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DAYTONA BEACH,
Fla. (Oct. 20, 2004) – Rick Crawford (No. 14
Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford) holds strong opinions
about what it takes to excel at Martinsville Speedway, which
hosts Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger
200.
And as winner of April’s
Kroger 250, he’s entitled to make a point or two about the
flat, .526-mile track that received a new coat of asphalt since
the series’ last visit.
“Martinsville is a place
where you can make things happen and the driver has a lot to do
with control,” said Crawford. “You’d better be on top of your
game, especially in the right mind set.
“Mentally being prepared
for Martinsville is (saying) ‘I’m going to a short track where
I can make things happen,’ and I’m looking forward to that as a
driver.”
Crawford definitely was
on top of his game in the spring despite driving with a broken
right foot. Two-time Martinsville winner Dennis Setzer
(No. 46 Chevrolet Silverado Chevrolet) tried in vain
to overhaul Crawford’s Ford and the charge resulted in the
series’ closest finish (.365 of a second) at the fabled short
track.
“I looked at it like it
was just another race,” said Crawford, who was injured a month
earlier at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Crawford likely puts this
week’s 200-lap, 105.2-mile event into the same category. The
46-year-old veteran of 193 series races holds his emotions in
check, good race or bad. Still, Crawford seeks to carry the
momentum of a seventh-place finish in Texas, his first top 10
since early August. Crawford ranked as high as third in the
standings before a late-summer slide dropped the Alabama
competitor to 12th. However, he’s just 40 points behind
10th-place Jack Sprague (No. 16 Chevy Trucks
Chevrolet) entering the 22nd of 25 scheduled
events.
“I think the team sort of
forgot about the victory at Martinsville and we just kind of
have to turn the whole season back around,” said Crawford, a
top-10 championship finisher in each of the past three
seasons.” “I feel proud to say that we’ve at least won a race
in 2004 but being in a slump is not successful. I’m proud of my
guys for hanging in there and sticking through this situation
that we’re in to figure it out. I mean, we dug ourselves a hole
as a team and we’re digging out.”
NEWS & NOTES, PART
II
- Silverado 350K sees
huge ratings climb … Last week’s Silverado
350K at Texas Motor Speedway earned a 0.6 average rating on
SPEED Channel, a 100 percent increase over the same event’s 0.3
rating on SPEED one year ago, according to Nielsen Media
Research. Households were up 78 percent (350,000 vs. 199,000)
and viewers increased 44 percent (427,000 vs. 297,000). The
broadcast drew a higher rating than the PGA Tour Chrysler
Classic, which aired in the same time slot. Through the
season’s first 20 races, the series has earned a 0.7 average
rating on SPEED Channel, up 17 percent over 2003.
- Bodine eyes possible
three-peat at Martinsville … Todd
Bodine (No. 30 Germain Motor Company Toyota) looks at
the record book this week following his second consecutive
victory in the Oct. 16 Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway.
Bodine, the 13th different driver to post back-to-back
victories, can become just the fourth driver in series history
to win three consecutive races. The last to accomplish the feat
was Greg Biffle in 2000.
- Hamilton gains breathing
room as Musgrave advances … Bobby Hamilton
(No. 4 Square D Dodge) increased his championship lead
over Dennis Setzer to 79 points with a third-place finish at
Texas Motor Speedway. The margin is the largest since the
spread was 97 on Aug. 16 following the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol
Motor Speedway. Ted Musgrave (No. 1 Mopar
Dodge) continues his team’s late season turnaround,
bypassing Carl Edwards (No. 99 Super Chips
Ford) for the third spot in the title race. Musgrave,
sixth at Texas, leads Edwards by eight and trails Hamilton by
165.
- Labonte heads Kroger 200
drop-in contingent … Eight years after his first and
only NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start, Bobby Labonte
(No. 47 ACXIOM Chevrolet), 2000 champion in NASCAR’s
premier series, returns for the Kroger 200. Labonte, who
previously competed at Phoenix International Raceway in October
1996, will be joined by Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 59
Virginia Motorsports Tech Center Dodge), Jamie
McMurray (No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Dodge) and
Ken Schrader (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts
Chevrolet). FOX commentator Darrell Waltrip
(No. 11 Toyota Tundra Toyota) also is among more than
40 entries.
