Round 16 - Martinsville

Round 16 of the series took place on the tight 'paper clip' 0.5 mile oval that is Martinsville.

I was quckest over the 10 lap practise session with a time of 21.300.

I couldn't match that time in qualifying but I still managed pole with a time of 21.302.

From then start I took the lead and was able to hold it comfortablely. The only problem I had was when I was lapping the slower cars which on an half mile oval comes very quickly. I did get a warning about rough driving but did avoid the dreaded black flag. A yellow flag near the end gave the comfort zone to finish the race unopposed. Another win.

 

I led 54 of the 60 laps which I think is my best ever performance.

 

My fastest lap was 21.001, the best of the weekend.

 

I was now 9th in the standings.

Round 15 - Talledega Superspeedway

The penultimate round of the championship took place on the high banking of the fastest superspeedway of them all, Talledega.

My record on the superspeedways is not good so I was pleased with my 4th fastest practise time of 53.792.

As usual for a super speedway I qualified a lowly 33rd with a slightly slower time of 53.932. 

I kept my cool at the start and although I didn't hit anyone I still found myself at the back. Once the race settled down I began to pick up positions. By end of the 28 lap race I had made my way up to 20th position which is my best finish on a superpeedway to date.

I was still in the top ten (just) (in 10th) a mere 327 points behind.

My fastest lap time was 53.517 my fastest of the weekend.

Round 14 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

I was on good form and feeling confident of a good result at the very fast Las Vegas Motor Speedway when the trucks arrived for round 14 of the series.

The 10 laps practise session went very well as I was fastest after the 10 laps with a time of 32.789.

Qualifying was slightly disappointing as I could only manage a time of 32.860 which gave me a 4th place starting position.

As the green flag dropped I overtook 2 of the cars that lined up in front of me. I then proceeded to run in the top 2 until lap 41 of the scheduled 45 laps.

On lap 41 I decided to make my move for the lead. However I slightly misjudged the closing speed and clipped the car in front. It was only a slight tap but it was enough to spin me out.

I restarted with 2 laps to go in 29th place. In the remaining 2 laps I made up 7 places to finish 22nd.

I did lead 8 laps but this wasn't enough to gain me the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps.

My fastest lap of the race was a 32.722.

Round 13 - New Hampshire

The Nascar Craftsman truck series rolled into New Hampshire on December 1st.

This one mile flat oval would prove quite a challenge or so I thought. Practise went well as I set the fastest time of 32.356 on the last of the scheduled 10 laps.

In the qualifying session I qualified in pole position with a time of 32.133.

I took the lead early on in the race to get the 5 bonus points for leading a lap. Holding on to the lead proved hazardous as after halfway there were 3 yellow flag periods in quick succession. I decided to let a car through in the early laps to avoid the black flag. With 10 to go I closed on the leader and got the lead. All was going well into the final corner when I drifted slightly wide and was passed. A second place!

My fastest lap of the race was a 32.689. I managed to lead 34 of the 60 laps.

I was up to 9th in the standings.

Round 12 - Bristol Motor Speedway

The question as the trucks rolled into Bristol was whether the recent upturn in my form continue at Nascar's toughest short track.

With a lot of cars on track at one time setting a fast time in practise proved difficult but midway through the session I managed to set the fastest time (17.419).

In qualifying I went a tad slower (17.603) but still managed to get pole position.

In the race I stayed in the top 3 always fightng for the lead. On lap 57 of the 60 laps I made my final move for the lead and got it. Another win! 

I lead for only 7 laps which gained me 5 bonus points. My fastest racing lap was 17.350 which was faster tahn both my practise and qualifying times.

In all I led 23 laps but this wasn't enough for the extra 5 points for leading the most laps.

I was now up to 10th in the standings.

 

Round 11 - Indianapolis Raceway Park

Round 11 of the series took place at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. The trucks do not race at the more famous motor speedway.

After somewhat disappointing finish at Milwaukee I wasn't expecting good things from this race, however  the race weekend started brightly enough when I set the fastest time in practise (22.571).

The 2 lap qualifying period went well to as I improved my best time by nearly half a second to grab pole position (22.061).

The race went to plan as I ran in the top 2 for the entire 60 laps. I did not get one warning for rough contact which was a real bonus.

Ten laps from the end I took the lead and held it until the chequered flag. A win at last.

I led for 47 laps which gave me 10 bonus points. My fastest race lap was 22.286 which was quicker than I qualified.

I was up to 14th in the standings.

