Martinsville a rude host for open-wheel newcomers

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Unfulfilling certainly described Saturday's Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway for the six drivers making their Craftsman Truck Series short-track debuts -- five of them who were making their first starts in a NASCAR national touring division race.

But unfair doesn't, because after all this was Martinsville, a short track that's NASCAR's shortest venue

Autostock

Jacques Villeneuve

Kroger 200

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make	Start
1.	Mike Skinner	Toyota	4
2.	Jack Sprague	Toyota	1
3.	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	12
4.	David Starr	Ford	11
5.	Rick Crawford	Ford	7
6.	Mike Bliss	Dodge	9
7.	Chad Chaffin	Chevrolet	14
8.	Ted Musgrave	Toyota	10
9.	Johnny Benson	Toyota	17
10.	Dennis Setzer	Dodge	13
32.	J. Villeneuve	Toyota	27
33.	D. Franchitti	Dodge	30

• Complete Results: click here
• Race Video: click here

Open-wheel drivers Jacques Villeneuve, who made his third Craftsman Truck Series start and his fourth in NASCAR, and Dario Franchitti, making his NASCAR debut and his second stock-car start, were both eliminated in accidents.

Villeneuve's No. 27 Toyota finished 32nd after completing 157 of 200 laps before being involved in a three-truck skirmish that resulted in Villeneuve hammering the inside wall on the frontstretch. It was the second consecutive Truck race in which he's crashed out.

Franchitti's No. 41 Dodge got as high as 15th, for 20 laps at mid-race, before he was involved in an accident and retired in 33rd position due to rear-end failure.

The other four first-timers -- Chris Jones, Travis Dassow, Michael McDowell and Colin Braun, who all have larger backgrounds in closed-body cars -- had mixed results. Jones and Dassow finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, a lap down to winner and new points leader Mike Skinner, while McDowell (30th) and Braun (34th) were involved in accidents, Braun's caused by a flat tire.

Villeneuve got the furthest forward in the 36-truck field, as high as 12th when he was wiped out in an accident that involved a pair of veterans, Chase for the Nextel Cup contender Clint Bowyer and Busch Series regular Jason Leffler.

"The 1 [Leffler] got into [Villeneuve] and I got underneath of [Villeneuve], he kind of came down and got loose and the 1 ran over him and spun him out," said Bowyer, who himself was seventh with less than a lap to go before he was enveloped in a backstretch crash. "There was a lot going on [Saturday], so I don't know."

Bowyer said it was all part of gaining experience at this level in NASCAR -- and more importantly, at this type of facility.

"The guy was doing a good job," Bowyer said of Villeneuve. "There were faster trucks behind him and on a track like this -- I've been there and done that -- and there's no getting out of the way here. You can't get out of the way.

"I'll guarantee you he was in a situation he didn't want to be in -- but you can't get out of it. It was just like what happened to me at the end. I should have finished seventh and ended up wherever we ended up [17th]."

Villeneuve left the facility quickly as his spotter and Nextel Cup crew chief, Slugger Labbe, said Villeneuve had a flight to catch, but before he did said he was pleased with his progress.

"It's a shame because the truck was handling real well -- the team was working hard and we were gaining positions," Villeneuve said. "I got hit a few times and then got turned around coming off of Turn 4.

"But that's short-track racing at Martinsville. I was having a lot of fun [Saturday]. This track reminds me a little of a road-course because you can race hard and use the brakes a lot. It was quite entertaining."

Labbe was impressed with his driver, but a little less forgiving of his competition. Labbe engineered Villeneuve's Nextel Cup debut two weeks ago at Talladega with a lead lap, 21st-place finish.

Open and shut

The likes of Dario Franchitti and other open-wheel stars are leaving some current Nextel Cup drivers without rides for next season. But Franchitti offers no apologies.

• Complete story, click here
• Villeneuve to buy BDR?

