Musgrave looks to turn past success into victory

Ted Musgrave's list of accomplishments at Martinsville Speedway is as impressive as it is lengthy.

Eight lead-lap finishes in 10 career Craftsman Truck Series starts, including four top-fives and six top-10s. Two poles, 323 laps led, the best average finish of any driver who has made 10 or more starts. In fact, Musgrave's been running at the finish in every race he's ever run at the flat half-mile, including 20 Cup appearances.

But there's one thing missing: a victory.

Musgrave thought he had that in the bag last fall before he was penalized while leading during a late-race restart. While Jack Sprague went on to win, Musgrave -- having to fight his way back from the tail end of the lead lap cars -- wound up 15th.

"Jack and I had a good race going there last fall, but we didn't get to fight to the finish with him," Musgrave said. "If I end up leading at a restart again, I'm sure I'll have a few folks helping me remember how to do a restart -- Rick Gay, Mike Hillman, me ... I just want us to get the chance to have that to worry about."

Still, Musgrave said he can't let what happened a year ago affect his concentration for Saturday's Kroger 250.

"At Martinsville, there's definitely no time to worry about how you did the last time you were there," Musgrave said. "You think about it when you strap in -- you kind of rehearse how things played out and remember any lessons you need to remember, but that's it. The green flag falls, and it's all about each lap, each turn, each straightaway."

If there's one stat that's in Musgrave's favor, it's that there have been 15 different winners in the 16 races held there since 1995. Only five of those -- Mike Skinner, Dennis Setzer, Rick Crawford, David Starr and Sprague -- are on the entry list for this weekend's event.

Musgrave is currently fifth in the standings, 110 points behind leader Skinner.