Category: Truck Series

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 31, 2015) – For the week heading into the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway Caleb Holman preached patience. Saturday afternoon he practiced what he preached.

After getting mired back outside of the top 25 midway through the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Holman took his time and worked his way back through the field to finish eighth. It was his best finish in the truck series for Holman and the Abingdon-based Henderson Motorsports team.

“Patience was everything. You can’t give up. You can’t get down. You’ve got a job to do no matter what the situation is,” said Holman, who lost ground when the front of his Chevy was crumpled during an early restart when a truck slowed in front of him. “You can’t have emotions when you get in that situation. What are you going to do when you get back there, quit? You can’t quit. You have to keep running, keep digging.”

There were 12 caution periods in the race won by Matt Crafton, but it was the restart on lap 190 after the 11th caution that cemented Holman’s finish. Two trucks pushed up to the outside of the Food City USA Chevy, Holman dove under them and refused to give up the real estate.

“With 10 to go, you’re a little bit of a pin ball­­­ and there is no more patience at that point,” said Holman. “That restart was the key. I had a choice. They got down in there and got crossed up together. I was on the inside and they both slid up the track. They had the wheels cut hard left and I knew they wanted the spot I was in. I couldn’t let them in. I couldn’t give it back.”

There were a lot of high-fives and hugs around the Henderson Motorsports’ pits after the checkered flag waved. It wasn’t a win, but it was a reason to celebrate for this bunch.

“An eighth place for us is huge,” said Holman. “A small team from Abingdon, Virginia with two employees. Man, we over-performed today, we did.”

• Tundra driver Matt Crafton was victorious in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
• Crafton started from the 13th position and led the final 63 laps (of 200) at the half-mile speedway to capture his fifth checkered flag of the 2015 season and second at the historic short track.
• In addition to Crafton’s win, Tundra drivers Cameron Hayley (third), Timothy Peters (sixth), Johnny Sauter (ninth) and Erik Jones (10th) tallied top-10 results in Virginia.
• For Jones, the 10th-place result allows him to continue leading the NCWTS points by 10 over second-place Crafton.
• In addition to Jones’ 10-point lead in the NCWTS standings, Tundra drivers Crafton (second), Sauter (fourth), Peters (fifth), Hayley (sixth) and Kennedy (ninth) also rank in the top-10 in the point standings after 20 of the 23 events in 2015.

MATT CRAFTON, No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
How were you able to get such a good restart at the end of the race?
“I don’t know if he (John Hunter Nemechek) hit the curb or he got loose under me, I just know I had a really good restart there and I don’t know if he just overdrove that corner a little bit getting into three. He ran into me a little bit and we had a little bit of a bad past from earlier this year, but all in all this thing was really good on long runs. The second to the last run it got really tight and me and Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) talked about it on the radio and we made a little change right there and it was game on right there at the end.”

What makes you so good at Martinsville?
“I can’t give away all my secrets, racing here quite a few times and just paying attention and a lot of things. These guys just keep working on these things and we had great horsepower all day today. Triad is really working and we beat them up a lot on getting these restarts and getting this thing off the bottom of the corner and it had a lot of that. It’s all about these guys behind me.”

How do you feel about cutting down the points lead that Erik Jones had entering this race?
“We’ve got a long ways to go.”

How big is this victory with three races remaining?
“It’s very big, if you look at the last few races – Talladega, Las Vegas and we’ve led the most laps in all those. I have no idea what we led today, but we led enough and we led the right one. We’ve had very fast trucks and it’s all about what Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and every one of these guys have been building and bringing to the race track. Finally, we have to finish off what we started for the last two weeks and I felt that we should have won the last two. Talladega, you never know because it’s a crap shoot at the end, but we had a very fast truck. I just tried to manage my stuff all race and just keep my nose clean and be there at the end and just not make any mistakes and the second to last run, I got a little tight and he just worked his magic and away it went.”

Did the SAFER barrier change how narrow the track felt on restarts?
“I honestly didn’t even know they added the SAFER barriers until I was reading it online today. You just go out there and you run your laps. It really made no difference, I guess it’s just three foot narrower, but I had no idea.”

Are you looking forward to Texas next weekend being back in the championship hunt?
“I’m looking forward to it, I’m looking forward to the next three and they’re very, very good race tracks for us and we won the spring race there this year and we won there last year as well. We’re bringing back the same truck. I’m looking forward to them and if the cards fall and we have good luck, maybe we’ll have something for them at Homestead. If it’s meant to be, it will be and if not, we’ll go onto next year.”

