The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway turned out to be an accident filled event with a record breaking 12 cautions with the first caution occurring on lap two after a single car spin.

Former NASCAR Busch Series driver, Shane Hmiel in only his 3rd NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event and his only start at Martinsville qualified 7th and was having a great run on the track. “Our truck was fast. Richie and the guys at the shop built a fast truck. We tested last week and felt real comfortable with the set up.” Hmiel proved that he had a fast truck with the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. engine under the hood when he had the fastest lap on the track with a time of 21.15 on lap 24. Lap 26 brought out the second caution of the day when Ken Weaver spun in turn 2. Hmiel’s only comment on the caution is “I’m loose when I go up on the high side.”

Hmiel and the #15 Earl Small’s Harley-Davidson Silverado continued to have lap times close to the leader and had picked up 5th place from Chad Chaffin. When a caution came out for a multi-truck accident in turn 3, the pit crew (borrowed from Kyle Petty’s NASCAR Nextel Cup team). was to make no adjustments. Just four tires, gas and go. During the stop a tire from the #8 Chase Montgomery truck rolled into the pit box knocking over the rear tire carrier. This incident caused a slow stop dropping Hmiel back to 8th.

Hmiel was battling hard to improve his position and was at one point three wide on the narrow straights of Martinsville Speedway. During the 6th caution Hmiel pitted out of sequence and restarted in the 14th spot. The team knew they could go the rest of the way and would make up the track position on the next cycle of pit stops.

The #15 NASCAR Craftsman Truck was working his way back to the front when NASCAR officials reported Hmiel was smoking and needed to check the problem out. A quick stop showed that perhaps the axel was leaking and the team sent Hmiel back out dropping him back to 21st place. The team discussed how to fix the problem with the short amount of laps left. Before they could make that decision NASCAR gave Hmiel the black flag. A hose to the pump in the rear end was cut and the truck was losing oil. The #15 Silverado had its first DNF of the season dropping Hmiel from 6th to 15th in points. “We took a hard hit in points. The truck was fast all day. We were working our way up to the front and it broke. I hate it for the team and for the Sponsors. We’ll be back. We’ve got a strong team,” A discouraged Hmiel discussed after climbing from the truck.

Known for its excitement, Martinsville Speedway didn’t disappoint the fans with last lap bumping and banging between Bill Lester and Andy Petree causing Lester hard into the inside retaining wall. Veteran Rick Crawford, recovering from a broken foot that happened in a multi-truck accident in Atlanta, held off Dennis Setzer for the win.

The next NASCAR Nextel Craftsman Truck Series event is the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio May 16th.