With all due respects to any form of racing one could name, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the Martinsville Speedway may turn out to be the hot ticket during the entire weekend. NASCAR’s premiere tail gate party will be running the Kroeger 250 on Martinsville’s half mile oval. That means the series will be returning to a short track: the source of their historical racing roots and the one racing venue where they always seem to rise and shine.
THE STORY BREAKDOWN
Before the race start see if you can catch a glimpse of the worn out sneakers Ron Hornaday Jr will be wearing. He’s hoping that the worn, but comfortable, footwear will bring him some good luck this Saturday at Martinsville. According to a recent interview on “The Hornaday Diary”, presented by SPEED, it seems that the four time series champion observes a few superstitious traditions. Many of them he picked up from the late Dale Earnhardt Sr when he was driving his race truck in the 1990’s.
For example, when Hornaday walks through a door to enter a building he insists that he uses the very same doorway to exit the building. He also refuses to carry a fifty dollar bill in his wallet or pocket. He observes the multiple decades old racing tradition of refusing to shell peanuts and eat them at the race track. He’ll be the first to tell you he really doesn’t care for the color green which is yet another superstitious observance that dates back to the early days of NASCAR. While others are looking for a temporary lifestyle change of pace, Hornaday will tell you that he thrives on daily routines.
But the one personal observance that is the most interesting is the pair of sneakers Hornaday has owned for several years now and seemingly refuses to let go of. He was wearing those old sneakers all of last year when he won a record setting five series races in a row along with his latest championship.
Perhaps feeling like it was time for his own personal change of pace, Hornaday purchased a brand new pair of sneakers late last year and began wearing them at the beginning of the 2010 season. We’ve already witnessed the start of the 2010 season for Hornaday and his Kevin Harvick Inc team. There were two hard crashes in a row at Daytona and Atlanta.
No one is actually blaming the disappointment from the first two races of the new season on a pair shoes. However, Hornaday has decided not to take any more chances with the luck factor. He has placed the new pair of sneakers in the closet and has decided to return to the old and comfortable shoes at least until the current bad luck streak ends. He also plans to slip on those old sneakers prior to driving his own personal bus from North Carolina to Martinsville this week.
By the way, Martinsivlle is a track that seems to have kept Hornaday from victory lane in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He’s zero for 15 at the track and he’ll be looking to change that this Saturday. So will former series champion Todd Bodine who has zero wins in 13 starts. Believe it or not, Kyle Bush is another driver who has not figured out how to get to victory lane behind the wheel of a NASCAR truck. The Rowdy One is zero for six at Martinsville. Maybe they should switch to an older pair of shoes as well.
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Then there’s the matter of Hornaday’s boss, Kevin Harvick, who is having a lot of fun running the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on a part time basis. Harvick is coming off an impressive win at the last series race at Atlanta. He’s also the defending Martinsville race champion from last year.
Harvick returns to the Virginia based half mile oval this Saturday in a KHI Chevrolet truck that features duel primary sponsorship from Kroger Food Stores, also the race sponsor, and Proctor and Gamble Products. Harvick’s #2 truck will have P&G company logos largely reflecting their line of cleaning products such as Tide, Bounce, Charmin, Bounty and Downy. In fact the only not cleaning product on the truck will be Pringles Potato Chips.
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In what can only be described as a note of promise for the series’ future the Kroger 250 entry list features nine drivers who will be making their first ever series start. Standing out from the list is the name of Narian Karthikeyan who will become the first ever NASCAR driver from the country of India. The veteran driver brings 22 seasons of open wheel experience with him including Formula One and LeMans Series racing. Karthikeyan will be driving the #60 Safe Auto Insuarance Toyota built by Wyler Racing and entered by the newly formed Starbeast Motorsports . Veteran series driver Stacey Compton has been retained as a driving coach for the new team.
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The Martinsvile Race will also feature the return of three series veterans . That list starts with 2008 series champion Johnny Benson who will be driving the #15 Red Top Auction Toyota for Billy Ballew Motorsports.
Former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, turned SPEED Channel broadcaster Hermie Sadler returns to the truck series for the first of five events this season. He’ll be driving the #48 Hermie and Elliot Sadler Foundation Chevrolet presented by family friends Joe and Meagan Denette. The foundation raises funds to promote awareness for autism.
Also making his first truck series start of the season at Martinsville will be NASCAR veteran Ken “I’ll drive anything-anytime-anywhere” Schrader who will be behind the wheel of his self owned #52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Kroger 250 consists of 250 laps/131.5 miles around the Martinsville Speedway’s challenging 0.526 mile oval with its short and completely flat, asphalt coated, straightaways along with it’s 12 degree, concrete covered, turns.
The race has 39 entries vying for the 36 starting berths. 14 entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a start in the race because they are outside of the top 25 in the series’ owners points. They will have to rely on their qualifying speed to earn a berth in the race.
Kevin Harvick’s Chevrolet is the defending race champion from last year, but Toyota Tundras have won at Martinsville during the last six of eight races.
The race will be aired live by the SPEED Channel beginning with the pre race show at 130 pm eastern time.
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