Round 10 - Milwaukee Mile

The famous Milwaukee Mile played host to round 10 of the series.

I was fastest after the 10 lap practise session with a time of 30.514
.

Could I go one better in qualifying and grab the pole? The answer was yes, a time of 30.391 was good enough!

In the race I made my quickly up to, mainly 2nd place but I did manage to lead 20 laps which gave me my 5 bonus points. All was fine until lap 58 when, yet again I recieved the black flag! It wasn't a total disaster though because I had lapped a number of cars which took a lot of the pain out of my drive through penalty. I left the pits in 19th and made it to 17th in 1 lap.

My fastest lap of the race was a 30.360 which was quicker than my qualifying time!

I was now 16th in the standings.

Round 9 Michigan International Speedway

Michigan Super Speedway was home to round 9 of the series.

This high banked oval which boasts speeds of 153mph in the corners is one of Nascar's fastest tracks.

The race weekend started off with the mandatory 10 lap practise session. I was just outside the top 10, placing 13th with a time of 42.159.

Qualifying next and the question was could I get further up the grid? The answer was yes as I managed 7th  with a time of 41.852.

The race turned out to be something special for me - no black flags. On the first lap I was passed by four cars to go 11th and that is where I stayed for the 30 laps. I was running on my own all the time just behind two cars but I could never get within passing distance.

My best time of the race was 41.677 which was my fastest of the race weekend!

I was up to 16th in the standings.

Round 8 - Texas Motor Speedway

Round 8 took place at one of the fastest tracks on the championship circuit, Texas Motorspeedway.

The race weekend started well as I was fastest straight out of the box in practise with a time of 34.081 after the mandatory 10 laps.

I was a tad faster in qualifying and managed to claim pole position with a time of 33.982.

The 50 lap race followed a similar pattern to the previous 2 or 3. From the dropping of the flag I led for 10 laps before slotting to second with the intention of sitting there until the last few laps when I would make my move. The plan was going well as I hit the front on lap 41. Disaster struck on lap 45 when I got for the first ever the "Fuel Extremely Low" message. I tried to ride out the remaining 5 laps by cutting down on the speed but to no avail as the car stopped on lap 48. I finished last!

My best lap of the race was a 33.804 which was my fastest of the race weekend.

I was 18th in the standings - still 8 places higher than the previous season.

Round 7 - Dover Delaware

The Monster Mile that is Dover played host to round 7 of the series.

As with recent rounds in practise I was fastest with a best time of 27.222..

Qualifying went well as I posted the fastest time and secured another pole position (27.251).

The raced turned out to be yet another disaster. I was in the top 2 for the first 46 laps then  I spun out in turn 3. The resulting yellow flag saw me placed at the back of the field for the restart. With 13 laps to go I attempted to make my way back through the field however my progress was halted when I received the black flag for dangerous driving.

I did pick up the 5 bonus points for leading a lap.

Round 6 - Lowes Motor Speedway - Charlotte

The fifth round of series saw the trucks roll in to Lowes motorspeedway (formerly Charlotte) in North Carolina.

Another solid practise session where again I was second fastest with a time of 33.307 after the 10 laps.

Qualifying almost followed the pattern of practise as I was fastest with a time of 32.843.

I was in the top two for most of the race and with 5 laps to go I made my move to hit the front. Unfortunately while lapping some back markers I received the black flag on lap 38 of the 39 laps.

I did eventually finish 36th.

I was down to 7th in the standings, 122 points behind.

Round 5 - Kansas

Round 5 took place at the very fast Kansas Motor Speedway.

As usual it seems I had a very good practise session, topping the timing sheets with a time of 33.965.

Qualifying did not go so well as I could only manage a 34.038 which saw me on the 5th row in 10th place.
It didn't take long fo me to move up the order in the race. I was content to stay in the top 5 and let the laps pass by. With 10 laps to go I decided to move to the front, after 2 laps or so I was there.

I held the lead until laps from the end when I recieved the first black flag of the season! before I could serve my penalty I caused a caution period which meant that the race finished under the yellow flag.

I was clasified in 29th place which dopped me to 4th in the standings 44 points behind.

My fastest lap of the race was a 34.026.

Round 4 - Martinsville

Round 4 of the series took place on the tight 'paper clip' 0,5 mile oval that is Martinsville.

I was quckest over the 10 lap practise session with a time of 21.712.

I bettered that time in qualifying as I managed pole with a time of 21.388.

In the race, I led for the majority of the 77 laps (68).

