Whenever Martinsville is in action, one of the concerns of the drivers istthe curb that runs inside the corners.

Charles Krall/TruckSeries.com Photo

The curbing will present additional challenges this week as the teams try to come to grips with the new front splitter setup. Last year the teams ran splitters, but they were made of a more flexible Kevlar-based material. This year the splitter is made of a more rigid carbon-fibre material and as the drivers drag the left side of the nose alongside the curbing it could affect the stability of the splitter.

The first trucks have taken to the track, led by Shane Seig, Blake Bjorklund, Tyler Walker and Bradley Riethmeyer. We'll update any action throughout the session, and update speeds shortly.

Rookie practice has been uneventful to this point. Here is a quick rundown:

1. Fike 93.938 mph
2. Clanton 93.419
3. Walker 93.299
4. Allmendinger 92.878
5. Simpson 92.792

6. Menard 92.737
7. Bires 92.506
8. Sauter 92.434
9. Allen 92.218
10. Riethmeyer 91.709

11. Bjorklund 91.122
12. Kreyer 90.829
13. Seig 90.331
14. Jones 90.199
15. Sockwell 87.691

Jack Sprague led the charge onto the speedway at the top of the hour and we're 16 minutes into the first of two full-field practice sessions. We'll update the TruckShots! gallery, update the rundown and give you updates if any on-track action breaks so stick with us.

Aaron Fike enters Saturday’s Kroger 250 with a one-point lead (30-29) in the Raybestos Rookie standings over Joey Clanton.  Fike is 13th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie.  He trails 10th-place Dennis Setzer by just seven points.

Aaron Fike, No. 1 RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota:

“We’ve ran better than we’ve finished.  We’ve been running in the top-15 every race so it’s good.  We should have a couple top-10 finishes but we don’t.  Everything is coming along like it should.  I’m a Raybestos Rookie at all these places so I think the finishes will come as the season goes along here.” 

Are you encouraged by how well you've run? 

“Yeah, it’s real encouraging and hopefully I can just carry it on and hopefully it just builds.  I should get better and better as the year goes on and I think this is the start that you’re going to see more and more of.” 

How did you prepare for your first race at Martinsville?

“That’s a good question .  Playing video games helps a lot, going and watching practice.  If I’ve never been to a place I like getting in a regular vehicle and going around at least 10 or 12 times with somebody like David Green or someone that has helped me before in the past.” 

What have the veterans told you about this place? 

“Just easy in and fast off is what everyone is telling me.  Being patient is a big key and saving your brakes.”  Do you have a lot of short track experience? “In the open wheel car, not in a stock car, though.  We’ll see.  We should be all right.  I’ve got a good crew chief, a good truck so we should be able to run up front.”

Tyler Walker was able to regain the top spot in the waning moments of the first session over Jack Sprague, Kevin Havick, Travis Kvapil and Terry Cook. A full results report will be posted to the Event Bot on the main page momentarily. The final practice is just a few moments away.

We just ended an extended red flag period after a fire erupted on the No. 42 Ford driven by Tim Cohen. Flames were seen coming out of the truck as he came down the frontstretch and he slowed the truck to a stop at the bottom of turns one and two and bailed out the right side window.

Cohen was evaluated and released from the infield care center. We'll post a quick interview with him shortly.

Dennis Setzer, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Silverado : "We have our Spears Silverado pretty neutral so I think we have a good starting point for tomorrow's race.  As long as we have some adjustability in the truck, we should be fine.  Qualifying close to the front is pretty important here at Martinsville to keep track position."

Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 South Point Hotel/Georgetown Hoyas Silverado: "I've run a lot of short track races and from my Winston West Chevrolets to my other Craftsman Trucks to the Penske cars I have driven, this South Point Chevrolet is the best short track vehicle I have ever driven. I'm scared to say I feel this good. What Bryan Berry (crew chief) and the guys have given me is awesome. I know that Dennis Setzer would be could take this Silverado and win with it. It's my job to go see if I can get a top five finish in this truck. My team keeps telling me that I have to finish in the top four since we are representing the Final Four Georgetown Hoyas basketball team this weekend with several decals on our truck. This South Point Chevrolet could do that."

Ron Hornaday, No. 33 AES HR Solutions Silverado: "I am pretty happy with my AES Silverado. But I wish I had the boss' truck! His is just a little faster than we are.  We tested last week at a little track and found something we liked. So we came back and put it on Kevin's brand new truck and it is working well for him so far.  But both of the KHI Silverado's are solid and we are going to do everything we can to get us a win here tomorrow.  I have the truck here I won with at Mansfield last year and the truck Kevin is driving is my Mansfield truck this year so far we are looking pretty good. I am looking forward to tomorrow's race."

Mike Skinner picked up his record extending 34th-career Bud Pole and second of the season; he won from the pole last time out in Atlanta...Skinner's lap broke the existing track record; he ran a 19.732 seconds/95.966 mph lap, breaking Rick Crawford's record set in October 2005...Skinner also sat on the pole here for the first NCTS race held in 1995; he was fighting for the lead with two laps to go and tangled with Geoff Bodine, relegating him to a second-place finish...Skinner is going for three consecutive wins for the second time in his career; if he is successful, he will become the first driver to pull it off two times...while the pole winner has only won here twice, the front row has produced seven wins in 16 races.