- Etc. … Bill
Lester (No. 22 Husqvarna Toyota) and David
Reutimann (No. 17 NTN Bearings Toyota) have been
cleared by NASCAR to compete in the Kroger 200. The competitors
were involved in a lap 103 accident at Texas Motor Speedway. …
The Kroger 200 is the 25th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race
to be held in the Commonwealth of Virginia and 11th at
Martinsville Speedway. This is the second time the track has
hosted two events in the same season. This is the eighth and
final short track race of the season. There have been seven
different winners. … Setzer finished third a year ago in his
bid for a season sweep and three wins in a row in Martinsville.
The Newton, N.C. driver is the only double winner at the track.
… Last year’s Kroger 200 had 32 laps of caution – fewest in
series history at Martinsville. … The Bud Pole starter has won
just once at Martinsville (Rich Bickle in
1997) although the winner has come from the first or second row
on six occasions. Craftsman’s “win from the pole” bonus
increases to $26,000 this week. … Ron Hornaday
Jr. has been named to drive Kevin Harvick
Inc.’s No. 6 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet in 2005. The
two-time series champion is the division’s all-time winning
driver with 26 victories, the last coming in 2002 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
ON THE RIGHT
TRACK
- Championship contenders excel at
Martinsville … Setzer’s two Martinsville victories came in 2002
and 2003. Hamilton sat on the Bud Pole in 1996 and won in 2000.
Musgrave captured back-to-back poles in 2001-02 and finished
second in last year’s Kroger 250. Edwards won his first series
pole a year ago and finished runnerup to teammate Jon Wood (No.
50 Roush Racing Ford).
QUOTEBOOK
- “Ernie Irvan told me a long time
ago, ‘the guy who mashes the gas the longest is going to win.’”
– Rick Crawford, explaining his short-track
racing philosophy.
- “During the race, we watch what the
other contenders are doing, so nothing catches us off guard.
You just can’t spend your time obsessing over it, though. It
will drive a team crazy keeping up with the Joneses as some
might say. The best thing to do is run fast, and then
everything else falls into place.” – Bobby Hamilton
on keeping track of his competitors.
- “Bobby and I had some great
rivalries in the late 80s and early 90s at tracks just like
Martinsville. It’s going to be great to compete with him again
and even better that he is going to be my teammate this time.”
– Dennis Setzer, like Bobby
Labonte, a former NASCAR Late Model Stock champion at
Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.
- “There are no expectations. I don’t
know if anybody knows if it’s going to be a one-groove track, a
two-groove track or what. But I think overall it’s going to
increase competition because everybody is starting over.” –
Jon Wood, defending Kroger 200 winner on
Martinsville Speedway’s new track surface.
FROM THE
ARCHIVES
- Every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
champion, with the exception of Greg Biffle in 2000, has won at
least one short-track race in their title seasons. A
Martinsville Speedway victory, however, never has been on a
champion’s dance card. Joe Ruttman and
Rich Bickle, Martinsville winners in 1995 and
‘97, were championship runners-up.
Fast
Facts
What: Kroger 200
(Race No. 22 of 25).
Where:
Martinsville Speedway
When: 1 p.m. ET,
Saturday, Oct. 23.
Track layout:
.526-mile paved.
Race length: 200
laps/105.2 miles.
Posted awards:
$398,064.
TV: SPEED Channel,
1 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM
Satellite.
2003 winner: Jon
Wood.
2003 polesitter:
Carl Edwards.
Pre-race schedule (all times
local): Friday – Practice 9–11:15 a.m.; Qualifying
1:15 p.m. Final practice following NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
qualifying for one hour time permitting.
Top 10 in Points:
1. Bobby Hamilton 3,098. 2. Dennis Setzer 3,019. 3. Ted
Musgrave 2,933. 4. Carl Edwards 2,925. 5. Matt Crafton 2,762.
6. Chad Chaffin 2,740 7. David Starr 2,726. 8. Travis Kvapil
2,717. 9. Steve Park 2,640. 10. Jack Sprague 2,637.
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