NASCAR NCTS (BRISTOL) - SERIES NOTES

• Teams Prepared For New Bristol Surface

• Repeat Wins Rare At Short Tracks

• Mike Skinner Reaches Milestone

• Defending Winner Mark Martin Entered In Race

• Kevin Harvick Inc. Team Familiar With Victory Lane

New Surface Offers Familiar Challenge For Contenders

Wednesday night’s O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway will present a new challenge to drivers familiar with the 0.533-mile oval. A recently-completed resurfacing project has given the track a new concrete surface that will force teams to make adjustments to compete for the win.

The changes to the track include variable banking added in the corners to make the transitions to the straightaways smoother, and a three-foot widening of the track.

Teams tested their trucks on the new surface in July and drivers generally came away impressed. But the question remains, how will the new surface affect the racing?

"My initial reaction was, ‘Wow, that will be a project’," said Rick Gay Jr., crew chief for the No. 9 Team ASE/Germain Toyota driven by Ted Musgrave. "Now, after seeing the job they did with the track, it’s still Bristol, but with less bumps. They did a nice job. The track looks different, but it’s really the same Bristol – and that’s a good thing.”

Gay was able to guide Musgrave to second on the time chart during the July test with a top lap of 119.321 mph. The duo trailed Travis Kvapil (No. 6 K&N Filters Ford) who ran a top lap of 119.626 mph.

“The team did a great job working through our test plan,” Kvapil said. “They hit on some things towards the end of the day that found us some more speed.”

Short Track Races Short On Repeat Winners

The only thing more difficult than winning a short- track race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is winning more than once on a short track.

Since 2001, only three drivers have won more than one short-track race in the same season - Jack Sprague (No. 60 Conway Freight Toyota) (2006 – Memphis Motorsports Park and Martinsville Speedway), Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) (2005 – Bristol and Richmond International Raceway) and Dennis Setzer (No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet) (2003 – Mesa Marin Raceway, Martinsville and South Boston Speedway).

That does not bode well for the winners of the first four short-track races this season. Skinner (Martinsville), Setzer (Mansfield Motorsports Park), Travis Kvapil (Memphis) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) (O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis) are all seeking their second short- track win of the season.

Each driver except Setzer has won previously at Bristol. Hornaday is the only driver to have multiple wins (two) in the nine series races at the track.

Hornaday also leads the series with 17 short- track wins. He has wins at every short track currently on the schedule except for Martinsville.

Skinner Hits Miles Led Milestone

In 15 races this season, only one thing has remained a constant - Mike Skinner leading a lap. Skinner has led the field in every race this season, including 102 laps during the last race at Nashville Superspeedway. Those laps led on the 1.333-mile track pushed Skinner’s miles led to over 1,000 for the season, the fifth time the feat has been accomplished in series history.

Skinner previously had reached 1,000 miles led in 1996 and finished third in the standings. It was the only time a driver led over 1,000 miles and failed to win the championship.

Skinner has led the most laps in seven races this season. He has won four of those seven (California Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville and Kentucky Speedway.) The bonus points he has accumulated from running up front have helped pad his tight points lead over Ron Hornaday Jr. Skinner’s 82-point lead can be attributed to his 100 bonus points compared to 55 for Hornaday.

As impressive as his laps led streak is this season, the streak actually stretches back to 2006. Skinner has at least one lap led in every race since Atlanta Motor Speedway last October, a streak of 19 consecutive races.

Drivers With Over 1,000 Miles Led

Driver Miles Year Finish Sprague 1,443.0 2001 1st Skinner 1,136.9 1996 3rd Biffle 1,128.4 2000 1st Sprague 1,074.6 1997 1st Skinner 1,006.9 2007 ?

NCTS Etc: Martin Looks For Repeat; KHI Team Knows Victory Lane

* Martin Goes For Repeat … Mark Martin (No. 21 Mark Martin Ford) will try to become the third driver to successfully defend a win from last season. Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) (Texas Motor Speedway) and Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) (Milwaukee Mile) were the first two drivers to win races this season in which they were the defending champions. Martin led 164 of the 200 laps at Bristol last season and held off Bodine by 0.149 seconds for his fourth win. Martin is winless in four starts this season. He won six of the 14 races he entered last season, including the first two races of the season. His six wins were a series high. * KHI Threesome All Winners … Long before Rick Ren was leading Ron Hornaday Jr. to Victory Lane, the long-time series crew chief led Rick Carelli to his first of four career wins. The duo won at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1996; Hornaday finished eighth in that race. Hornaday went on to win the next two races at Bristol – Carelli finished fourth and 30th. Hornaday is the fifth different driver Ren has led to victory, tied for a series record with John Monsam, crew chief of the No. 21 Mark Martin Ford. Monsam won a race with both Hornaday and Carelli. * Gale Back In Action … Cale Gale (No.2 Camping World Chevrolet) returns to the track for his fourth of five scheduled races. His best finish is 14th in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Team owner Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Pope II have also driven the No. 2 Chevrolet this season. * Gaughan Ties The Knot … Series veteran Brandon Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Resort Chevrolet) married girlfriend Tatum Hayes on Saturday. “I’m happy,” Gaughan said. “We had a beautiful wedding and reception in Vail, Colo., near my family’s house. It was an absolutely gorgeous day – couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m happy to have her and excited to put my name on the list of married drivers now. I guess I’m no longer a ‘Young Gun’ officially.” * Craftsman 80th Anniversary … By leading the 80th lap of last week’s race at Nashville, Mike Skinner earned an $8,000 bonus provided by Sears Craftsman in honor of the company’s 80th anniversary. The bonus money also will be given to the leader of the 80th lap at Bristol. "It would be great if we could lead again on the 80th lap,” Skinner said. “The fact that Craftsman puts up an award for that just speaks volumes about them. It is a great opportunity. Hopefully, we are leading the 80th lap in Bristol, and the last one as well." * On The Right Track … The O’Reilly 200 has been won from the pole on three occasions, most recently by Mark Martin in 2006. Only one Bristol winner has started outside the top five – Travis Kvapil, who started 12th in 2003.