When will you start to look at the points?
“I’ll look at it at Homestead and see where we need to finish there. I don’t care and if we go out and execute and do the same thing we did today and the same thing we’ve done the last two races and have luck on our side and not have any problems like we did at Talladega and not have any problems like we did at Las Vegas, we can win the championship. That’s God willing and everything goes our way, but if not then we’ll come back next year and fight strong.”

What does it mean to have this success after struggling to win early in your career?
“It’s awesome, I just have to thank Duke and Rhonda Thorson (team owners) and Menards for sticking with me through all those winless years that we had and finally we started getting some wins here and there and then at the end of the day we added this guy over here (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and at that point it was game on and he’s made a huge difference in this whole program and Duke and Rhonda give us every piece to the puzzle that we need to win races. We just have to go out and execute at that point.”

How much do you points race now with two championships?
“After Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and I and the team won the first championship, I wanted that first championship so bad and I’m not going to lie, I points raced a lot. You always saw me around the top-five and I didn’t win enough races as I said and then after we won that first championship, we made a promise to each other than winter that we weren’t going to point’s race anymore. We got that one championship, we’re just going to go into each season and see how many races we can win and see how many laps we can lead and when we get to Homestead, we’ll see where it’s at. I always say that each and every week we’re going to see where we’re at when we get to Homestead, but that’s our motto and we made that pact to each other two years ago and we’re living and dying by it now.”

Is this considered a good season even without a championship?
“Oh yeah, absolutely you consider it a great season. You win five races and if you don’t win the championship then it wasn’t mean to be. We’ve done our job for the most part and I’ve made mistakes, the team has a whole has made mistakes and we win as a team and we lose as a team. We don’t point fingers and we have three more to go and see if we can get three more and see where it comes down at Homestead.”

CAMERON HAYLEY, No. 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
Are you pleased with the result from today’s race?
“We ran top-three all day. Our lowest position was third – a really good run for our Carolina Nut Tundra, I couldn’t be happier with the guys. All weekend long, the worst we did was third in practice. I couldn’t be happier. The racing got really rough out there. John Hunter (Nemechek) has it coming to him later in Phoenix. There is no reason why you should just drive into someone that hard, but I guess its short track racing and just a great run for us.”

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Autos by Nelson Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 6th

JOHNNY SAUTER, No. 98 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
Finishing Position: 9th

ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 10th
How disappointing was the race for you today?
“It’s disappointing for sure. This team is capable of a lot more than that. Our Tundra I thought was a lot better than that in practice, but just a fight all day and we missed it a little bit as an organization. I think it showed, we were just off most of the day for the three trucks. We’ll work on it and get it better – Texas is a strong one for us, we were strong there in the spring and Phoenix we’ve always been good and Homestead we’ll be fine at as well. Looking forward to it.”

What did you struggle with on the race truck?
“Just not a great race truck all together. I thought our Tundra was pretty good in practice, but as the day went on and we kind of got into it, it just started to show that we weren’t where we thought we were and we just weren’t able to really rebound from that and make the right adjustments to make it back to where we needed to be during the day. Pitting there at the end, I thought that would be the right call to take four (tires), but obviously it didn’t work out. We just got back farther in traffic with all the cautions and things just didn’t work out for us.”

Is it a helpless feeling when trucks are blocked in front of you with nowhere to go?
“There is, you just hope you make it through it in some sort of way whether it be at the top or the bottom. I thought the top was going to be the way to go and unfortunately that didn’t work out for us. Just wasn’t really our day all together, but it’s a shame we gave away the cushion we had in the points, but we are still up by 10. We’ll take it and move on to the next one.”

Do you feel confident going into the final three races for the championship?
“I do, I think this was the one where I was worried that this day would happen and it did. I didn’t want it to happen, but I kind of saw it coming. Texas I feel like is definitely a stronger point for us as well as Phoenix and Homestead. We’ll go into those two with just as much enthusiasm as we have had all year and try to get us three more wins.”

BEN KENNEDY, No. 11 Local Motors Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
Finishing Position: 14th

DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 51 ARRIS Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 16th

GRAY GAULDING, No. 54 Krispy Kreme Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 21st

Red Horse Racing driver Timothy Peters was made available to the media at Martinsville Speedway:

TIMOTHY PETERS, No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing
How happy are you to be back at Martinsville?
“It’s always a smile on my face when I come through the pedestrian tunnel this morning or anytime to be able to come here and race. After winning last week, just giving us the extra momentum and confidence coming into here – kind of looking for redemption this weekend, our Kroger 250 in the spring didn’t go as well as we would have liked. We didn’t get the finish that we wanted so really it goes back to starting at Chicago and Chicago to now with our finishes and the momentum and getting the win, really looking forward to getting on the race track this afternoon and seeing what our AutosbyNelson.com Red Horse Tundra has in speed. Hopefully we can go back to back.”

