After nearly a month layoff since the last event in Atlanta, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series came to the .526-mile Martinsville Speedway for the running of the Kroger 250.  Brandon Whitt and the #38 Cure Autism Now Ford F-150 persevered through a wild and furious race on one of NASCAR’s shortest track to bring home a 14th-place finish, the rookie team’s best of the young season.

For the second consecutive event, the truck series’ race ended under a “green, white, checkered” finish, unique only to the truck series in NASCAR’s top three divisions.  Several late cautions continued to bunch the field, but in the end Rick Crawford was able to hold off Dennis Setzer and Jack Sprague to bring home his first victory of the season.  Jon Wood and Mike Skinner rounded out the top five.

On Friday, Whitt qualified 15th for Saturday’s race with a speed of 90.938 mph and was the top qualifying rookie for the event, which was filled with Cup veterans including Darrell Waltrip.  The young phenom from El Cajon was able to keep his composure throughout the day on what can be one of NASCAR’s more demanding and frustrating tracks.

The race proved to be as physical as its reputation.  With 10 cautions in the event, Whitt had his share of close calls and near misses.  On several occasions Whitt had to wrestle his Ford F-150 through spinning trucks but managed to navigate his way through them all.  Racing as high as eighth just over halfway through the race, Whitt and the Cure Autism Now Ford posted their fastest laps of the day in the second half of the race.

As the race took the green for the final time Whitt sat in 16th position, but wasted no time in picking up several positions and was able to bring home a 14th-place finish.

“We were really good on long runs,” said Whitt.  “That helped us towards the end of the day.  The team worked really hard and we picked up positions in the pits nearly every time.  We learned a lot today… both myself and as a team.  Everyone on this Cure Autism Now team did a good job.  For our first time being here at Martinsville, we finished 14th, stayed out of trouble both on and off the track… all in all, I’d say it was a good day.”