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 34.088.

Qualifying did not go so well as I could only manage a 33.823 which saw me on the 3rd row in 6th place.

It didn't take long fo me to move up the order in the race. I managed to hold the lead until I was informed that I didn't have enough fuel to last the race.

I stayed out front until lap 38 when I was sure that I had gained the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps. I then pitted. I came out of the pits a lap down and was making my way back to the front when all the other cars pitted as well. I was then in a good position to be able to claim another win.

I was up to 7th in the standings 108 points behind.

My fastest lap of the race was a 33.687.

I led 42 of the 67 laps.

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 20.942.

I bettered that time in qualifying as I managed pole with a time of 20.875.

In the race, I led all 77 of the 100 laps. I didn't win the race because I got a black flag on lap 53 and another on the very last corner whilst leading.

My eventual finishing position was a sorry 17th.

I did set a best lap time of 20.508 which was my fastest of the weekend.

I was still 10th in the standings 146 points behnd 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 31.684.

Qualifying went even better for me as I qualified on pole with a time of 31.624.

In the race I found myself in the lead after the first of the 52 laps.

Fuel consumption was the important factor in this race. On lap 23 of 52 I was informed by my pit crew that I was halfway on fuel. Now 23 is less thanhalf of 46 so I decided to pit with 15 laps remaining. I managed in the remaining laps to pass a few cars and finish 13th.

The question is why yet again did no one else have to stop for Sunoco fuel?

I ended up in 11th place in the overall standings 118 points behind the current leader.

I led 28 of the 52 laps which got me the 10 bonus points.

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 42.089 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my fom and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.155 and 42.168.

In the race I led the laps to record my first win of the season..

My best lap of the race was 42.015 which was faster than I qualified!

I was now up to 10th in the standings, 87 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 fastest after practise with a best time of 51.414 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 best position for a super-speedway, 25th. My time was 51.695.

After the drop of the green flag I slowly made my way up to 12th place. At that point there was a yellow flag period. I anticipated that more fuel would be needed before the end of the race so I elected to make a pit stop. Sadly for me there were no such fuel concerns. I managed to pass 6 cars before the chequered flag. A 30th finishing position was not what I was hoping for.

My fastest lap of the race was 51.184 which was also my fastest lap of the weekend.

Craftsman Truck Championship - Series 4 - Current Progress

Season 4 - Current Progress

For season 4 the race length was increased by 5% to 35%

Round	Venue	Finish	Standings	Points
1	Daytona International Superspeedway	34	34	4375
2	Auto Club Speedway	1	10	4446
3	Atlanta Motor Speedway	28	11	4447
4	Martinsville	1	4	4518
5	Kansas	35	8	4324
6	Lowes Motorspeedway	1	6	4403
7	Dover	21	7	4422
8	Texas Motor Speedway	5	6	4480
9	Michigan International Speedway	6	5	4533
10	Milwaukee Mile	3	5	4842
11	Indianapolis Raceway Park	1	5	4895
12	Bristol Motor Speedway	1	4	4945
13	New Hampshire	34	5	4908
14	Las Vegas	24	5	4898
15	Talledega	36	6	4886
16	Martinsville	1	5	4936
17	Atlanta Motor Speedway	2	5	4982
18	Texas Motor Speedway	13	5	4998
19	Phoenix International Raceway	1	4	5044
20	Homestead, Miami Florida	1	4	5337

Trivia Series 4

Up to and including round 17 I have made 76 starts.

Up to and including round 17 I have been on pole 41 times.

Up to and including round 16 I have 34 top 5 finishes.

Up to and including round 20 I have 40 top 10 finishes.

Up to and including round 16 I have made a total of 9 pit stops.

Up to and including round 18 my average finishing position has been 14th. 

Up to and including round 18 I have used 1052 tyres.

Up to and including round 19 there have been a total of 492 caution laps.

Up to and including round 19 I have driven 5608 miles.

Up to and including round 17 I have burnt 940 gallons of fuel.

Up to and including round 16 my average qualifying position was 6th.

Up to and including round 16 I have driven a total of 4138 laps.

Up to and including round 20 I have led a total of 1564 laps.

Up to and including round 20 I have an average race speed of 93mph.

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 haing a championship top 5 finish.

The 10 lap practise session went well as I was fastest with a time of 37.927s.

Qualifying did not go too well as I had to be content with a 10th place grid slot with a time of 37.951.

In the race I managed to climb through the field to get into the lead by the end of lap 2.

I held the lead for most of the race. There was a yellow flag period in the last 10 laps but I didn't let it distract me and I held on for the win.

My fastest lap of the race was a 37.750, my fastest lap of the weekend.

So a good finish to complete the season. 4th in the championship, 389 points behind the leader was a big improvement on the previous season. Next season a top 3 should be possible.



Round 19 - Phoenix International Raceway

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

With no chance of winning the championship the best I could aim for out of this season was a solid top 5 finish. I did have an outside chance of a top 3 spot but I would have to have two very good results.

Practise went very well as my time of 29.500 was the fastest posted during the session.

My good form carried over into qualifying as my time of 29.512 was enough to win pole position.

