Justin Marks, driver of the no. 9 Construct Corps Tundra for Germain Racing is prepared for the challenges of Martinsville Speedway - or at least he hopes he is.  The rookie racer logged more than 500 laps at the tricky short-track during the recent NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test session there, and expects the racing action to involve some tough-love lessons from the series veterans.

"Martinsville Speedway is a unique track," said Marks, of Rocklin, Cal.  "My teammate, Todd Bodine took me and Chrissy Wallace, who's running with us at Martinsville, around the track before the test session. He told us about the line and technique that's unique to the track. I expect that I'll learn more about it in the Construct Corps Tundra come race day."

Short-track racing is still a fairly new style for Marks, however he collected his first ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series win at Toledo in 2005.

"I'm still pretty new to the short track thing, so the fact that I got a lot of seat time in the Truck Series test session was as crucial as anything.  I'm looking forward to the race. It seems like it's going to be a tough place to pass which should make for an exciting afternoon," said Marks.

Being a rookie in a series full of talented and highly competitive veteran races, Marks can only imagine what the topic of conversation among the Truck Series rookie class may be following this Saturday's Martinsville racing action. 

"If I had to guess, the topic would probably be about getting initiated by the veteran drivers," smiled Marks. "There are those races at tracks that are tough to pass and you have to use the bumper a lot and I imagine that (the use of the bumper) will be a consistent theme during and after the race."

Marks tested at Rockingham Speedway this past weekend in preparation for his second ARCA RE/MAX Series race of this year which will be at Rockingham.  Mike Abner will call the shots for Marks at Rockingham.