It’s a feat that has only been done four times previously in the history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – three consecutive victories. Following the conclusion of Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, it has now been done five times, and one man has now done it twice. Mike Skinner dominated the field by leading all but six laps to score his 22nd career win and his second victory at Martinsville.

In a race that featured 15 caution flags for numerous incidents on the track, Skinner could often stretch out a comfortable advantage on his closest pursuers. On the only long green flag run of the day, Skinner was able to open up a nearly three second advantage on a resurgent Todd Bodine. But the numerous cautions kept consecutive green flag laps to a minimum.

However, even that was not enough to take Skinner out of the zone.

“I’ve been in that zone even before we left for Daytona Beach,” said the driver of the winning No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota. “The best thing that could have happened to this race team was what happened to us in Miami last November. We had just as good a truck there as we have this season, and the driver got impatient. I put my trust in someone I thought would see we had a good truck, and he didn’t and I ended up crashing the truck and ruining what could have been a great day. And I had to sit there and think about that from November until we unloaded for the race in Daytona. It taught me that maybe I need to rein myself in a little. You have to find the balance between what your talent will let you do and what your equipment will let you do. These guys are giving me great equipment, so the other part of that equation falls to me.”

While there are many races in which the fastest truck doesn’t go to victory lane, there is no question that the best truck won at Martinsville. Skinner credits the communication between himself and crew chief Jeff Hensley as the major reason for the team’s startling string of success to start 2007.

“We have some focused individuals on this race team,” Skinner said. “Our communication is the key to our success. If Jeff really wants to make a call, I let him make it. If I want to make a call, he let’s me make it. It’s like a marriage, you have to choose your battles. You aren’t going to win every battle. If he really wants to do something I let him win and visa versa. And it lets us stay more focused on the task at hand.”

For Hensley, claiming victory at Martinsville Speedway is especially sweet. He was born and raised in the area, graduated high school and attended college in Martinsville, and still maintains a home just three miles from the speedway.

“Any time you win at your home track is special,” Hensley said. “Our family has had a lot of success here. My cousin Hubert’s Busch Series team has had some success here and of course Jimmy Hensley has had wins here in the past too. It means a lot to me personally. The competition level here is pretty stout here right now, so this is big.”

Bodine clawed his way to the front in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota with a unique pit strategy. He pitted at the lap 40 mark for four tires, and then returned to pit road for fuel to go to the end when the bulk of the field made their one and only pit stop during a caution on lap 76.

“Mike (Hillman, Jr, crew chief) planned that out,” Bodine said. “We came to the pits early for our tires and then we knew we could pick up some spots if all we did was take fuel when the rest of the field pitted. We had enough time that we could take two tires, and that really made the difference. It gave us track position. I just put us in the hole with qualifying but these guys really did a great job to get us back at the front. We just didn’t have anything for Mike today.”

Former Martinsville winner Rick Crawford survived a late-race scramble coming off turn four that left his No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford scarred. He was able to keep his calm and brought his truck home in third position, his second consecutive top-five finish and his best result of the 2007 season.

“The lapped trucks just weren’t showing the lead lap trucks any respect today,” Crawford said. “There were some lapped trucks racing for position and they got us three wide and one of them got up into Jack (Sprague) and kicked up into the third groove, into the marbles. Thankfully there was another truck there and it straightened him out. But it tore up his truck and we got some damage from it too. But we had 52 laps to go and I wasn’t about to give up. I came here to win, and while we didn’t win we did get a good finish for the Circle Bar racing team.”

Kevin Harvick fought back from a late race nudge that cost him several positions to finish fourth in his own No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet, and former series champion Ted Musgrave rounded out the top five in the No. 9 Team ASE Toyota.

Most short track races are rough and tumble affairs, and the Kroger 250 was no different. A track record-tying 15 cautions waved for a total of 85 laps. Virtually every truck in the field was sporting damage from the close quarters racing, and nearly two thirds of the field was involved in incidents that called for a caution.  The cautions slowed the average speed to 61.753 miles per hour.

There were a total of three lead changes among three drivers on the day. In addition to Skinner, Musgrave led for a single lap at the stripe on pit road, and Chad McCumbee led for five laps before Skinner reasserted himself at the front. Skinner led the final 171 laps in a race that was extended by three laps to accommodate a green-white-checkered finish.

Skinner now leads the series’ championship standings by 94 points over Bodine heading into the next event on the calendar at Kansas Speedway on April 28. Crawford, Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Musgrave round out the top five in the standings.

Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the O’Reilly 250 at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway. TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage, including TrackSideLive! updates of practice and Live! Bud Pole Qualifying on Friday April 27, and complete race coverage on Saturday April 28. SPEED will have the live television broadcast with a 30-minute pre-race show starting at 5:30 P.M. Eastern.