In the race I was always in the top 2. I led for 45 of the 55 laps, unlike some of the previous races if I made a mistake I was content to let the cars through and then work my way back to the front.
My best lap time in the race was 29.353, my fastest lap of the weekend
.

I was now up to 4th in the standings, 424 points behind the leader.

Round 18 - Texas Motor Speedway

Round 18 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 33.799 after the mandatory 10 laps.

I was a tad slower in qualifying but still managed to claim pole position with a time of 33.815.

The 51 lap race was another fuel disaster for me. From the dropping of the flag I led for 41 laps before pitting under a yellow flag for fuel. No one else did. I used the remaining laps to climb back to 13th place.

My best lap of the race was a 33.647 which was my fastest of the race weekend.

I was 5th in the standings - still 4 places higher than the previous season.

Round 17 - Atlanta Motorspeedway, Georgia

Round 17 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 3rd fastest with a time of 31.627.

Qualifying went even better for me as I qualified in second with a time of 31.643.

I grabbed the lead early in the race and held until lap 26. For the remaining laps I couldn't catch the leader, in fact I fell behind about a tenth of a second every 2 or laps. Finishing second was not a bad result though.
I led a total of 22 laps out of the 39..

My fastest lap of the race was a 31.542.

I stayed in 5th place in the overall standings 443 points behind the current leader.

Rounds 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 20.701.

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 all of the 72 laps which I think is my best ever performance.

My fastest lap was 20.641, the best of the weekend.

I was now back into 5th in the standings.

Round 15 - Talledega Super Speedway

The latest 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 first ever fastest practise time of 53.019.

As usual for a super speedway I qualified down the grid in 25th with a slightly slower time of 53.466. 

I adopted the same tactic as last series when I stayed where I was in the pack until the cars thinned out somewhat which allowed me safer passage through the pack.

By lap 32 of the 33 laps I had reached 11th my highest ever position in a super-speedway race when disaster struck. I received the "FUEL EXTREMELY LOW" message and had to pit. No other car in the race ran short of fuel!

I rejoined to finish 36th (last).

I have now dropped out of the top 5 (6th) 494 points behind the leader.

My fastest lap time was 52.854 my fastest of the weekend and the first time I have broken the 53 second barrier..

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 32.782.

Qualifying was slightly disappointing as I could only manage a time of 32.803 which gave me a 2nd place starting position.

This race was a disaster for me. Some of the 1.5 mile speedwaysare so fast that a fuel stop is required to complete the race. When there was a caution period 5 laps prior to the halfway point I pitted for fuel thinking it was good strategy.

After pitting I rejoined at the back of the pack. I started to make my way back to the front but was in no hurry as I believed all the cars in front of me would need to stop for fuel.

The racing at Vegas is very close and because of this I made a few mistakes overtaking cars and was given the black flag. After rejoining I made up to 24th by the time the chequered flag came out.

To compound my misery no one else stopped for fuel!

My fastest lap of the race was a 32.603.

I stayed 5th in standings but now I was 379 points behind which is almost 2 races. The championship looks to be well and truly over.

Round 13 - New Hampshire

The Nascar Craftsman truck series rolled into New Hampshire on June 30th.

This one mile flat oval would prove quite a challenge or so I thought. Practise went well as I set the fastest time of 32.069 on the 7th of the scheduled 10 laps.

In the qualifying session I qualified in pole position with a time of 31.820.

I took the lead early on in the race to get the 5 bonus points for leading a lap. I was never truly comfortable in the lead and this was bore out when the second placed car spun me out on lap 17. Under the yellow flag I was sent to the back of the pack. With 53 laps remaining I begun the climb back up the field. I re-took the lead on lap 45 however I was spun out again on lap 50! From the rear of the field I tried to gain as many positions as possible before the fall of the chequered flag. Lap 68 saw me take the lead again but I was under pressure from the trucks behind so much so that I hit the truck behind with the finishing line in plain sight and out came the black flag. My win was taken away and I was placed 34th.

My fastest lap of the race was a 32.033. I managed to lead 20 of the 70 laps.

I was down to 5th 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 4th fastest time (17.841).

In qualifying I went a tad faster (17.364) and managed to get pole position.

In the race I led for 56 of the 70 laps. This time I managed to keep my cool until the chequered flag. Another win! 

Leading 56 laps gained me 10 bonus points. My fastest racing lap was 16.961 which was faster than both my practise and qualifying times.

I was now up to 4th 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 (22.576).

The 2 lap qualifying period went well to as I improved my best time by 1/10 of a second to grab pole position (22.426).

The race went to plan as I ran in the top 2 for the entire 70 laps. I did get one warning for rough contact.

I led for 64 laps which gave me 10 bonus points. My fastest race lap was 22.095 which was quicker than I qualified.

I was up to 5th 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 30.667
.

Could I go one better in qualifying and grab the pole? The answer was yes, a time of 30.285 was good enough!

In the race I led the first 12 laps before being spun out. In my desire to get back to the front I got a black flag on lap 18! For the remaining 52 laps I climbed back through the field eventually finishing 3rd.

My fastest lap of the race was a 30.367 which was quicker than my qualifying time!

I was now 5th in the standings