By Jordan Bondurant from the Martinsville Bulletin.
Several NASCAR Camping World Truck rookies got to take an early shot at Martinsville Speedway just over two weeks from the Kroger 200, including a pair of GMS Racing drivers.
Twenty-four-year-old Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevy Silverado, and 18-year-old Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 33 Silverado, and their teams have spent the last two days at the track testing.
Jones has four previous starts at Martinsville dating back to 2013. He’s finished in the Top 20 three of those starts, while Gallagher has competed twice before. Gallagher was 15th in March.
Gallagher said he knows that it takes a little more than the setup of the truck to have a good day at the half-mile, paper clip-shaped track.
“You’re going to get the same answer from any driver any time you come to Martinsville,” he said. “The biggest challenge here is patience. Like anybody will tell you, the single-biggest threat to you having a good finish on any given race at Martinsville is two-fold. First it’s you starting to see red and doing something stupid, or second it’s the guy behind you seeing red and doing something stupid. So patience is the biggest virtue you could have around this place.”
Jones believes Martinsville poses one of the biggest tests all season long. Having competed at the larger tracks on the Camping World Truck Series schedule, showing up to Martinsville requires adjustments.
“It’s a little bit of a challenge going from such high speeds to going 70 miles per hour in the corners and 140 on the straightaways,” he said.
Gallagher also understands that with the lower speeds the racing is going to be a lot more physical. And whoever is on top of the steering wheel the most will have a shot.
“It’s a very unique set of circumstances you find at Martinsville,” he said. “You really don’t see the kind of claustrophobia and intensity of being near everyone else all the time at a lot of race tracks. It’s very much its own unique animal, and I think that’s why it’s so respected on the circuit. It takes a special kind of skill-set to be successful and win here.”
He recognized, too, that it takes a solid effort from the time the team unloads Thursday and gets to work on Friday to be in a position to do well.
“It’s definitely a race you have to manage track position-wise,” he said. “You’ve got to qualify well here and run up front here. You don’t get those rare Cinderella stories of a guy starting from the back and winning here.”
The Kroger 200 is Saturday, Oct. 31.
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| Ben Kennedy pulls in to the Martinsville Speedway infield during a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie test at the Martinsville, Virginia track last week. (PHOTO: Harrison Hamlet) |
Twenty-four-year-old Spencer Gallagher, driver of the No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevy Silverado, and 18-year-old Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 33 Silverado, and their teams have spent the last two days at the track testing.
Jones has four previous starts at Martinsville dating back to 2013. He’s finished in the Top 20 three of those starts, while Gallagher has competed twice before. Gallagher was 15th in March.
Gallagher said he knows that it takes a little more than the setup of the truck to have a good day at the half-mile, paper clip-shaped track.
“You’re going to get the same answer from any driver any time you come to Martinsville,” he said. “The biggest challenge here is patience. Like anybody will tell you, the single-biggest threat to you having a good finish on any given race at Martinsville is two-fold. First it’s you starting to see red and doing something stupid, or second it’s the guy behind you seeing red and doing something stupid. So patience is the biggest virtue you could have around this place.”
Jones believes Martinsville poses one of the biggest tests all season long. Having competed at the larger tracks on the Camping World Truck Series schedule, showing up to Martinsville requires adjustments.
“It’s a little bit of a challenge going from such high speeds to going 70 miles per hour in the corners and 140 on the straightaways,” he said.
Gallagher also understands that with the lower speeds the racing is going to be a lot more physical. And whoever is on top of the steering wheel the most will have a shot.
“It’s a very unique set of circumstances you find at Martinsville,” he said. “You really don’t see the kind of claustrophobia and intensity of being near everyone else all the time at a lot of race tracks. It’s very much its own unique animal, and I think that’s why it’s so respected on the circuit. It takes a special kind of skill-set to be successful and win here.”
He recognized, too, that it takes a solid effort from the time the team unloads Thursday and gets to work on Friday to be in a position to do well.
“It’s definitely a race you have to manage track position-wise,” he said. “You’ve got to qualify well here and run up front here. You don’t get those rare Cinderella stories of a guy starting from the back and winning here.”
The Kroger 200 is Saturday, Oct. 31.
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