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59-415: The track is often referred to as paper clip -shaped and is banked only 12° in the turns. The combination of long straightaways and flat, narrow turns makes hard braking going into turns and smooth acceleration exiting turns a must. The track was paved in 1955 and in 1956 it hosted its first 500-lap event. By the 1970s, a combination of high-traction slick tires and high speed was putting excessive wear on

118-437: A directive by some tracks NASCAR announced in late February to early March 2017, Martinsville was one of three races during the second half of the season (and the only one in the playoff) to experiment with a compressed two-day schedule featuring Saturday practice and Sunday afternoon qualifying, with the race starting between 90 minutes to two hours after the conclusion of knockout qualifying. The playoff race will now finish under

177-511: A driver, Sellers he co-owned NASCAR K&N Pro Series East team Hunt-Sellers Racing with former KNPSE competitor Sam Hunt. However the partnership ended in 2018. Sam Hunt renamed his team to Sam Hunt Racing and moved to Xfinity Series. Sellers' team (Sellers Racing Inc.) then fielded cars in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series . Sellers continued to racing at local tracks. In 2021, Sellers won

236-439: A garage to be built inside the track, and leaves Bristol as the only active NASCAR track with two pit roads. The first NASCAR sanctioned event was held on July 4, 1948. In 1951, only four cars were running at the finish, the fewest of any race held at the speedway. In 1960, Richard Petty became the youngest winner at Martinsville, at 22 years, 283 days; to date Petty has the most wins (15). In 1991, Harry Gant became

295-456: A hot dog in a bun, with chili, coleslaw, mustard and onions as toppings. (As of 9/1/2023) * from minimum 5 starts. As of October 2024, the fastest official race lap records at Martinsville Speedway are listed as: Paper clip A paper clip (or paperclip ) is a tool used to hold sheets of paper together, usually made of steel wire bent to a looped shape (though some are covered in plastic ). Most paper clips are variations of

354-490: A keel, perpendicular to the sheet of paper. The impracticality of Vaaler's design may easily be demonstrated by cutting off the last outer loop and one long side from a regular Gem clip. The originator of the Norwegian paper clip myth was an engineer of the Norwegian national patent agency who visited Germany in the 1920s to register Norwegian patents in that country. He came across Vaaler's patent but failed to detect that it

413-490: A lapel or front pocket could be seen as "deux gaules" (two posts or poles) and be interpreted as a reference to the leader of the French Resistance , General Charles de Gaulle . The post-war years saw a widespread consolidation of the paper clip as a national symbol. Authors of books and articles on the history of Norwegian technology eagerly seized it to make a thin story more substantial. They chose to overlook

472-459: A last lap spin out, while in the lead, made him finish 14th. The announcement came in December 2008 that Sellers would run a limited Nationwide Series schedule in 2009 with Cardinal Motorsports. Sellers is part owner of Cardinal motorsports, alongside Will Spencer of JKS Motorsports and Ed Berrier. In January Cardinal Motorsports announced a ten race NASCAR Nationwide sponsorship with SFP. Sellers

531-524: A modern cotter pin than a modern paper clip. Norwegian Johan Vaaler (1866–1910) has been identified as the inventor of the paper clip. He was granted patents in Germany and in the United States (1901) for a paper clip of similar design, but less functional and practical. Because it was more complicated to insert into the paper, Vaaler probably did not know that a better product was already on

590-425: A paper clip as the key to the bezel. A paper clip bent into a "U" can be used to start an ATX PSU without connecting it to a motherboard , by connecting the green to a black on the motherboard header . One or more paper clips can make a loopback device for a RS-232 interface (or indeed many interfaces). A paper clip could be installed in a Commodore 1541 disk drive as a flexible head-stop. The steel wire from

649-434: A paperclip can be used in dentistry to form a dental post . Another common use of paper clips is pipe smokers, including Cannabis smokers use straightened out paper clips to unclog their pipe or bong bowl . Another creative use of paper clips is in "paperclip art", where enthusiasts bend and twist paper clips into intricate designs and figures, ranging from simple shapes to detailed sculptures. This form of art showcases

