Bad news for Craftsman Truck series regulars. Mark Martin announced this week that he was going to increase the number of 2006 Craftsman Truck races from 7 to 14 in the #6 Scott's Miracle Gro Ford. Martin won the first two races of the season. So he wasn't supposed to race the Krogers 250 at Martinsville but there he was on the outside of the front row. Bobby Hamilton Jr.-#18 Fastenal Dodge won the pole in his first race filling in for his father Bobby Hamilton who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
Nextel Cup rookie Clint Bowyer-#07 Jack Daniels Chevy ran his very first truck race mainly because he'd never raced at Martinsville before. Martinsville is a half mile flat track shaped like a paper clip. Pit stategy would be inportant in this race. Some trucks planned to pit twice and some trucks planned to pit once to get track position and use the numerous cautions to save fuel. The thinking is once you get the lead it's so difficult to pass that you can keep the lead. That was Bowyer's strategy and he led the first half of the race. Unfortunately, he spun out and hit the wall shortly after pitting. The truck was damaged but he did continue. He just wasn't the same and finished eighth.
David Starr-#11 Red Horse Racing Toyota used this one pit stop strategy to get the lead halfway through the race. Ted Musgrave-#9 ASE Toyota & Matt Crafton-#88 Menards Chevy used the same strategy but weren't able to pass Starr. So the one pit stop strategy worked perfectly for David Starr. Mark Martin had fresher tires but ran out of time and finished fourth. Starr's win moved him up to fifth place in the points standings. Mark Martin still leads. The next race is April 29 at Gateway Speedway in St. Louis. Martin won't be there.
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