Erik Darnell in the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race at Martinsvile. Darnell finished third, his second top-five and eighth top-10 of the 2006 season. Darnell took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time in 21 races. He was also the top rookie in the April 2 Kroger 250 at Martinsville, grabbing an 11th-place finish.

At least one Raybestos Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in each of the four fall Craftsman Truck Series races at Martinsville. Darnell is the third Raybestos Rookie to score a top-five finish in the fall race at Martinsville. The others:

2003: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Todd Kluever, second

Other Raybestos Rookies to score top-10 finishes in the fall race at Martinsville:

2003: Carl Edwards, second
2004: Robert Huffman, 10th
2005: Todd Kluever, second
2005: Timothy Peters, eighth

Eric Darnell: Mark Martin said you drove a perfect race. "John Quinn and all the guys put a really good truck together for us today. Our Northern Tool + Equipment Ford was good on the shorter runs but getting into the longer run the thing would start getting tight and I was having a hard time holding some of those guys off. We weren't as good as the 60 and the 11 but to come home third is a pretty good race for us."

What did you think when you saw Mark Martin on your rear bumper? "Well, it's Mark Martin coming up behind you. He's one of the best out there but at the same time, I know I'm fortunate enough to have him as a teammate and I know he'd come up behind me and run me clean. I was fortunate for that. He got there and race me hard a couple of times but I was able to stay in front of him. It was a good run for us today."

Near the end of the race you got pushed out of line but didn't lose that many spots. "I got lucky. We weren't as good on the long runs there at the end as the 60 and the 11. We were good on the short runs for five laps or so but then we started going away. The thing was really tight on me. David had been there, he was close a couple of times, he got underneath me and I let him go because he raced me clean earlier. I snuck in line behind him and we were able to hang on to that. We were lucky to have Mark behind me there at the end because I knew he would race me hard but he did race me clean. All in all, a good run for our truck. We got a top-five and we've got to keep rolling with those."

How much did you learn racing Jack Sprague and Mark Martin? "That my truck wasn't as good as either one of theirs. I think it's typical Martinsville. Me being a Raybestos Rookie here I still don't know how to drive the place yet. I think I was overdriving it a little bit, which was hurting me getting off the corners. The more we come back here the more we'll pick up on it. We'll just keep getting better every time we come back."

Aric Almirola, No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet:
How was your day? "It stunk. It was a long day. You've got to have brakes to run good here and we didn't have very good brakes. We fought tight all day. It was one problem after another. We just couldn't seem to get it figured out. We definitely got to go back home and do our homework. Our short track program is not where we want it to be. We've got to go back home and try to make this stuff better."

Chad McCumbee, No. 08 The GPS Store/Garmin Chevrolet:
"That's not what we needed. We had a good truck and people were beating on my bumper a little bit too much, a little more than they should have to start with. I have never in my whole career lost my cool like I did today. We got a lap down because of pit stops. I don't know exactly what happened there, just one thing after another. I really apologize for all that. It's part of racing, I understand, but there's things that everybody could do different. I could do things different, other guys could do things different. We had a real fast truck. I just didn't come home with the finish that we needed."

Darnell Press Conference
"I didn't really know what to expect coming back here. We kind of struggled in the spring race. John Quinn and my whole crew, those guys did a great job working on the truck yesterday. We unloaded off the trailer and we were pretty decent and we thought we were good in race trim and went out there and qualified well. Our whole goal after being here in the spring race was to get good track position and stay up in the front there and hope for a good finish. Our truck was able to run up there all day. I've got to thank David. He run me real clean there. I couldn't ask anything better out of him. Maybe I wish I could have let him go by a little quicker so he could have run down Jack. I didn't have anything for him or the 60 but to end up in the top-five was a good run for us."

They said Ted Musgrave had been warned a couple of times about the restarts. You can inside the top-five for most of the day. Did you see that or did it take you by surprise when they threw the black flag? "To be honest with you, it was a little bit of stop and go but just typical short track racing restarts, I thought. I don't know that Ted did anything to warrant getting the black flag, from my point of view. But it was NASCAR's call and unfortunately it didn't work out for him."

Comment on racing with Mark Martin at the end of the race. "It was kind of good to look up in the mirror and see Mark behind me because I know Mark's a teammate of mine and I know he'd race me hard but run me clean. I don't think Mark would get in the back of me and turn me around or anything like that. Just fortunate to have him behind me there at the end. He raced me hard but he could quite get by and were able to get a good run out of that."

Bobby East, No. 21 State Fair Corndogs/Edy's Dibs Ford:
"It's a tough day. It's a typical day at Martinsville. We shot ourselves in the foot by qualifying so bad yesterday. We tried pulling some strategy and getting some track position. I got hit once a lap for about the last 50 laps. It's kind of ridiculous, really, but it's Martinsville and I'll remember that next week."

Marcos Ambrose, No. 20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford:
"Another crappy day, really. We cut a tire with 10 laps to go. The 22 was a little rude there. He got us in the quarter-panel and pushed the panel on to the tire and got us a flat with 10 to go. We were holding pretty good in 12th there. I guess that's the way it goes. We were definitely more competitive today. We can't be ashamed of ourselves. We learned a lot and looking forward to the next short track now. I think I've got myself over my own hurdles and I can start pushing for results."

Robert Richardson, No. 1 Winyourmortgage.com Chevrolet:
"It wasn't really that bad. Just had an unfortunate deal on one of the cautions there. I guess everybody wrecked in front of us. We were checking up and Musgrave got into the back of me and turned me around. I don't really blame him for that. It's hard to slow down here late in the race. Your brakes are starting to go away and everything. I got caught up on the curb there and couldn't hop over it, trying to go in reverse. I think they need to flatten it a little bit so it will be easy for us to get turned around out there . All in all, I think we finished 23rd overall. Not a bad day for us. Could have had a little bit better but we'll take what we got and go on to Atlanta and hope to capitalize on top of what we got here."

Kerry Earnhardt, No. 13 Thorsport Chevrolet:
"I can't say enough for these guys. Everybody on the 88 team is helping out. They've really worked this program and got it turned around and now we're having engine problems. You just can't have any luck with engines breaking. That's our fifth one this year. Better than last year but it still is not a good year for us. One or two I can understand but five is hard to figure out."

How was the truck before that? "We were fighting a little bit of a loose issue in the center and off. Lance [Hooper, crew chief] was working on the truck and got it better and I was looking forward to the next stop but the valve dropped."