Is Martinsville a wild card race?
“I think so, I still feel like you can have a really good day and when it comes down to it something may happen not of your doing and you get involved with it and it kind of takes the result you feel like you could have gotten away from you. We’re 50 laps shorter so probably the first lap everybody might be nice and then the rest of the race is just very aggressive. That’s what you expect when you come to a great short track like Martinsville.”

What does it mean to have moved from seventh to fifth in points since Chicago?
“That’s a cool accomplishment and I’m proud of that. It just goes to show what our team is about. A lot of the guys on the team this year are new and we’ve had everything there, it’s just we haven’t hit it yet. Pocono kind of turned the corner this year, but Chicago really turned the corner and from there to present it’s just unbelievable. The guys do a great job, Triad horsepower has been great – we just hope we can keep this fire rolling. It’s so cool when you can show up to the race track and you race in the top-five and there in the closing laps you have a shot to win and then actually win and go to victory lane. Winning fixes a lot of things and momentum and confidence is key, especially coming in here for the weekend.”

How obvious is the SAFER barrier that’s been installed here at Martinsville?
“I really didn’t notice it to be honest with you. Brooks (Taylor, Martinsville PR) actually showed me the SAFER barrier and said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Well, if you hadn’t of shown me, I wouldn’t have noticed.’ The Late Model and the trucks are a little bit different. Less horsepower and stuff you don’t use much of the race track. When I get in my truck this afternoon, I’ll be able to tell a little bit more with our Tundra. As far as the Late Model, I didn’t even notice it. I tested it out, but I didn’t notice it.”

How special is the local sponsorship you have here in Martinsville?
“Barry Nelson and everybody at AutosbyNelson.com and Nelson Toyota has been extremely good to me – professionally in the Truck Series and when we’re not racing in the truck, we have a little Late Model stock car team that we go and race and we’ve had a lot of success with. You can’t discount any of the local sponsorship or the previous local people that have helped me in the past. They require just as much love as a corporate sponsor and they do just as much. I appreciate everything that they have done to get me where I’m at.”

How confident are you racing here at Martinsville?
“I think coming in here with the success that I’ve had and the laps that I have around here in a NASCAR Camping World Truck and my Late Model stock car will definitely help me today for both practices, qualifying and the race tomorrow. I got my first win here in ’09, but I was the last one not to win the clock. I really want that clock, it’s very special to go to victory lane here and that clock is very special period to have in your house to say that you’re a winner at Martinsville. The way I approach this race is the same way I approached the race at Talladega last week with patience. You can get other competitors ruffled and competitors can get you ruffled, but the first one that breaks your opponent wins. As long as you stay patient and try not to do anything to put your equipment in jeopardy, you’ll have a great finish.”

BOBBY PIERCE AND MB MOTORSPORTS HOPE TO WORK THEIR MAGIC ON ASPHALT; RPM SERVICES, LLC’S PIXOGRAPHS APP DEBUTS ON THE #63 CHEVY

Driver: Bobby Pierce
Crew Chief: Rick Ren
Twitter: @MBMotorsports, @BobbyPierce32

Bobby Pierce and MB Motorsports hope the magic they created together on the dirt at Eldora transfers to the asphalt of Martinsville Speedway in Saturday’s Kroger 200.  After scoring the pole, a heat race victory and a second place finish in the MudSummer Classic, Pierce will be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series asphalt debut when he slides behind the wheel of the #63 RPM Services, LLC / Pixographs Chevy Silverado.

“RPM Service, LLC can’t get enough of MB Motorsports and Bobby Pierce!” exclaims RPM Services, LLC CEO Mike Kamp.  “We can think of no better way to promote our Pixographs app than with Bobby as he makes his debut in a truck on asphalt. Race fans go visit Pixographss.com to learn more about the Pixographs app.  In conjunction with Bobby’s run at Martinsville, we have a big announcement coming before first practice on Friday!””

Pixographs is an amazing new app for iPhones and iPads that will change the way the world looks at photos!.  Imagine you’re in the airport and notice a famous celebrity in the waiting area. You could ask for their autograph or maybe ask to take a selfie photo with them, but now you can do both! Simply take the photo the same way you normally would, but then open your Pixographs app, choose the color of the “ink” you want and have the celebrity sign the photo with their finger!  Pixographs can be purchased from the app store at iTunes for just 99¢.

