The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

TWO TOP 10's AT MARTINSVILLE


PHOTO

Concord, NC. October 22, 2008: Scott Speed methodically worked from back to front to finish seventh in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

First, he started 32nd. Fifty laps later he was 26th. At halfway he was 18th. At the three-quarter pole he was 16th until finally he picked up a few cheap positions when other competitors ran dry in closing laps to earn his second top-10 finish in two truck starts at NASCAR's shortest track.

Speed finished 10th in his truck debut at Martinsville in March. He has one win, three top fives and six top 10s in 12 NCTS starts this season.

Consider this:

Speed is 22nd in the truck standings with 1,089 points. He's started 12 races; the regulars 21. Speed's average finish is 14.1. A 14th-place finish earns 121 points. If Speed had maintained that average over the nine races he's missed, he'd have 2,603 points. That'd place him 10th in points entering the final four races - all of which he'll run in Bill Davis Racing's No. 22 Red Bull Toyota.

Scott Speed: "Certainly when you start last it's not easy to finish well here at Martinsville, especially in such a short race because inevitably we were going to go a lap down. Luckily, we made a good call and stayed out and had a quick caution afterward - we were able to stay ahead of the 33 (Ron Hornaday) so we got our lap back. Honestly, it was a bit lucky. I think after that it was just trying to stay clean for most of the race. We definitely had a lot left in our truck as opposed to the other guys in front of us. I think out tires were a little bit better. I think I drove a pretty easy race up to the last 20 laps and it paid off."