Trio Of Young Truck Series Drivers Have Eyes On Solid Martinsville Finish

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 27, 2013) – Kyle Busch wasn’t anywhere near Martinsville Speedway Wednesday, but he certainly had a presence at the site of the next NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World series races.

The entire Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) truck series lineup was on hand to help promote the upcoming Kroger 250, chatting with the media and giving pace car rides around the half-mile oval. KBM’s Martinsville lineup for the April 6 Kroger 250 will be Darrell Wallace Jr., Joey Coulter and Erik Jones. It is a young bunch, but apparently one Busch has a great deal of confidence in.

Sixteen-year-old Jones had never seen Martinsville Speedway in person until Wednesday. Nineteen-year-old Wallace has only one career truck series start. At 22 Coulter is the old man of the group, moving over from Richard Childress Racing after the 2012 season, a season which saw him pick up his first truck series win. Coulter is the only driver in the three with a truck series start at Martinsville.

But all three drivers believe with the KBM equipment and Busch’s knowledge, it could be a good trip back to Martinsville for the April 6 event.

“It’ll be good to be back at Martinsville. I ran here in the late models and ran one (K&N) East race here,” said Wallace. “I’ve got the same truck that Denny (Hamlin) won with here last year, so there’s no reason we shouldn’t be up front.

“It’s going to be key for all of us to learn as much as we can from Kyle though. He’s pretty dominant here. So if we can pick his brain to get as much as we can, we should be pretty good right off the bat.”

It was a race last winter, the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla., that basically earned Jones his job with KBM. He went head-to-head with Busch in the closing laps of the December race and edged his future boss at the start-finish line for the victory.

“The Snowball Derby had to be part of it (landing the KBM ride). I had known him before then, but the derby was a big part of it,” said Jones, who is finishing his high school classes online while pursuing a career in racing. “I hope I earned some respect from him for that.

“Kyle is a hard-nose racer and aggressive, especially in the Snowball Derby. That’s an aggressive race. There was a little bumping between us, but nothing too bad.”

With a few Martinsville races under his belt, Coulter has a little different perspective on the Kroger 250 than his younger teammates.

“That clock … everybody is shooting for that clock,” Coulter said of the grandfather clock that goes to race winners at Martinsville. “It’s one of the coolest trophies in the sport for sure. It’s such a fun race. It’s so different from every other short track in the country so it’s fitting to have a trophy that’s just a little bit different.”

Tickets for the STP® Gas Booster™ 500, the Kroger 250 and Martinsville Pole Day may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com online.

Martinsville Speedway’s phone hours this week are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone hours for this Sunday are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Phone hours next week will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

Martinsville Speedway’s ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays through the upcoming race weekend. The ticket office will be open Easter Sunday, March 31.

2013 Schedule:

Friday, April 5 — Martinsville Pole Day
Saturday, April 6 — Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race
Sunday, April 7 — STP Gas Booster 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race
Sunday, October 6 — Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Late Model Stock race
Friday, October 25 — Martinsville Pole Day
Saturday, October 26 — Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race
Sunday, October 27 — Goody’s Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race