After turning hundreds of laps at Martinsville Speedway in the
past two days, the consistent sentiment among NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
teams seems to be, “mission accomplished.”Five Truck teams tested for two full days at Martinsville in preparation for the Kroger 250 on April 6, with two more teams joining the fray in today’s final session.
“We had a test agenda for these two days and we’ve tried a lot of different things,” said Jeff Hensley, crew chief for Miquel Paludo. “We haven’t found a lot of speed, but we’ve gotten better on the long runs. We’ve found some speed, but mostly we’re working on consistency.
“This should help us a bunch when we come back here in two weeks.”
In addition to Paludo, defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher, Rookie of the Year candidate Jeb Burton, Chase Elliott, former Martinsville winner Scott Riggs, Bryan Silas and Caleb Holman.
For Elliott, who will make about 10 starts for Hendrick Motorsports this season, the two-day test was a cram session. He had never turned a lap on the difficult .526.-mile oval prior to Tuesday, and said, “I’ve learned a lot.
“I don’t know if there’s enough paper to write down everything I
learned,” said the son of former Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott. “I’ve
learned a lot of what not to do. But a big thing is that I’ve built confidence
here for when we come back.
“I’ve learned you’ve got to take care of your brakes, but you’ve got to go fast, too. The guys that are good here… that’s what they can do. And that’s what I’ve got to learn to do better.”
Riggs’s first Truck series win came at Martinsville in 2001 and he said he felt comfortable back behind the wheel Wednesday.
“We need a couple more pieces of the puzzle, said Riggs. “We came here with a different truck than we ran here last fall. It’s a brand new truck, a little lighter. We knew we were going to be behind a bit, because we didn’t have everything ready for this truck, but it was still a worthwhile trip. We got better as the day went on. Anytime that you get to test on the track you are going to race on, it’s a good test.”
Tickets for the STP Gas Booster 500 on Sunday, April 7, the Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, April 6 and NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series practice and qualifying on Friday, April 5 are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Tickets for youth 12 and under are just $10 in the Clay Earles Tower, rows 15-52. Teen tickets (ages 13-17) in the same area are $25. Youth and teen ticket prices are good with the purchase of an adult ticket.
“I’ve learned you’ve got to take care of your brakes, but you’ve got to go fast, too. The guys that are good here… that’s what they can do. And that’s what I’ve got to learn to do better.”
Riggs’s first Truck series win came at Martinsville in 2001 and he said he felt comfortable back behind the wheel Wednesday.
“We need a couple more pieces of the puzzle, said Riggs. “We came here with a different truck than we ran here last fall. It’s a brand new truck, a little lighter. We knew we were going to be behind a bit, because we didn’t have everything ready for this truck, but it was still a worthwhile trip. We got better as the day went on. Anytime that you get to test on the track you are going to race on, it’s a good test.”
Tickets for the STP Gas Booster 500 on Sunday, April 7, the Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, April 6 and NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series practice and qualifying on Friday, April 5 are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1.877.RACE.TIX. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Tickets for youth 12 and under are just $10 in the Clay Earles Tower, rows 15-52. Teen tickets (ages 13-17) in the same area are $25. Youth and teen ticket prices are good with the purchase of an adult ticket.
Why did all the Turner Scott trucks get an invite? Why not any other teams?
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