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708-500: A position he held until his death. As the employee of a patent office, he could easily have obtained a patent in Norway. His reasons for applying abroad are not known; it is possible that he wanted to secure the commercial rights internationally. Also, he may have been aware that a Norwegian manufacturer would find it difficult to introduce a new invention abroad, starting from the small home market. Vaaler's patents expired quietly, while

767-511: A recessed button which the user might only rarely need. This is seen on most CD-ROM drives as an "emergency eject" should the power fail; also on early floppy disk drives (including the early Macintosh ). Various smartphones require the use of a long, thin object such as a paper clip to eject the SIM card and some Palm PDAs advise the use of a paper clip to reset the device. The trackball can be removed from early Logitech pointing devices using

826-510: A symbol of resistance to the German occupiers and local Nazi authorities when other signs of resistance, such as flag pins or pins showing the cipher of the exiled King Haakon VII of Norway , were forbidden. Those wearing them did not yet see them as national symbols, as the myth of their Norwegian origin was not commonly known at the time. The clips were meant to denote solidarity and unity ("we are bound together"). The wearing of paper clips

885-481: A trophy, a nod to Martinsville's famous furniture industry. This tradition started in 1964, when Earles decided he wanted to present a trophy that would reflect the Martinsville area. He chose clocks made by a local company, Ridgeway Clocks (now a subsidiary of Michigan -based Howard Miller ). The hot dogs at Martinsville as well are a notable part of the fan experience. The hot dogs themselves are composed of

944-585: Is held on Labor Day weekend under the lights, and late model races. NASCAR Xfinity Series also races same weekend as cup series playoff race (which is next to last race) in Xfinity series. In 2012, Martinsville Track President Clay Campbell, Langley Speedway 's owner Bill Mullis, and then South Boston Speedway 's General Manager Cathy Rice formed the Virginia Triple Crown. The series contains each tracks respective crown jewel race beginning with

1003-482: Is in an 1893 advertisement for the "Gem Paper Clip". In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trademark for the "Gem" name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since March 1, 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States. Paper clips are still sometimes called "Gem clips", and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is "gem". Definite proof that

1062-680: Is its appropriation as logo of the Year of Design ( L'any del disseny ) in Barcelona 2003, depicted on posters, T-shirts and other merchandise. It has been claimed that the paper clip was invented by English intellectual Herbert Spencer (1820–1903). Spencer registered a "binding-pin" on 2 September 1846, which was made and sold by Adolphus Ackermann for over a year, advertised as "for holding loose manuscripts, sermons, weekly papers, and all unstitched publications". Spencer's design, approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) unfolded, looked more like

1121-510: Is steel or some other metal , but molded plastic is also used. Some other kinds of paper clips use a two-piece clamping system. Recent innovations include multi-colored plastic-coated paper clips and spring -fastened binder clips . Regular metal paper clips weigh about a gram. According to the Early Office Museum, the first patent for a bent wire paper clip was awarded in the United States to Samuel B. Fay in 1867. This clip

1180-425: Is to unfold the clip in a line and then twist the end in a right angle, trying to imitate a key and using it to lift the lock fixator. The second approach, which is more feasible but needs some practice, is to use the semi-unfolded clip kink for lifting when the clip is inserted through the hole where the handcuffs are closed. A paper clip image is the standard image for an attachment in an email client . In 1994,

1239-458: The Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by the one and a half loops made by the wire. Common to paper clips proper is their utilization of torsion and elasticity in the wire, and friction between wire and paper. When a moderate number of sheets are inserted between the two "tongues" of the clip, the tongues will be forced apart and cause torsion in the bend of the wire to grip

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1298-433: The "Gem" was used worldwide, including his own country. The failure of his design was its impracticality. Without the two full loops of the fully developed paper clip, it was difficult to insert sheets of paper into his clip. One could manipulate the end of the inner wire so that it could receive the sheet, but the outer wire was a dead end because it could not exploit the torsion principle. The clip would instead stand out like

1357-408: The $ 5 million initiative should provide flexibility in case of inclement weather. The project was completed in early February 2017 with testing of the lights in certain sections, then fully lighting the track in mid-February. It was also announced that the 300-lap NASCAR late model race will be the first NASCAR race to run in prime-time with the new lighting system in early October 2017. Following

