(UPDATE) -- After taking a weekend away from the track, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series got back into a race week routine this week. The Cup Series is headed to Martinsville Speedway.

There is one team engineer who knows Martinsville Speedway as well as anybody. Darian Grubb is the lead race engineer for Hendrick Motorsports and he is directly responsible for Dale Earnhardt Jr's. number 88 car. Grubb grew up just down the road from Martinsville. He has been studying that track for years. "There are a few things that are unique to Martinsville just because of the unique paperclip shape. You have to do a lot of tuning for braking and accelerating," said Grubb.

While Dale Jr. sports a solid fifth ranking in the Cup Series this week, he has never won a Cup race at Martinsville. Grubb said he knows how to make that happen. "It's more about making your driver comfortable from what I've learned over the years, so the driver's skill actually comes out a lot more, I think, at Martinsville than some of the other tracks just because they are going to control the car as long as you make it comfortable for them, then they can get their job done."

Grubb's guidance at Martinsville could also end up helping Hendrick's struggling 24 and 48 cars. Much has been made of the early-season struggles of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson is 13th in the series standings while Gordon is 14th. Johnson, has won the last three races at Martinsville while Gordon leads all active drivers in Martinsville wins, with seven. Both of these Hendrick drivers are looking for a little magic to happen at Martinsville this weekend.