Erik Darnell in The No. 99 Simply Wow Ford Was The Raybestos Rookie of the Race at Martinsville

Note: Darnell has claimed top Raybestos Rookie honors in all four races this season and is the only Raybestos Rookie to score a top-10 finish.

This is a good finish for you. "Not terrible. It was a tough weekend all around. I've never been to this track before and it's hard out there, it's a tough little racetrack. I tell you right now, even after those 250 laps, I still don't have the hang of it. I have to thank my guys because we didn't have a good truck all day long and they never gave up on me. They kept adjusting on the thing and to come out of here where we did, I can't complain about that."

You've been consistent, from 10th to 15th all season. "It's a really good way to start the year with me being a Raybestos Rookie with this team out here. We're consistent, yeah, but we'd like to finish better of course. My first race out here wasn't real great but we ended up with the truck in one piece so I'm pretty happy about that. I think it was a decent points day and we'll go to Gateway from here."

You ran here during the Driver-X competition. Did that help you? "Yes, it taught me during Driver-X that I didn't like this place and I came back here and it really reaffirmed that for me. It was tough then and it's tough now. I still don't have the hang of it yet but we'll come back here in the fall and try to fix it then."

How important is it to get confidence by running consistent? "That's a big part of points toward the end of the year. To not have a DNF, even if you don't have a good truck to finish top-15, top-10 something like that is a good way to keep going for the rest of the year. We'll take this and build on it."

You had a clean race for Martinsville. How difficult is that? "It was really difficult. They got stacked up on the first lap going into one and I got in there too hard and got into the back of Bliss. I think we bent some of the ductwork on the front of the truck and from there it ran hot for the rest of the race. I had to leave the fan on and it was tough to keep the thing cool. Basically, our plan was to pit there relatively early, enough to make it to the end and just go out there and ride and try to get a finish out of it and that's what we ended up doing."

You came on strong at the end of the race and nearly got a top-10. "They told me my fastest lap was 247. Like I said they never gave up on me and they kept adjusting on the thing. It was just getting better and better. It was just a learning experience today." HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO PIT HERE? "They say this is the toughest track next to Bristol and I believe it. We've done some of the NASCAR AutoZone races where you've got little pit stalls but you're not doing tow, three pit stops a race. You're only doing maybe one pit stop. It's tough to get in and out of pit road but I was lucky to be around guys that were either getting in or getting out. By the time I was getting there I didn't have too much of a problem."

Boston Reid, No. 25 Woodard & Sharp Racing Dodge:
"Bill Lester was just in a hurry. It'd be different if his truck was really good, but he was just running like us and just roughing us up. It was uncalled for. Bill is an excellent racecar driver and he deserves to be here but just relax, man. We're 100 laps into the race. I keep watching all the races and they keep talking about us rookies causing stuff. Well, I see the veterans cause the majority of the wrecks this year. That's frustrating because we just want to come in here and earn respect and for that to happen to this race team is unfair."

How was your truck before that happened? "We were okay. We weren't good, we weren't bad, we were all right. We're just trying to log laps."

Bobby East, No. 21 Wood Brothers Museum Ford:
"We drove somewhat of a clean race, for Martinsville anyways. We're pretty happy with 13th. I messed up and spun out, a big rookie mistake, all by myself probably 15 laps into the race. I felt real bad for that. We got the Lucky Dog one time and came in and lot another lap making a pit stop right before it went green. Hopefully the owners are real happy. I think Eddie Wood and Tad Gescheicker are some of the best people to race for. I want to thank them and my crew chief Gary Cogswell. He calls a great race every time and besides that he has a good setup for the truck. I've only ran two races for them and I'm pretty darn happy ."

Joey Miller, No. 12 Curb Records Toyota:
"Today was all track position and we just didn't quite have the track position. I think a lot of the truck today probably could have ran top-five, top-10 but like I said, it's track position. Our pit strategy wasn't quite there but we learned a lot. I think definitely we can bring stuff we learned today to Mansfield and Gateway."

You ran second for much of the race. Is that a confidence boost for you? "That was in the middle of the race and anyone can run up front in the middle of the race. But more than anything, I think just bringing the truck home in one piece. We learned a lot this weekend my first time here and having fun. That was the main thing."

Chad Mccumbee, No. 06 Mrd Motorsports Chevrolet:
"I'm decently happy with that. We really struggled ever since we unloaded here and just could not get the thing to turn in the center of the corner. We fought that all day here in the race. All things considered I'm pretty happy. The pace slows down and we were able to drive our way up through there and make some moves. I just wanted to get a race under my belt and not anything we weren't supposed to. We came home with a truck that we can work on there. I think it's a good day."

Erin Crocker, No. 98 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge:
You had a good run at a tough track today. "I feel pretty good about it. I feel like we stayed out of the leader's way. We didn't qualify well so we knew that it was going to be a long race but I think I learned a lot. This is my first short track race to speak of, other than Richmond in the Busch car and I only made a few laps there before we were done . All in all it was a good day. We have a few scratches but I think we have a lot less damage than most of the trucks. We improved our best finish and we ended up on the lead lap. We're going in the right direction."