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 21.504.

I couldn't match that time in qualifying but I still managed pole with a time of 21.811.

In the race, I led for the first 13 laps and then it all went horribly wrong as I given the my first black flag. The next two were given as I tried to make my way through all the traffic. 36 cars on a half mile oval is a lot!

To add more misery, during one of the longer green flag periods there was an accident ahead which inadvertently caused me enter the pit lane for an unscheduled stop!

Needless to say I finished 36th.

I did though lead for 20 of the 67 laps with a best lap of 21.217.

21st in the standings now 169 points behind the leader.

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 31.814.

Qualifying went even better for me as I qualified just off the front row in 3rd place with a time of 31.808.

 

In the race I found myself in the lead after the first 3 of the 37 laps. The racing was close as shown by the warning I received for dangerous driving on lap 13.

I managed to be in the lead 2 laps from the end when under pressure from the trucks behind I caused the race's only yellow flag period which inevitably led to the dreaded black flag.

I finshed last in 36th place after having led 20 of the 37 laps!

My fastest time in the race was 31.692 which was quicker than I qualified!

I ended up back down in 13th place in the overall standings 169 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 42.539 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my fom and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.483 and 42.435.

There were 2 yellow flag periods in the first 10 laps, only one of which was caused by me. I was still leading when the third yellow came out on lap 24.

As lap 24 was the penultimate lap this caused a GREEN/WHITE/CHEQUER scenario meaning that the race length was increased to 29 laps.

I survived the retart to record my first win of the season.

My best lap of the race was 42.413 which was faster than I qualified!

I was now up to 8th in the standings, 44 points adrift of the leader.

Round 1 - Daytona International Raceway

For this series I decided to set a limit for practise of 10 laps. This is more than I would normally do.

I ended up 19th fastest after practise with a best time of 53.074 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 53.129 and 53.105 not bad for consistency.

Although I qualified well down in the field, I decided to take things easy early and try to avoid any early trouble and of course the notorious black flag. After five laps or so I started to close up to the pack and began to pick of cars one by one.

By the end of the race I had risen to 24th (91 points) my best ever finish on a super-speedway!

The winning time was 22:38 for the 25 lap (62.5 miles) race and I finished 12.73 seconds behind.

My best lap was 52.232 - better than my qualifying time!

Craftsman Truck Series - Season 1 - Current Progress

Season 1 - Current Progress

Round	Venue	Finish	Standings	Points
1	Daytona Superspeedway	34	34	0
2	Auto Club Speedway (Fontana)	1	9	238
3	Atlanta Motor Speedway	3	7	501
4	Martinsville	11	6	662
5	Kansas Motor Speedway	11	9	874
6	Lowes Motor Speedway	1	4	1174
7	Dover Speedway	21	6	1252
8	Texas Motor Speedway	1	3	1432
9	Michegan Motor Speedway	8	4	1652
10	Milwaukee Mile	2	2	1833
11	O'Reeilly Raceway Park	2	2	1965
12	Bristol Motor Speedway	2	2	2171
13	New Hampshire	2	2	2259
14	Las Vegas	36	4	2262
15	Talladega	31	6	2375
16	Martinsville	35	9	2302
17	Atlanta Motor Speedway	2	7	2390
18	Texas Motor Speedway	1	6	2480
19	Phoenix International Raceway	1	5	2571
20	Homestead Miami Speedway	36	?	?

Trivia:

Up to and including round 20 I have driven 922 miles.

Up to and including round 12 I have burnt 98 gallons of fuel.

Up to and including round 13 I have driven 478 laps.

Up to and including round 14 I have used 160 tyres.

Up to and including round 15 there have been a total of 48 caution laps.

Up to and including round 16 my average speed has been 101mph.

Up to and including round 17 my average qualifying position was 9th.

Up to and including round 18 I have driven a total of 670 laps.

Up to and including round 19 my average finishing position has been 11th.

Round 20 - Homestead, Miami

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

I had to win the round to stand any chance of victory.

Qualifying did not go too well as I had to be content with a 14th place grid slot however by lap 5 I was in the lead!

It was not to be though as 7 laps from the end I was given the dreaded black flag and did not have enough time to recover. I finished 36th.

The trophy was not going to me.

