Notes: Skinner looking to make short track history

Three have tried; none have succeeded.

This week, Mike Skinner looks for a way to win an elusive, third consecutive short track race at the same track when he takes the green flag Saturday at Martinsville Speedway in the Kroger 250.

Dennis Setzer was the last before Skinner to score back-to-back victories at a short track. Setzer won at Martinsville in 2002-03 and came tantalizingly close to a third victory the following April, finishing second to Rick Crawford.

Fast facts

What	Kroger 250
When	Green, 3:13 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	FOX, 3 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3 p.m. ET

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Ron Hornaday had two shots at win No. 3 in 1998 and 1999, but failed both times to even crack the top 10.

Skinner has been in this position once before at O'Reilly Raceway Park in 1997. A broken oil line mid-race ended the streak.

Martinsville's only three-time series winner, Skinner, isn't getting ahead of himself.

"Well, the first thing we have to do is win," said Skinner, who'll be aboard the BDR Chassis 5-76 that carried him to both Martinsville wins in 2007. "Our goal this weekend is to definitely win, but we will take what we can get.

"We've got to catch back up in the points and this would be a good weekend to do it."

A new Martinsville for Lia

Donny Lia seemingly has an advantage this week over his rookie of the year classmates.

Lia has won at Martinsville Speedway before.

The question is whether winning last September's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race provides Lia with insights beyond knowing the location of Victory Lane.

The New York native, following two days of testing at Martinsville last week, isn't sure driving a 3,400-pound truck will be markedly different from guiding his lighter modified around the track's paperclip layout.

"It was surprising to me just how hard you drive the trucks into the corners, pretty much as hard and deep as I would drive a modified there," said Lia, the modified tour's 2007 champion. "However, you do tend to pick the throttle up a little bit later in the corner and smoother than you would a modified."

What's more familiar about Martinsville is how the track fits Lia's eye. He's been there many times -- just not at Martinsville, Va.

"It is a lot like the track I cut my teeth at, Riverhead Raceway in [Long Island] New York, just bigger," he said. "So it is like going home for me."

Lia and his fellow rookie of the year candidates obviously benefited from testing -- something that hasn't previously happened.

"We learned a lot about our truck and were very competitive," said Lia, who posted third, fourth and seventh-fastest speeds during three of the test's four sessions.

His speed topped out at 94.941 mph, slightly more than a tenth-of-a-second slower than Jack Sprague's top speed of 95.675.

Lia, who got a late start and has ground to make up in the rookie derby, thinks the Kroger 250 is a great opportunity to score points.

"If we can qualify in the top 10 and play the strategy game just right, I think we have a shot to win this race," Lia said.

Rookies at Martinsville: 0-For-18

The list of Martinsville winners is a NASCAR Hall of Fame-worthy roster and includes Jimmy Hensley, the late Bobby Hamilton and Bobby Labonte.

Conspicuously absent is any rookie of the year candidate.

Yet it would be wrong to suggest it can't happen in 2008 because a rookie nearly broke through on three previous occasions.

Travis Kvapil finished second in 2001; likewise Carl Edwards in 2003 and Todd Kluever in 2005.

The trio shares one common distinction. Each won rookie of the year honors.

So while the .526-mile layout hasn't produced any freshman winners, Martinsville Speedway definitely identifies the best in class.

A top-five or top-10 finish under the circumstances will go a long way toward establishing a favorite in this year's rookie competition.

Loop Data: Bet on the regulars

The Truck Series regulars make it known they hold their own quite nicely against the double-duty drivers when racing at Martinsville Speedway. The regulars are the clear class at Martinsville, often trumping the Cup Series regulars. It should be interesting to see if the trend continues Saturday.

Kyle Busch

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The Cup regulars in the field -- Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ken Schrader -- have all had struggles in the Trucks at Martinsville.

In two starts there, Hamlin has finishes of eighth (October 2006) and 19th (October 2007). In the two starts combined, he has an average running position of 11.6, a driver rating of 90.0, 76.8 percent of the laps in the top 15 and seven fastest laps run. His stats are solid, but not near the top of the charts.

The same can be said for Busch. In three Martinsville starts, he's finished fifth (October 2005), sixth (October 2006) and 31st (October 2007). In the three races, Busch has an average running position of 10.6, a driver rating of 95.5, 81.0 percent of the laps in the top 15 and 19 fastest laps run. Again, solid, but un-Busch like.

Schrader, though failing to crack the top 10 in any of his last five Martinsville races, has been consistent the last three. Since 2005, Schrader has a driver rating of 78.5 and an average running position of 15.6. His last three finishes were 14th (April, 2005), 11th (October 2005) and 13th (March 2007). Schrader's best Martinsville finish -- eighth in October 2004 -- is the Missourian's only top 10.

Martinsville becoming NASCAR hub

It's not yet Charlotte, N.C., but with two teams, a top engine builder and a junior college motorsports program, Martinsville, Va., is becoming a hub of NASCAR in southern Virginia.

Jim Harris' HT Motorsports and Joey Arrington Engines set up shop near Martinsville Speedway several years back. Bobby Hamilton Racing relocated from the Nashville area a few months ago.

Patrick Henry Community College has sent several students to BHR including Darin Goins, tire specialist for Stacy Compton; John Sowder, a general mechanic and tire carrier in training and Chad Martin, tire specialist on the No. 18 Dodge of Setzer.