Ted Musgrave has four top-three finishes at Nashville. Credit: Autostock

Musgrave hopes to play right tune at Nashville

All Ted Musgrave wants this weekend is a guitar.

He's finished in the top three in each of his four career starts at Nashville Superspeedway, but he has yet to win in Music City and collect one of the track's famous guitar trophies.

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Ted Musgrave at Nashville Year Start Finish 2001 3 2 2002 3 3 2003 4 2 2004 13 3

There's likely is no better time for Musgrave to break into the win column than this weekend's Toyota Tundra 200. Musgrave sits second, a robust 227 points behind series leader Dennis Setzer. His only win this season came back in April at Gateway International Raceway.

"We need a couple of wins," said Musgrave. "That's No. 1 on my list."

If past history is any indicator, Musgrave should contend for the win on Nashville's concrete oval. Simply put, Ultra Motorsports loves concrete racetracks.

Musgrave won at Dover International Speedway and Scott Riggs won at Nashville for Ultra.

"I'm not sure I can give you an exact reason," said Musgrave of his performance on concrete in general and Nashville Superspeedway in particular. "I like (Nashville's) size and I like the layout. And the concrete surface hinders a lot of drivers.

"It has to do with springs and shocks," Musgrave said. "On concrete, it's a different feel and different shock harmonics. There's a lot of vibration going through the tires. That upsets the truck's handling."

Musgrave has had an up-and-down season. A win among five top-five finishes has been offset by finishes of 26th at Memphis and 28th at Michigan.

The Memphis race perhaps best crystallizes Musgrave's season. While trying to bounce back from a problem on pit road, Musgrave was involved in a multi-truck tangle at the rear of the field that put him out of the event.

"It's a real danger zone back there these days," said Musgrave, a 16-time series winner who never has finished worse than third in points during four seasons. "There is a lot of pressure to perform."

The pressure doesn't seem to be getting to Setzer at all. By winning at Indianapolis Raceway Park last weekend, Setzer became the fourth driver to win four of his last six starts in the same Craftsman Truck season. Greg Biffle was the most recent to do so in 1999.

Biffle and Ron Hornaday Jr. posted six victories in eight starts in 1999 and 1997, respectively. Setzer also reached a single-season high in wins. He won three times in 1999 and 2003.

Still, despite a 227-point cushion heading into Saturday's race, Setzer isn't ready to pop the cork on the championship champagne just yet.

"I'm afraid to comment. I'm scared to even think about it," said Setzer.