Clint Bowyer has one top-10 in six career Cup starts. Credit: Autostock

Bowyer, Stremme to run Trucks at Martinsville

Cup rookies looking for experience at paperclip-shaped track

Rookie Cup drivers Clint Bowyer and David Stremme will compensate for their lack of experience at Martinsville Speedway by driving in Saturday's Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at the half-mile oval.

Each will make his Truck Series debut driving a vehicle that's contesting the full, 25-race Truck Series.

	David Stremme Credit: Autostock
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Bowyer, the leader in the rookie standings, will drive a No. 07 Chevrolet fielded by Green Light Racing.

"I've never even seen the racetrack before," Bowyer said. "I'm going to run the truck race there so I can gain some experience and get some extra seat time.

"I'm looking forward to this weekend. It's pretty close to my house so [I was] able to sleep in my own bed Thursday night.

"Any time I can get an extra day at home is a bonus. It's nice not to have to travel so far."

Stremme, sixth in rookie points, faces double jeopardy this weekend by coming to Martinsville for the first time and having to qualify for Sunday's DirecTV 500 on his qualifying speed, since his No. 40 Dodge team is outside the top 35 in owner points.

Stremme, whose Chip Ganassi Racing team has a cooperative agreement with Dodge's factory team in the Truck Series, Bobby Hamilton Racing, will drive BHR's No. 04 Dodge Hemi Ram, replacing regular driver Scott Lagasse Jr. for one race.

"I am looking forward to getting some extra seat time this weekend by running the truck race," Stremme said. "It was an opportunity for me to run some extra laps on a track that I have never raced at before.

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"The No. 40 Dodge was running pretty well last weekend at Bristol but we got caught up in someone else's incident. That is the hardest part about short-track racing -- there is nowhere to go if something happens in front of you."

Both the 07 and 04 trucks are guaranteed starters in the Kroger 250.

Lagasse will resume driving the No. 04 Dodge at Gateway International Raceway on April 29.

While Bowyer has no experience on Martinsville's paperclip-shaped half-mile oval, his crew chief, Gil Martin, won the 1994 Advance Auto Parts 500 Busch Series race with driver Kenny Wallace.

"We're hoping having Clint race the truck will help," Martin said. "It's not going to be a lot of help for our first time on the racetrack because the Cup cars are on the track before the trucks [but] we've got a lot of videotape for him to watch and review.

"We're just trying to do the best we can as far as getting him used to the track [and] I think when the race comes around he'll be fine."

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Martin is one man who felt NASCAR restrictions this season of test dates for all drivers, including rookies, was particularly a detriment to his pilot.

"It's huge, because of the fact that he has never seen Martinsville and because of the type of track it is," Martin said. "Martinsville is such a finesse track and you've got to really master the track itself, more than just racing the place.

"It's going to be a huge disadvantage to all the rookies who've never been there."

Martin said the team had been using a familiar prep tool, a computer game, but so far the results hadn't been scintillating.

"There's really no substitute for seat time at Martinsville," Martin said. "The only simulation we've been using is PlayStation and he can't seem to make 10 laps on that. I hope that's not an indication of what's going to happen."

Bowyer said Martinsville is a good case for having an extra practice for rookies, a practice that is followed in the Busch and Truck series.

"It would help [because] a lot of us rookies have never seen the track before," Bowyer said. "As far as I'm concerned, I've never seen the track so I'd like a rookie practice -- but it's probably not going to happen.

"We'll just have to get all we can out of the weekend. You can't be on the hook in the infield, either [so] as a team, we've got to do the best we can and balance off of our resources.

"I've got good teammates who run well there with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. I'll be leaning a lot on my crew chief, Gil Martin, and his experience. I'll be using him as much as I can."

Among the other Cup rookies, Brent Sherman was replaced in the No. 49 Serta Dodge by veteran Jimmy Spencer, Denny Hamlin has experience in Late Model Stock Cars and was eighth in last fall's Cup race and J.J. Yeley, Reed Sorenson and Martin Truex Jr. have never raced Martinsville.