1416-523: The American expert on technological innovations, Professor Henry J. Petroski . He refers to an 1883 article about "Gem Paper-Fasteners", praising them for being "better than ordinary pins" for "binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript". Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early "Gem", it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name. The earliest illustration of its current form

1475-627: The France family for over $ 200 million as a result of an estate sale following the death of Weatherford. International Speedway Corporation (ISC) became owner of the track. Plans had existed to add an additional 20,000 seats along the backstretch, boosting capacity to over 85,000 seats. In 2005–2006 the Norfolk Southern Railway behind the track was moved 200 feet to make way for the added seats, but nothing more has been officially mentioned regarding this by track management since

1534-558: The NASCAR officials determined that a full lap had not been run since Sellers was in fourth and he never had the chance to challenge Brian Ickler for the lead. In the season finale, at Stafford Sellers finally win his first race. He finished the season 8th overall points standings, with a series high 3 poles. Peyton again came close to taking the win at the Toyota All-Star Showdown, with Jig-A-Loo as his sponsor, when

1593-606: The No. 31 Chevrolet for Marsh Racing . Sellers headed back east for the 2007 season and raced out of his home shop with brother, HC Sellers, as crew chief. Sellers finished 3rd overall in the NASCAR Busch East Series . He would go on to finish 2nd in the Toyota All-Star Showdown . In 2008, Sellers signed on with Andy Santerre Motorsports in the No. 44 Chevrolet. Sellers took the pole and

1652-750: The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 held annually on Independence Day weekend at South Boston, followed by the Hampton Heat 200 held annually in late July at Langley, the series concludes in September at Martinsville with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. The series has run annually since 2012 except for in 2016, due to Langley Speedway's brief closure, and in 2020, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. During

1711-473: The Triple Crown's eight year history there have been five different winners and only Peyton Sellers and Lee Pulliam have won it multiple times. After multiple late model races were forced to count caution laps in later segments in order to beat sunset, and the 2015 fall Cup race ended at sunset, the track announced on October 12, 2016, in a news conference with Campbell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. , that

1770-563: The United States imposed anti-dumping tariffs against China on paper clips. Patents Peyton Sellers Peyton Sellers (born October 20, 1983) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He won the 2005 and 2021 national championship of NASCAR's Weekly Racing Series . He competed for several seasons in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series . Sellers started his racing career in karting , beginning at age 7. By age 13, Sellers

1829-911: The Year honors in the Late Model Stock Car division. In 2005, Sellers won 14 of his 16 starts at South Boston, winning the Dodge Weekly Series National championship. In 2006 Sellers raced in the NASCAR West Division, where he drove the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet , his only win coming at Douglas County Speedway on July 1, 2006. He was a member of the Richard Childress Racing driver development program during that season. Sellers also competed in his first NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway , driving

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1888-417: The asphalt surface. In 1976 the turns were repaved with concrete (a rare concept in the 1970s). By 2004, the then 28-year-old concrete had shown significant wear. On April 18, 2004 a large chunk of concrete became dislodged from the track's surface and caused severe damage to the body of Jeff Gordon 's car. In reaction to this, the track was fully repaved with new concrete and asphalt. Until 1999, Martinsville

1947-493: The conclusion of the race will be at dusk around 6 PM. On January 28, 2019, it was revealed on ISC's 2018 annual report that the speedway's track seating was reduced from 55,000 to 44,000. On April 3, 2019, NASCAR announced significant changes to the Martinsville schedule including a return to the track for the NASCAR Xfinity Series in late October 2020, the spring race being moved to Mother's Day weekend under

2006-400: The fact that Vaaler's clip was not the same as the fully developed Gem-type clip. In 1989, a giant paper clip, almost 7 m (23 ft) high, was erected on the campus of a commercial college near Oslo in honor of Vaaler, ninety years after his invention was patented. But this monument shows a Gem-type clip, not the one patented by Vaaler. The celebration of the alleged Norwegian origin of

2065-486: The flexibility and adaptability of the paper clip beyond its traditional use. Additionally, paper clips can serve as temporary bookmarks in books or documents. Their slim profile and easy placement make them useful for marking a specific page or section without causing damage or adding bulk. Paper clips can be bent into a crude but sometimes effective lock picking device. Some types of handcuffs can be unfastened using paper clips. There are two approaches. The first one