"He did a great job," Labbe said of Saturday's outing. "At first he was giving them a little bit too much room on the left side and a couple guys tried diving underneath him but once he got that figured out he did a good job, got up [to 12th] and kept his nose clean -- but a couple of Nextel Cup drivers just ganged up on him getting into [Turn] 3.

"They started on entry and they finished him off on the straightaway, so he was kind of like a pinball. They didn't cut him a break and he just got the bad end of the deal. I know NASCAR warned both the 1 and the 2 [Bowyer] for rough driving in that situation so neither one of them gave an inch, and that's what happened.

"Overall he did a good job, he learned more of how it is -- that there's no give and take and he didn't take nothing, either. He gave out his fair share and passed some guys on the inside -- out-broke 'em into the corners -- so he learned all them aspects, which is good as he prepares for next year.

"Not many guys passed him. He got out-broke one time in the whole race and other than that, no one really passed him so he's doing a great job, passing trucks and being really patient. He learned, one time he got his brakes real hot and backed the corner up [to cool them], so he understands how all that works.

"He understands a lot about a chassis and he understood [Saturday] that when his truck got tight, we told him to back the corner up and get off the brake -- and his truck changed. So he understands that he can do a lot himself with the way his truck or car is driving; so every lap we get him in a race condition is beneficial."

Bowyer again said having such difficult facilities as Talladega and Martinsville early in a driving career was a daunting assignment.

"It definitely is part of the learning process," Bowyer said. "And not meaning that the wrong way, by any means, but we've all been there and done that and going to Talladega and coming here for your first two races is a pretty tall measure for anybody."

The race winner, Skinner, said he was pleased with what he saw from the newcomers.

"Those guys are just like Juan Pablo [Montoya, former open-wheeler now a Nextel Cup rookie] -- and he's proven that it can be done," Skinner said. "But you've got to understand something. It would probably be easier for Jeff Gordon to go and drive a Formula One car than it would be for Jacques Villeneuve to come and drive the No. 24 DuPont car.

"These cars are heavy, they don't stop, they won't turn and they want to spin the tires when you hit the gas. And that is a challenge when you're used to driving something that drives like a go-kart, or a slot car that has traction control and seven or eight engineers on the box and they're tuning the motor while you're going around the racetrack.

"[Formula One] is very high-tech racing and NASCAR's done a great job of keeping it to where it's not just the driver and the crew chief and the engine builder -- everything has to be perfect to win one of these races in one of NASCAR's big three divisions."

Franchitti found his experience this weekend a little less than perfect, but said, while his next NASCAR start wasn't up to him but to team owner Chip Ganassi, it was all part of his learning curve.

"It was down to my experience level," Franchitti said. "When it got a little tight I was struggling with how to drive the corner a little different. I think some of that was inexperience on my part in setting up the truck [Friday] in that I didn't know what to expect [Saturday] and how the truck was going to react, and some was the inexperience of the crew, because this was the first time they'd ever run a truck."

Chip Ganassi Racing put typical Busch Series crew chief Brian Pattie in charge of the crew that ended Franchitti's Dodge Ram.

"But again, it was all good learning [Saturday]. It was not the result I wanted at all, but hey -- I learned some stuff."

Franchitti said the most critical portion of the race came after he was hit by one truck entering Turn 3, which knocked him sideways and into another truck, and a spin. He lost a lap, which he endured before he was black-flagged for leaking rear-end fluid, which ultimately knocked him out.

"It was OK when I was running with the guys in the same sort of positions," Franchitti said. "But when I was a lap down on the inside it was a problem because I didn't want to run into one of the guys running for the championship, I was stuck on the inside and that was a whole new ballgame."

Franchitti was enthused about his overall weekend.

"It was a good experience -- it was interesting, if you ignore the result," he said, laughing. "The result is pretty disappointing -- like, very disappointing. But at the same time we're here to learn right now and it's a long way to go.

"We realize this is going to be a long-term deal, but hopefully we'll be running maybe some Busch cars and Cup cars with the team that has some experience at running them, and when I get more seat time I'll get better."