I managed to lap 12 cars, 3 of them twice before finally taking the chequered flag in 1st place

I did set a best lap time of 20.942.

I was now 1st in the standings, 37 points in front.

Round 3 Atlanta Motor Speedway

Round 3 of the series took place at the very fast Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia.

I started off the race weekend with a very satisfying practise session, where after my 10 laps I was 5th fastest with a time of 31.858.

Qualifying went even better for me as I qualified in 2nd place with a time of 31.777.

In the race I found myself in the lead after the first of the 42 laps.

I stayed in 2nd or 3rd place all reace until a late yellow when on the restart with 1 lap to go I took the lead. It was not be a race though as coming out of turn 4 I was spun out by a following truck. Luckily my momentum was such that I still managed to finish 3rd. 

My fastest time in the race was 31.693 which was quicker than I qualified!

I ended up in 4th place in the overall standings 18 points behind the current leader.

Round 2 - Auto Club Raceway (California)

Round 2 of the series took place at the Auto Club Speedway, previously Fontana in sunny California.

I was fastest in practise with a time 42.316 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my fom and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.461 and 42.324.

In the race I led the first 22 laps before I was hit from behind and spun out. I restarted in 3rd but had the lead back by the end of turn 2.

I survived till the end to record my first win of the season.

My best lap of the race was 42.303 which was faster than I qualified!

I was now up to 10th in the standings, 74 points adrift of the leader.

Round 1 - Daytona International Raceway

For this series I decided to leave the limit for practise as 10 laps. This seemed to be enough.

I ended up 19th fastest after practise with a best time of 52.883 seconds.

Qualifying for this series (and all other NASCAR championships) is in a 2 lap dash format. The track is empty at this point.

I qualified in my usual position for a super-speedway, 36th and last! My times were 53.252 and 53.185 not bad for consistency as these were practically the same times as I posted the last time I was here!

I made a slight mistake early on in the race which made me lose the draft however by the end of the race I had managed to get to 34th - 10 positions worse than last time.

Craftsman Truck Series - Season 2 - Current Progress

Season 2 - Current Progress

For season 2 the race length was increased by 5% to 25%

Round	Venue	Finish	Standings	Points
1	Daytona International Superspeedway	24	24	2629
2	Auto Club Speedway	1	8	2719
3	Atlanta Motor Speedway	36	13	2722
4	Martinsville	36	21	2722
5	Kansas	35	25	2552
6	Lowes Motorspeedway	26	25	2578
7	Dover	34	26	2583
8	Texas Motor Speedway	29	26	2601
9	Michigan International Speedway	9	24	2671
10	Milwaukee Mile	3	21	2781
11	Indianapolis Raceway Park	1	20	2871
12	Bristol Motor Speedway	3	19	2956
13	New Hampshire	1	11	3046
14	Las Vegas	20	12	3088
15	Talledega	36	17	3115
16	Martinsville	17	17	3164
17	Atlanta Motor Speedway	2	12	3252
18	Texas Motor Speedway	35	16	3254
19	Phoenix International Raceway	1	12	3344
20	Homestead, Miami Florida	36	14	3370

Trivia
Up to and including round 20 I have driven a total of 1808 laps.

Up to and including round 19 I have used 468 tyres.

Up to and including round 11 of series 2 I have had 13 top finishes

Up to and including round 13 of series 2 I have driven 1800 miles.

Up to and including round 15 of  series 2 I have an average race speed of 88mph.

Up to and including round 16 of series 2 I have burnt 347 gallons of fuel.

Up to and including round 18 my average finishing position has been 15th.

Up to and including round 17 there have been a total of 244 caution laps.

Up to and including round 7 I have led a total of 332 laps.

Up to and including round 12 my average qualifying position was 7th.

Round 20 - Homestead - Miami Florida

Round 20, the final round of the series took place at Homestead Miami Speedway in Florida.

I had to get a good result to stand any chance of a championship top 10 finish.

The 10 lap practise session went well as I was fastest with a time of 38.042s.

Qualifying did not go too well as I had to be content with a 13th place grid slot with a time of 38.021 even though this was faster than my practise time!

In the race I managed to climb through the field to get the lead in the first 10 laps. However a lapse in concentration on lap 25 saw me spin coming out of turn 2 and which put me back deep in the field.

I fought hard to get back to the front but the stewards deemed it too hard and on the last lap I was given my final black flag of the season!

So a last place finish to complete the season. 14th in the championship, 1001 points behind the leader was disappointting but next season a top 10 should be possible.