2124-478: The international literature on paper clips. Vaaler probably succeeded in having his design patented abroad, despite the previous existence of more useful paper clips, because patent authorities at that time were quite liberal and rewarded any marginal modification of existing inventions. Johan Vaaler began working for Alfred J. Bryns Patentkontor in Kristiania in 1892 and was later promoted to office manager,

2183-423: The lights, as qualifying will move to 12:10 p.m., and after the session (which typically lasts an hour), the race will start around 3:00 p.m. (typically this would mean the race starts between 15 and 25 minutes after the hour), where with sunset being around 6:25 p.m., meaning the final laps will be run at night. The experiment was not repeated in 2018, but the start time for the 2018 race was set for 2:30 PM, meaning

2242-687: The lights, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returning for the MaxPro Window Films 200 as part of the Mothers Day weekend event on a Friday night, and the NASCAR Truck Series racing only once at the track on a Friday night in late October. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the 2020 Mother's Day Cup event being moved to June 10, being run on a Wednesday night. The race returned to April for 2021 and

2301-488: The market, although not yet in Norway. His version was never manufactured and never marketed because the superior Gem was already available. Long after Vaaler's death, his countrymen created a national myth based on the false assumption that the paper clip was invented by an unrecognized Norwegian genius. Norwegian dictionaries since the 1950s have mentioned Vaaler as the inventor of the paper clip, and that myth later found its way into international dictionaries and much of

2360-483: The modern type of paper clip was well known in 1899 at the latest, is the patent granted to William Middlebrook of Waterbury , Connecticut on April 27 of that year for a "Machine for making wire paper clips." The drawing clearly shows that the product is a perfect clip of the Gem type. The fact that Middlebrook did not mention it by name, suggests that it was already well known at the time. Since then countless variations on

2419-471: The most practical, and consequently by far the most popular. Its qualities—ease of use, gripping without tearing, and storing without tangling—have been difficult to improve upon. In the USA , National Paperclip Day is celebrated on May 29th. The Gem-type paperclip has become a symbol of inventive design , as confirmed below – although falsely – by its celebration as a Norwegian invention in 1899. More convincing

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2478-402: The national biographical encyclopedia of Norway ( Norsk biografisk leksikon ) published the biography of Johan Vaaler, stating he was the inventor of the paper clip. Wire is versatile in its nature. Thus a paper clip is a useful accessory in many kinds of mechanical work, including computer work: the metal wire can be unfolded with a little force. Several devices call for a very thin rod to push

2537-418: The oldest winner at 51 years, 255 days. It was Gant's fourth win in a row, earning him the nickname Mr. September. Ownership of the track was a joint venture of brothers Jim and Bill France Jr. , and H. Clay Earles , the majority owner, along with daughters Dorothy Campbell and Mary Weatherford, and Dorothy Campbell's children, Sarah Fain and Clay Campbell. In 2004, the track was sold exclusively to

2596-470: The paper clip culminated in 1999, one hundred years after Vaaler submitted his application for a German patent. A commemorative stamp was issued that year, the first in a series to draw attention to Norwegian inventiveness. The background shows a facsimile of the German "Patentschrift". However, the figure in the foreground is not the paper clip depicted on that document, but the much better known "Gem". In 2005,

2655-489: The sale of the track to ISC. From 1982 until 1994, and again in 2006, the speedway hosted Busch Series events. This occurred first with 200- and 150-lap features (200 laps for the two races with Whelen Modifieds, 150 laps with the September Winston/Nextel Cup race), then 300 laps from 1992 until 1994 as part of a Late Model/Busch Series doubleheader, and 250 laps in the one-off in 2006. The venue

2714-414: The same theme have been patented. Some have pointed instead of rounded ends, some have the end of one loop bent slightly to make it easier to insert sheets of paper, and some have wires with undulations or barbs to get a better grip. In addition, purely aesthetic variants have been patented, clips with triangular, star, or round shapes. But the original Gem type has for more than a hundred years proved to be

2773-535: The sheets together. They are usually used to bind papers together for productivity and portability. The paper clip's widespread use in various settings, from offices to educational institutions, underscores its functional design and adaptability. While primarily designed for binding papers, its versatility has led to a range of applications, both practical and creative. Paper clips usually have an oblong shape with straight sides, but may also be triangular or circular, or have more elaborate shapes. The most common material

