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.