DARNELL: Martinsville Difficult in the Past
03-27-2008 10:09 am

Erik Darnell on racing at Martinsville Speedway: "Martinsville is not one of my favorite tracks, but we've had some good runs there. We had a rough race in the spring, but I think we'll be better this time around. Martinsville is a very demanding track, and track position is everything. It's important to get a good qualifying effort in and stay up front all race long."

Crew Chief Matt Puccia on racing at Martinsville Speedway: "Martinsville is easily one of the most challenging tracks we race at all year. Track position is huge there. Qualifying towards the front is very important. This race typically has a one-stop strategy that plays out, and you'll see teams try a variety of things on pit road to gain track position. There's a lot of emphasis placed on performing that stop without any errors."

Fast Facts

Erik Darnell enters Martinsville 13th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings.

Darnell will make his fifth Truck start at Martinsville this weekend.

Darnell's best finish at Martinsville came in October of 2006, when he finished third.

Earlier this week, Darnell participated in the NASCAR Nationwide Series test session at Richmond International Raceway.

The No. 99 team will be bringing chassis RK384-50 to Martinsville. This chassis last raced at Phoenix in November of 2007, where Darnell finished 35th after being involved in an accident.

Darnell is the featured driver on this week's Roush Fenway Racing audio advance.