Nearly any driver in NASCAR will tell you that Martinsville Speedway is a tough track to get around.  The .526-mile oval is shaped like a paperclip with long straightaways and narrow corners.  In eight starts in the Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville, Travis Kvapil has not won there - yet.

Kvapil has one top-five and two top-10 finishes.  He's led 78 laps and completed 99.6 percent (1850 of 1857) of the laps he has run there in truck competition.  This weekend he'll be looking to improve that record in the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford F-150.

"I've come close to winning at Martinsville a couple of times in the truck series," Kvapil said.  "I grew up, like we all did, short track racing on the half-miles back home in late models.  I always feel comfortable going to Martinsville, it's a demanding race and it's very hard on equipment, but I feel it's a race we have a chance to win.  We had a really good test there a few weeks ago.  All the Roush Fenway Fords were strong, and I think with the right pit strategy we'll have a shot at the win."

One of the keys to success at Martinsville is track position.
With 36 trucks on a half-mile track it is much easier to start up front and stay there, than to fight your way up there from the back of the pack.  Kvapil has an average starting position of 6.8 there.

"Qualifying well there is so important," Kvapil said.  "If you can start up front, not abuse your brakes and use the right pit strategy to stay up front then you've got a great shot at finishing well.  I finished second in my first truck race there in 2001, so I hope we can run like that again this year.  It would be great to get another solid finish for Zaxby's and Roush Fenway.  Chad (Norris, crew chief) and the guys have a great truck for this weekend, so now we just have to stick to our strategy and hope for the best."