Darnell looking to the top with first win in the books

Thanks to his mountain bike, Erik Darnell is getting in top physical condition. Thanks to his Craftsman Truck Series win at Kansas (watch video), his season is shaping up nicely as well.

Darnell's first victory accomplished several things. First, it took away some of the pressure he had been feeling -- much of it self-induced. Plus, it provided a much-needed shot of confidence for himself and the crew.

Autostock

Erik Darnell

"I definitely felt some pressure on myself going out there, being in that No. 99 truck, a truck that's had a lot of success over the years," Darnell said. "For me to go out and not pick up a win the first year was frustrating and made me question whether or not I was capable of doing this.

"But I knew it was something that we just had to sit back and get everything sorted out, and it would eventually come. I'm real glad that it did."

Coming off five consecutive top-10 finishes to wind up 2006, Darnell and his team were expecting big things this season. When that didn't happen right away, it caused a little bit of second-guessing by the driver.

"We ran decent at Daytona but didn't get the finish I thought we should have and the three races after that were average at best," Darnell said. "It kind of left me scratching my head.

"I was a little frustrated. All the guys were a little frustrated. To finally put everything together, get everything turned around and get that win was definitely a confidence-booster for our team."

Darnell knew coming in that it was going to be difficult to win at this level. Still, there's a big difference between being told that and actually experiencing it first-hand.

"Coming up, everybody's who's racing at this level, any of the top three divisions of NASCAR, got there because they did very well in their respective careers moving up through the ranks," Darnell said. "As soon as you get there, it's a lot tougher than anything you've ever done before.

"It's more competition than you're used to, I think, and that was a big thing for me to get adjusted to. And it was frustrating to go out there and not pick up a win."

Darnell wasn't surprised he finally visited Victory Lane. What was unexpected was it came on a weekend when things didn't go as planned. Darnell said crew chief John Quinn and the crew had a lot to do with his success at Kansas. (Continued)