Round 19 - Phoenix

The penultimate round of the Championship took place in the Arizona desert at the Phoenix International Raceway.

I needed a great performance to stand any chance of winning the championship and I got it with another pole position and flag to flag win. 

I was now up to 5th in the standings.

Round 18 - Texas

The lone star state was home to round 18 of the championship.

Texas is one of the fastest of the mile and a half speedways.

My championship challenge was put right back on track when I qualified 1st and led from flag to flag.

I was now 6th in the standings but it was getting closer at the top.

Round 17 - Atlanta

Normal service was resumed as the trucks moved down to Georgia for the 17th round of the series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

I qualified 3rd, ran second all the race and ended up 7th in the standings.

The Championship was still on.

I was also award another performance upgrade at the end of the race.

Round 16 - Martinsville

From the largest speedway on the calender the Truck series' next stop was the smallest, Martinsville.

This paper clip shaped oval consists on 2 straights joined by 2 flat 180 degree bends. 

It is one of my better tracks as shown by the fact that I qualified on pole.

I led until 3 laps from the end when diaster struck - I was spun out!

 

I finished a disappointing 35th.

This left my at the bottom end of the top 10 in 9th place in the standings.

Round 15 - Talledega

The penultimate round of the championship took place on the high banking of Talledega Superspeedway.

As usual for a super speedway I qualified a lowly 35th. 

I did manage to pass 4 cars to finish 31st but overall it was a disappointing race.

Sixth in the standings my championship chances were fading.

Round 14 - Las Vegas

Round 14 in Las Vegas did not turn out to be a lucky race for me.

A good solid qualifying session put me in 7th place on the grid.

I was yet again leading the race with 2 laps to go when I received yet another black flag. With only 2 laps to go 36th and last was the best I could hope for.

Despite three second place finishes in a row this last place dropped me to 4th in the standings.

A championship win seems a long way off at this point.

Track Facts

Surface Asphalt


Length 1.5 mi (2.41 km)

Banking Turns - 20°

Lap record 0:29.033 (Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, 2009, Sprint Cup Series)

Round 13 - New Hampshire

It was up to Loudon, New Hampshire for the 13th round of the Craftsman truck series.

Not a good qualifying session resulted in a 10th place position on the grid.

I managed to work my way to the front and lead 5 laps however the pressure told and I dropped to 5th with 10 laps to go. I fought back to finsh 2nd once again, 1.8 seconds behind the eventual winner.

I was now in a solid second place in the standings.

Round 12 - Bristol

Round 12 took place on the Monster Mile that is Bristol Motor Speedway.

This is one of my better tracks as can be seen from my 3rd place qualifying position.

I managed to lead twice during the race however the win eluded me as I finished second once again. The leader finished 2 seconds up the road.

The result consolidated my second place in the standings.

Round 11 - O'Reilly Raceway Park (Indianapolis)

Round 11 of the championship took place at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indisnapolis. The trucks do not race at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

I qualified 5th on the 0.6 mile oval.

I had reached 2nd by lap 8 but couldn't do anything about the leader. I eventually finished 2nd 4 seconds behind. This kept me second in the overall standings.

Track Details

Surface Asphalt
Length .686 mi (1.1 km)
Turns 4
Banking 12°
Lap record 0:21.766 (David Green, Bobby Labonte, 1994, NASCAR Nationwide Series)

Round 10 - Milwaukee

Round 10 of the series took place on the oldest still used race track in the world, the Milwaukee oval.

Qualifying didn't go so good as I could only manage a 10th place start.

I was up to second by lap 18 but couldn't get close to the leader over the last 22 laps.

Second place in the race and up to 2nd in the standings as well.

I qualified for another performance upgrade as well.

Round 9 - Michagan

Round 9 took place at Michagan's large oval.

I qualified 11th.

At the start I quickly moved up to 8th where I stayed for the remainder of the race. 

Although it was a solid top ten finish it wasn't enough to keep me in the top 3.

Nine rounds in and 4th in the championship - not too bad really.

Track Details

Completed : 1968
Distance : 2 miles
Shape : D-shaped oval
Banking : 18° turns
12° frontstretch
5° backstretch
Frontstretch : 3,600 feet
Backstretch : 2,242 feet
Seating : 137,243