASCAR – the Ridgeway Furniture Company’s grandfather clock that’s given to the winner at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in victory lane.
The tradition of giving the famous grandfather clock to the winner of every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway got its start in 1964. Henry Clay Earles, who founded Martinsville Speedway, was inspired to use the grandfather clock as his trophy when Curtis Turner told him that he had to start finding storage room for his trophies, and give some away, as well. It was then that NASCAR’s most iconic trophy was born.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), won his first race at Martinsville in October 2002. It was his second Sprint Cup victory and a record-breaking one, at that, as he took the green flag from the 36th starting position – the deepest in the field a Martinsville winner had ever started. For Busch, the fact that he had won the race really didn’t set in until he stood beside the grandfather clock in victory lane.
Winning the clock that weekend had a profound meaning. Earlier that week, Busch received news that his grandfather had passed away. He headed to Martinsville with the goal of trying to make the weekend as normal as he could, focusing on his racecar while dealing with the emotions of the family’s loss. As the race progressed, Busch was able to take advantage of a strong racecar and worked his way to the front of the field, leading 111 laps en route to the win.
When he climbed from his racecar, he saw the clock and the significance of it hit him then and there – in the week he’d lost his grandfather, he won a prestigious grandfather clock. When it was delivered to his home the following week, he placed it in his living room and immediately named it Al, as a tribute to his late grandfather Al Keller.
Fast-forward to March 2014, when the 2004 Sprint Cup champion was able to end an 83-race winless streak by claiming his second grandfather clock. The win was special for Busch, but was even more so for Haas Automation founder Gene Haas, who co-owns SHR with three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. When Haas hired Busch, his directive was clear: win. Be the guy to finally place the Haas Automation-sponsored Chevrolet SS in victory lane. Victory had eluded the largest CNC machine tool builder in the Western World for 114 races and 11 different drivers since 2002.
When Haas’s grandfather clock was delivered, like Busch’s, it was placed in the living room of his home. It remains a welcome reminder of the significance of the day that he finally saw his car roll into victory lane.
Busch enters this weekend’s 500-mile race with consecutive top-five finishes, and he is more than ready to get to the racetrack and see what his No. 41 team can accomplish in the first short-track race of the 2015 season. Not only is Busch the defending race winner at Martinsville, but crew chief Tony Gibson also has a win to his credit at the .526-mile oval as he led Ryan Newman to victory lane in April 2012.
Busch is quick to point out, however, that just because he’s the defending race winner, it doesn’t guarantee he’ll be able to easily repeat the feat.
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