Setzer wins crash-filled Advance Auto Parts 250

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Dennis Setzer came from 33rd to first to win the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Setzer, driver of the No. 46 Axiom Chevrolet, initially qualified fifth but was relegated to his starting position after an illegal left-front spring was found after qualifying on Friday.

Setzer survived multiple cautions to claim his first win this year and seventh of his 98-race Craftsman Truck Series career.

Mike Bliss was second with Rick Crawford, Bobby Dotter, Terry Cook, Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, David Starr, rookie Brendan Gaughan and Jon Wood rounding out the top 10.

"This is usually a fun track to get around," said Setzer, who moved from 18th to ninth in points with the victory. "It usually doesn't plug up here at Martinsville. It's one of the best tracks we race, I think, as far as competitive racing.

"We took four tires just before the 100-lap mark and never came back in. We knew we would have to do something like that. We knew we couldn't come in and get four and come back and get two later with the way the day started. We kind of had that strategy before the day started.

"I feel like I've been overdue here. A few years ago I was dominating and got tangled up with a lap Truck pretty late in the race. To come back with this Morgan-Dollar Motorsports team and get a victory is pretty good for us.

"You have to use a lot of patience at this track and make sure that leader doesn't come around to catch you. One time the leaders got a little too close for comfort and I had to get a little aggressive there. But, the caution came out shortly after that and it worked out good for us."

Darrell Waltrip finished 34th after mechanical problems sent him to the garage early. Andy Petree wrecked and finished 32nd while Kevin Harvick was ordered to the garage by NASCAR after it was thought he was going to retaliate toward Coy Gibbs for earlier incidents. Harvick ended up with a 29th place finish.

Coming into the race, Ted Musgrave and Robert Pressley shared the point lead. Musgrave was involved in a wreck and regitered a 24th-place finish. Pressley was 14th, two laps down.

"I could see Dennis halfway through the race and could see he was coming up," said Bliss, driver of the IWX Chevrolet. "We had a real good truck and I knew he was the one to beat. I just felt like we were really good on long runs.

"Heck, it seemed like 10 laps was a long run here today. It seemed like you had to keep slowing down and we needed long runs for our Chevy."

"I screwed up in the pits when I dropped the clutch when the left side was still up. That's something I've never done before."

Crawford's third moved him from eighth to fourth in the points battle.

"The caution flag kept coming out and it helped some guys, but it hurt us," said Crawford, driver of the No. 14 Circle Bar Ford. "We worked out pit strategy and it was working. But, momentum wasn't tough to keep, it was the traffic that kept slowing things down.

"We beat and banged out Truck to the front as quick as we could. The checkered flag came out and we finished third."

The series' next event is the Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Speedway on May 5.