Credit: Autostock

Labonte has good shot at completing trifecta

Truck Series hits Martinsville for short track opener

There have already been three drivers this season to complete a NASCAR trifecta by winning in all three major divisions, and Bobby Labonte seeks to become the fourth.

Labonte couldn't have come closer at Atlanta Motor Speedway in his bid to score his first Craftsman Truck Series win -- he lost to Ron Hornaday by a few feet -- but he gets another try this weekend.

Martinsville winners Year Winner 1995 Joe Ruttman 1996 Mike Skinner 1997 Rich Bickle 1998 Jay Sauter 1999 Jimmy Hensley 2000 Bobby Hamilton 2001 Scott Riggs 2002 Dennis Setzer 2003 Dennis Setzer 2003 Jon Wood 2004 Rick Crawford 2004 Jamie McMurray

The Kroger 250 at Martinsville is the first short track of the 2005 Craftsman Truck Series season, and Labonte finished third here last fall.

He is in the same Morgan-Dollar prepared No. 47 Chevrolet for this weekend as he makes his fifth career start in the series.

"We had a ball at Atlanta," said Labonte, who won the Cup race at Martinsville in 2002. "I am really getting the hang of driving this Silverado. We finished third last fall at Martinsville and I would say we have a solid shot at a better run this race."

If Labonte wins, he will join Steve Park as a first-time Craftsman Truck Series winner in 2005.

Benson also looks to break shutout

Benson is the only active competitor to participate in the series' Feb. 5, 1995 inaugural event who has yet to win a race.

Not that the 41-year-old Michigan native hasn't come close.

Johnny Benson

The Nextel Cup Series veteran and television analyst has finished second three times, most recently last October at Texas Motor Speedway. And several factors suggest this week's Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway could be Benson's personal drought breaker.

Three competitors -- Bobby Hamilton, Jamie McMurray and Scott Riggs -- posted their first career victories at the .526-mile track, and recent short-track racing has produced a flurry of different winners -- 11 in a row since August 2003.

Finally, Benson has thousands of laps of experience at Martinsville in all three of NASCAR's national series. His best performance came in 2002 when he finished second to Kurt Busch in the track's NASCAR Nextel Cup Old Dominion 500.

Benson was 11th in last fall's Kroger 200. He finished third when the Craftsman Truck Series made its debut at the southern Virginia track in 1995.

Final appearance for Waltrip?

For Darrell Waltrip, life without time behind the wheel of a race vehicle would be no life at all.

So even though Waltrip's making his final race appearance in Saturday's Kroger 250, he'll continue to be involved in his two Craftsman Truck Series teams -- meaning his two drivers will be getting hands-on advice from their owner.

Darrell Waltrip

"I'm not going to race competitively again," said Waltrip. "It's like going to Martinsville a few weeks ago and testing with David (Reutimann) and Robert (Huffman) and my truck.

"I still want to do that. It's not that I'm not ever going to get in a car or truck again. I'll probably hop in there every now and then just for fun."

Fun is the word Waltrip has used to describe his occasional appearances in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since retiring from the Cup Series in 2000.

"Ever since then, everything I've done is for fun," he said. "It would be no different if you were a professional baseball player or a golfer and you still like to play the game. I still like to play the game."

Waltrip is the winner of 84 Cup races, including 11 at Martinsville Speedway.

He has two seventh-place truck finishes at Martinsville since moving to the NASCAR on FOX television booth. Rich Bickle won the 1997 Kroger 250 in a Darrell Waltrip Motorsports-owned truck.

Stat

Dennis Setzer, the only series driver to win twice at Martinsville Speedway, will surpass the $200,000 mark in track winnings by starting the Kroger 250.

Setzer has won $195,990 in 10 appearances. His five top-five and seven top-10 finishes rank No. 1 at the .526-mile track.