Mike Skinner started on the pole and stayed out front virtually all day at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, leading all but seven of 253 laps to win his third consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Coming off victories at California and Atlanta, Skinner set a series record by leading 246 laps and won for the 22nd time in his career. He became only the second driver in the series to win twice on the small, tight oval at Martinsville.
Dale Jarrett criticized Matt Kenseth for being an unnecessarily rough driver after contact between the two last week at Bristol ended Jarrett’s race after just 45 laps - and sent him tumbling out of the top 35 in owner points.
The sport was unfamiliar and so was the language. That didn’t stop Richard Petty from having a good time at a hockey game.
“It was a neat deal,” he said.
The stock car great attended a recent Montreal Canadiens game as the guest of team owner George Gillett Jr. While admittedly being interested in hearing what Gillett - or anyone else - has to say about a possible partnership, Petty made the most of the hockey experience.
Wood Brothers Racing didn’t get any break from the tensions of qualifying for this weekend’s Nextel Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, even though the famous team’s shop used to be just a few miles from the track.
Co-owner Len Wood and the rest of the team had to sweat out qualifying because of a rule that forces drivers not in the top 35 in owners points to race their way into the field. It can make for a harrowing experience for teams trying to move up from the bottom.
With one COT race under their belts and a week to think over what went wrong at Bristol, drivers expect more beating and banging at Martinsville, and Steve Byrnes foresees a big day for Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson.
Seventh-fastest in Saturday’s first practice, Dale Earnhardt Jr. paced Happy Hour, and teammate Martin Truex Jr. was third-fastest. Get Happy Hour speeds here.
ActiveReports Document
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Starting Line Up by Row
Martinsville Speedway
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, March 30, 2007 @ 05:10 PM Eastern
82.223
Speed
Time
03:11:54
09/22/96
Date
Driver
Jeff Gordon
Track Race Record:
GOODY’S COOL ORANGE 500
1
11
Denny Hamlin
FedEx Express Chevrolet
19.911
95.103
Row 1:
2
26
Jamie McMurray
IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford
19.942
94.955
3
24
Jeff Gordon
DuPont Chevrolet
19.964
94.851
Row 2:
4
21
Ken Schrader
Little Debbie Snack Cakes Ford
20.012
94.623
5
18
J.J. Yeley
Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
20.025
94.562
Row 3:
6
29
Kevin Harvick
Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet
20.028
94.548
7
20
Tony Stewart
The Home Depot Chevrolet
20.035
94.515
Row 4:
8
8
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Budweiser Chevrolet
20.042
94.482
9
99
Carl Edwards
Office Depot Ford
20.058
94.406
Row 5:
10
70
Johnny Sauter
Yellow Transportation/Haas CNC Chevrolet
20.064
94.378
11
96
Tony Raines
DLP HDTV Chevrolet
20.073
94.336
Row 6:
12
2
Kurt Busch
Miller Lite Dodge
20.077
94.317
13
36
Jeremy Mayfield
360 OTC Toyota
20.097
94.223
Row 7:
14
5
Kyle Busch
Kellogg’s/Carquest Chevrolet
20.104
94.190
15
1
Martin Truex Jr.
Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
20.107
94.176
Row 8:
16
38
David Gilliland
M & M’s Ford
20.131
94.064
17
88
Ricky Rudd
Snickers Ford
20.138
94.031
Row 9:
18
19
Elliott Sadler
Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
20.139
94.027
19
31
Jeff Burton
Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
20.145
93.999
Row 10:
20
48
Jimmie Johnson
Lowe’s Chevrolet
20.154
93.957
21
07
Clint Bowyer
Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet
20.154
93.957
Row 11:
22
22
Dave Blaney
Caterpillar Toyota
20.169
93.887
23
42
Juan Pablo Montoya #
Texaco/Havoline Dodge
20.175
93.859
Row 12:
24
12
Ryan Newman
alltel Dodge
20.182
93.826
25
7
Robby Gordon
Ford
20.191
93.784
Row 13:
26
10
Scott Riggs
Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge
20.192
93.780
27
6
David Ragan #
AAA Ford
20.198
93.752
Row 14:
28
41
Reed Sorenson
Target Dodge
20.221
93.645
29
40
David Stremme
Coors Light Dodge
20.230
93.604
Row 15:
30
13
Joe Nemechek
Ginn Resorts/CertainTeed Chevrolet
20.237
93.571
31
43
Bobby Labonte
Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
20.243
93.543
Row 16:
32
66
Jeff Green
Best Buy Chevrolet
20.253
93.497
33
17
Matt Kenseth
USG Sheetrock/DeWalt Ford
20.256
93.483
Row 17:
34
16
Greg Biffle
Jackson Hewitt Ford
20.270
93.419
35
25
Casey Mears
National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet
20.271
93.414
Row 18:
36
01
Regan Smith
U.S. Army Chevrolet
20.286
93.345
37
14
Sterling Marlin
Panasonic Plasma HDTV Chevrolet
20.303
93.267
Row 19:
38
44
Dale Jarrett
UPS Toyota
20.310
93.235
39
49
Mike Bliss
OBOVO.com Dodge
20.313
93.221
Row 20:
40
84
AJ Allmendinger #
Red Bull Toyota
20.321
93.184
41
9
Kasey Kahne
Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
20.352
93.042
Row 21:
42
45
Kyle Petty
MarathonAmericanSpiritMotorOil Dodge
Owner Points
43
00
David Reutimann #
Domino’s Toyota
20.366
92.978
Row 22:
Did Not Qualify:
# 55 Michael Waltrip; # 15 Paul Menard ; # 78 Kenny Wallace; # 37 Kevin Lepage; # 83 Brian Vickers; # 4 Ward Burton.
Pos
Car
Driver
Team
Time
Speed
We don’t know if we’ll have much payback at Martinsville, but maybe we’ll have some payback after Martinsville! This weekend, we’ll see which teams have learned the most for COT race number two: Martinsville.
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