Manufacturers’ Standings: Chevrolet Tops Bristol Win List

Although Mark Martin won last year’s race at Bristol in a Ford, Toyotas were at the top of the finishing order with the manufacturer grabbing the remaining four spots in the top five. Todd Bodine, whose runner-up finish was his second consecutive at the track, was the top-finishing Toyota.

Mike Skinner gave Toyota its only win at Bristol in 2005. Chevrolet has five Bristol wins and Ford has three. Toytota enjoys a 15-point lead in the Manufacturers’ Standings over Chevrolet. Travis Kvapil’s Nashville win pulled Ford within one point of Chevrolet for second place.

Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings

Toyota 105 Chevrolet 90 Ford 89 Dodge 46

In The Loop: Martin’s Driver Rating Almost Perfect

The story coming into the rare Wednesday night NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race continues to be Ron Hornaday Jr.’s pursuit of elusive points leader Mike Skinner. The chase continues, but looking at recent history, the gap may widen after the mid-week action.

Bristol looks like the perfect place for Skinner to rebound from a sub-par performance in his last visit to a short track – he finished 20th at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Skinner has had tremendous success there over the last two years (he won this race in 2005). He has a Driver Rating of 134.3, an Average Running Position of 3.7 and a series-high 59 Fastest Laps Run.

Hornaday must return to his 1997-98 Bristol form if he wants to make up ground. He won back-to-back Bristol races in 1997 and 1998, but has struggled at Bristol since returning to the series fulltime in 2005. With finishes of 14th in 2005 and 27th in 2006, Hornaday earned a Driver Rating of 79.6, an Average Running Position of 14.6 and 236 Laps in the Top 15 (59%).

Two new, yet familiar faces will race Wednesday – NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series regulars Mark Martin and Kyle Busch (No. 51 Chevrolet).

Martin, who started and ended last year’s Bristol race in first, earned tremendous stats. He had a near-perfect Driver Rating of 148.9 (maximum is 150.0), an Average Running Position of 2.7, 28 Fastest Laps Run and ran all 200 laps in the top 15.

Busch finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in 2005 and 2006 at Bristol. He has an average Bristol Driver Rating of 103.0 and an Average Running Position of 10.5. He also has 22 Fastest Laps Run (third-most) and 343 Laps in the Top 15 (third-most).

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

Driver Points 1. Tim Sauter 123 2. Willie Allen 115 3. Blake Bjorklund 110 4. Joey Clanton 91 5. Jason White 77 6. Kelly Bires 49 7. Peter Shepherd 32 8. Kevin Hamlin 26 9. Casey Kingsland 5 10. Brian Sockwell 1

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 15 races of the 25-race season)

* Points leader – Mike Skinner (2,521) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (123.1) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($526,850) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (912) * Victories – Mike Skinner (4) * Bud Poles – Mike Skinner (8) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (12) * Top-10 finishes – Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. (14) * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Tim Sauter (8 points over Willie Allen) * Races led – Mike Skinner (15) * Weeks in Top 10 – Nine drivers tied with 15

On Deck: Gateway International Raceway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will make its annual trip to Gateway International Raceway next Saturday, Sept. 1 for the Dodge Ram Tough 200. Todd Bodine held off Ted Musgrave by 0.433 seconds for the victory last year.

Bodine’s win pushed him past Mark Martin into first place in the standings, a a position Bodine held for the remainder of his championship season. Musgrave won the race in 2005 to become the first repeat winner at the Madison, Ill., track (he also won in 2001).

David Ragan, whose No. 6 Ford was first in owner points going into the race, started at the front of the pack after qualifying was rained out.

FAST FACTS

Next Race: O’Reilly 200 The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway The Date: August 221 The Time: 8:00 p.m. (ET) TV: SPEED 7:30 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: 0.533-mile oval Race Purse: $509,074 2006 Winner: Mark Martin 2006 Pole: Mark Martin

2007 Standings No. Driver Points 1 Skinner 2,521 2 Hornaday Jr. 2,439 3 Kvapil 2,285 4 Bodine 2,255 5 Crawford 2,041 6 Benson 1,969 7 Sprague 1,885 8 Musgrave 1,875 9 Crafton 1,822 10 Darnell 1,751

Schedule: Tuesday – Practice 1 – 5 p.m. Wednesday – Practice 10 – 11 a.m. and 12 – 1 p.m.; Qualifying 4 p.m.