Compton overcomes illness, finishes 18th

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Stacy Compton was very thankful to see the checkered flag fall on Sunday.

	Stacy Compton

His 18th-place finish aside, the final lap meant he could quit racing and get out of the car.

Not that Compton was sick of driving the No. 14 Conseco Pontiac. He was plain sick from food poisoning. Adding to his dilemma was the fact his helmet air hose came off with 200 laps remaining in Sunday's race.

The lead-lap finish was Compton's top outing of the year. He now has two straight top-20 finishes after his 19th-place run at Texas last week.

On Saturday, Compton drove in the Busch Series race in Nashville and then returned to Martinsville for Sunday's Virginia 500.

During the race on Sunday, he got physically ill inside the car while driving from heat exhaustion combined with the food poisoning.

After the race, he received medical attention from the infield medical center before returning home.