Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Saturday, March 31, 2007
- The first of two races at Martinsville.
- After a long absence from national exposure, this race will be shown on FOX.
- Ted finished 2nd in the spring race last year.
- Then in the fall race, a late race restart penalty cost Ted a shot at the win.
- He would go on to finish 15th in that race.
- This year Ted would be 9th quick in the first practice session.
- He would then find some speed in the final practice and be 4th quick.
- After qualifying Ted will start 3rd for the race.
- Green flag at 3:15!
- Ted starts 3rd and was able to stay low and get 2nd on lap 2.
- Caution #1 for a spin.
- Restart on lap 14 and Ted is still 2nd.
- Skinner is in the lead with a nice little cushion.
- Ted has same cushion with the truck in 3rd Kvapil.
- #4 Chase Miller spins but no caution on lap 22.
- Lap 30 and the front 2 are about to lap trucks.
- Ted was slowly catching Skinner but in traffic he is on his bumper.
- Caution #2 as #4 spins again, and again with help.
- Restart on lap 37 and single file and Ted still 2nd.
- Caution #3 as #77 Gaughn gets caught up in a wreck with #44 Kreyer.
- Some are pitting, most of them were in the back (Bodine pits.)
- Restart on lap 45 and Ted is still 2nd with #14 Crawford right behind.
- After 50 laps Skinner is building a nice lead again, Ted still 2nd.
- Ted should be on his bumper again when they hit traffic if the cautions hold off.
- Well they are in traffic and the gap is still there and Crawford is on Ted's bumper.
- 181 to go and now #2 Harvick is 3rd.
- From Harvicks on-board camera Ted looks real loose in the center.
- Caution #4 as #40 Bliss blows a tire and hits the wall.
- Most should pit and they do.
- Ted gets 4 tires an adjustment and fuel.
- Restart with 170 to go and Ted is 6th.
- Not bad as the leader didn't pit and bodine took 2 tires and harvick passed him just before the yellow.
- Caution #5 as Miller spins yet again with help.
- During this caution we here Ted did lead a lap.
- I will have to look later to see if it is true.
- Restart on lap 91 and Ted is still 6th.
- Caution #6 as the #88 and #47 get tangled coming off turn 4.
- Ted needs some green flag racing to make some moves.
- Restart with 151 to go and Ted is 6th.
- #1 Fike spins and no caution.
- Caution #7 just a lap later as #21 spins.
- I am getting sick to my stomach, we need some green flag racin.
- Restart with 141 to go and Ted is 7th.
- It's going to be tough to get to the front, there are some strong drivers ahead of Ted.
- 116 to go and Ted is now 8th.
- 112 to go and he is back to 7th.
- There seems to be a lot of commercials.
- Caution #8 as the #50 spins.
- This last caution should allow all that pitted on lap 74 to make it now but it would be close.
- Restart with 86 to go and Ted is 7th.
- Ted doesn't seem to have the truck to win today.
- He can't stay on the bumper of Crawford who is just ahead of him.
- Caution #9 as the #8 spins and stops on the track.
- Restart with 63 to go and Ted is still 7th.
- Caution #10 for a multi-truck wreck.
- Just before this wreck there was a bottleneck in front of Ted.
- It appeared that he got through ok perhaps slight front right contact.
- Restart with 50 to go and Ted is 6th.
- Caution #11 as #75 Setzer spins in turn 1.
- Restart with 43 to go Ted is 6th.
- Harvick gets forced high by Gaughn and Ted passes him for 5th on restart.
- Caution #12 for a spin by Cook.
- Just before the caution Ted made it to 4th!
- Restart with 32 to go and Ted is 4th.
- 29 to go Harvick spins Benson.
- Caution #13 as the human caution flag Chase Miller hits the wall.
- Restart with 20 to go and Ted is 4th.
- Caution #14 as the #08 McCumbee gets bumped to the wall.
- It will be a single file restart.
- Harvick will start right behind Ted in 5th on the restart.
- Restart with 8 to go.
- It took a few laps but lap traffic slowed down Ted enough for Harvick to get to him and bump Ted out of the way.
- There was no need to do that for one spot when he wasn't going to win.
- Caution #15 for a wreck.
- Restart with just 3 to go and Ted is now 5th.
- They would race clean to the end and Ted would end up 5th.
- I am not happy, just because you can get to the bumper doesn't mean you are faster.
- Todd and his crew made a heck of a call, pitting early so they could only get 2 tires on the next stop.
- A 2nd place for Todd was great.
- Ted is now -145 points back in 5th spot in the points race.
- On to Kansas in 4 weeks.
Ted Musgrave, No. 9 Team ASE Toyota Tundra, Germain Racing: Finished: 5th
How was the truck today? "The truck's beat up, but the driver's okay. It was a typical Martinsville race. Our truck was a top-five truck and that's where we finished. We didn't have a winning truck and I figured that out when I was following Mike (Skinner) early on in the race. We think we know what the difference was and I think when we come back here in the fall, we'll come back with something a little different again. Nothing off the wall, but something that we haven't seen in a couple years. We just have to go back and re-evaluate things, but the Team ASE Tundra was a top-five truck all day, we just had to be patient and sometimes it's hard to keep the driver patient."
How much of an effect did the numerous cautions have on you today? "This was the worst I've ever seen for lap-down trucks on the inside -- it was absolutely death-defying. You could never get a run going because every caution breeds another caution. That was the tough thing because you couldn't get your rhythm going. Once you did finally beat and bang off of them, another caution would come out and we'd have to start all over again. I think I ran into the same guys 20 times in the last 80 laps and it was the same group of guys. It's a tough deal and it's Martinsville, but I'm just glad we only have to come here twice a year."
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