2832-567: The track championships at Dominion Speedway and South Boston Speedway to win his second NASCAR Weekly Series championships by 34 points. On April 2, 2022, the Superstar Racing Experience announced that Sellers would race in the series' June 25 race at South Boston. Sellers grew up in Danville, Virginia . His parents are Mary and Burt Sellers. For his 2021 championship, his father was his spotter, his mother records

2891-459: The track would be adding a $ 5 million LED lighting package. Campbell also explained that Martinsville Speedway would be the first sports arena with an all-LED lighting package. Campbell said that the track did not then have plans in place for nighttime races, with its premier series dates in 2017 already locked in to start at 2 p.m. ET (in April) and 1 p.m. ET (October). But Campbell indicated that

2950-533: The win at the season opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway , in Greenville, SC. The victory was short-lived due to a rules infraction. Sellers was stripped of his win and given a 30th-place finish. At Iowa , in the closing laps, Sellers took second from Austin Dillon before a caution but he was placed back into fourth place on the restart (the position he was in on the restart after the previous yellow) because

3009-496: Was also patented in the United States by Erlman J. Wright on July 24, 1877, patent #193,389. This clip was advertised at that time for use in fastening together loose leaves of papers, documents, periodicals, newspapers etc. The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by "The Gem Manufacturing Company", according to

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3068-647: Was driving open wheel sprint cars , collecting 11 feature wins in his first 20 races. After competing for several years in Sprints, Sellers decided to try his hand in stock car racing on asphalt ovals. He ran the 2001 season in the Limited Sportsman division at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina. He competed at South Boston Speedway in Virginia as a rookie in 2002, winning Rookie of

3127-850: Was dropped from the Busch Series schedule for 2007 and a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal was run on the open date. Currently, Martinsville hosts two NASCAR Cup Series races — the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 in late March or early April and the Xfinity 500 (race nine in the NASCAR playoffs ) in late October or early November — along with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series , NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour which

3186-425: Was not the same as the then-common Gem-type clip. In the report of the first fifty years of the patent agency, he wrote an article in which he proclaimed Vaaler to be the inventor of the common paper clip. This piece of information found its way into some Norwegian encyclopedias after World War II . Events of that war contributed greatly to the mythical status of the paper clip. Patriots wore them in their lapels as

3245-421: Was notorious for having two pit roads . The backstretch pit road was generally avoided because if a team had to pit there during a caution, any car pitting on the front stretch had the advantage of pitting first and not having to adhere to pace car speed upon exiting their pit road. This was rectified when pit road was reconfigured to extend from the entrance of turn 3 to the exit of turn 2. This move allowed for

3304-411: Was originally intended primarily for attaching tickets to fabric, although the patent recognized that it could be used to attach papers together. Fay received U.S. patent 64,088 on April 23, 1867. Although functional and practical, Fay's design along with the 50 other designs patented prior to 1899 are not considered reminiscent of the modern paperclip design known today. Another notable paper clip design

3363-484: Was shortened to 400 laps in 2022. A second Xfinity Series race was added beginning in 2021, while the spring Truck Series date was dropped in 2020 in favor of keeping the fall event. For 2022, the trucks returned to the spring date, with the fall date being removed from the calendar. Unique to Martinsville, winners of the NASCAR Cup Series, Truck Series, and Whelen Modified events receive a longcase clock as

3422-483: Was soon prohibited, and people wearing them could risk severe punishment. The leading Norwegian encyclopedia mentioned the role of the paper clip as a symbol of resistance in a supplementary volume in 1952 but did not yet proclaim it a Norwegian invention. That information was added in later editions. According to the 1974 edition, the idea of using the paper clip to denote resistance originated in France . A clip worn on

3481-464: Was suspended from NASCAR competition on October 25, 2011, as a result of an altercation following a race at South Boston Speedway until March 1, 2012. For 2015, Sellers planned to race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time, taking over the No. 97 for Obaika Racing after Josh Reaume was released from the team after three race weekends, but was released from the team after Watkins Glen due to mediocre results. After leaving NASCAR competition as

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