Calling the shots from atop the pit box will be famed crew chief Rick Ren.  “Rick and the Pierce family go back years, decades.,” notes team owner Mike Mittler.  “Rick’s known Bobby since he was born, so this is a really cool deal for them to work together at Martinsville.”

“I’ve known Rick forever. He and my Dad go way back,” says Pierce.  “I can’t wait to get to Martinsville and get the RPM Services, LLC / Pixographs App Chevy on the track.”

“The guys have worked so hard to get our trucks ready for Martinsville,” according to Mittler.  “Justin Jennings, Tyler Tanner, everyone on our team has really gone above and beyond to ensure we have quality trucks for the five-week sprint that ends our season.  I can’t say enough about how hard these guys work so that we can compete at this level. Week in and week out, they are the absolute best!”

Also supporting Pierce at Martinsville are Blue Gold, Champion Spark Plugs, CarTow.net and CanHead.

The Kroger 200 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, MRN Radio and Sirius Channel 90 Saturday, October 31 at 1:30 pm ET.  Practice will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 Friday the 30th at 1:00 pm ET with Final Practice following at 2:30 pm ET.  Qualifying will also be broadcast live on Saturday morning at 10:00 am ET on Fox Sports 1.

FAST FACTS:
• The Kroger 200 will mark Bobby Pierce’s first series start on asphalt, second series start overall.
• Bobby scored the pole, a heat race victory and a second place finish in the MudSummer Classic at Eldora Speedway.
• The bed cover of Bobby’s #63 Chevy Silverado will feature the logos of 17 “Junior Associate” sponsors for the Kroger 200.

MB Motorsports Marketing Partners:
• The black and red Chevy Silverado features the logos of RPM Services, LLC and Pixographs. Joining them are Blue Gold, Champion Spark Plugs, CarTow.net and CanHead

Tune-in:
• The Kroger 200 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, MRN Radio and Sirius Channel 90 Saturday, October 31 at 1:30 pm ET.  Practice will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 Friday the 23rd at 1:00 pm ET with Final Practice following at 2:30 pm ET.  Qualifying will also be broadcast live on Saturday morning at 10:00 am ET on Fox Sports 1.

QUOTE:
Bobby Pierce on racing at Martinsville Speedway:
“We had a great run together at Eldora.  Hopefully, we can capture the lightning in a bottle once more and bring home a strong finish at Martinsville.”

About MB Motorsports:
MB Motorsports is the sole surviving original team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, having competed in every season since the series debuted in 1995.  The team has given many young drivers their start in NASCAR, including Sprint Cup Series winners Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith.

For more information on MB Motorsports and its marketing partners, visit www.mbracing.net

For more information on Bobby Pierce, visit www.bobbypierceracing.com

ABINGDON, Va. (October 28, 2015) – Caleb Holman will tell you right up front that Martinsville Speedway is a difficult track for him.

But he will also tell you the historic half-mile is the site of his best finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and that he’s excited to be going back there this weekend for the Kroger 200.

”It’s just sort of unnatural to me,” Holman said of Martinsville and its long straights and tight, almost flat turns. “I’ve never taken to the flat and heavy braking tracks. I like to run in hard and let it roll through the corners.  At Martinsville there’s a lot to the braking and technical side of it.

“But I think it’s a hard track for everybody, not just me. I can run well there. My best finish is there, but it just doesn’t come natural.”

Holman had a solid run in last fall’s race and wound up 11th after a final turn, final-lap bump took him out of the top 10. It is his best finish in 26 truck series starts in the Food Country USA Chevrolet.

“It wasn’t the best truck we’ve ever had last year, just the best finish. I was running 10th on the last lap, went into the final corner, got hit from behind, then I hit the guy in front of me and it was a drag race to the end,” Holman recalled.

“The biggest thing at Martinsville is patience. You have to keep the fenders on it and not let your emotions get away from you. When all was said and done last year, we didn’t have the truck torn up and we could race people.”

Holman hasn’t raced since late August; his team runs an abbreviated schedule. But in that last race he qualified eighth at Bristol and was running sixth just past the halfway point when he got caught up in someone else’s wreck and was forced out of the race. It was a heartbreaker for Holman and his team.

Even though he hasn’t been at the track since August, he hasn’t been idle. He and crew chief Chris Carrier, the team’s only fulltime employees, have spent the time rebuilding the Chevrolet. And he believes they are solid for Martinsville and the Kroger 200.

“We don’t go to the track unless we know we can be competitive. Charlie (team owner Charlie Henderson) has no desire to go and just race,” said Holman, who qualified sixth at Kentucky earlier this season and finished 14th.