Hal Martin’s Nationwide Debut Slowed by Brake Failure at Kansas
No. 44 American Custom Yachts Toyota Camry
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES – RACE 30 OF 33 – KANSAS SPEEDWAY
Hal Martin’s debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series showed potential for a promising finish, but a brake pedal failure in the early stages eliminated any hope for a solid finish at the Kansas Speedway. The Ragin’ Cajun, from Galliano, Louisiana, came into Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 with realistic hopes and expectations of a top 20 lead lap finish as he prepares for a Rookie-of-the-Year title run in 2013.
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Martin took advantage of Thursday’s elongated practice session, scuffing tires and learning the characteristics of his #44 American Custom Yachts Inc. Toyota. From the opening of the traditional practice sessions on Friday, Martin was ready to “Geaux” and posted the 16th quickest speed. In Coors’ Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday morning, Martin posted yet another solid lap, good enough for 16th fastest.
When the green flag dropped, Martin made an impressive save with a loose racecar in turn 1, and kept the American Custom Yachts Inc. Toyota out of major trouble. Martin quickly worked his way into the top 15 by lap 17. After successfully finding a rhythm and posting top 15 lap times, Martin’s brake pedal broke and forced the 26 year old to the garage for repairs. Martin rejoined competition before the one quarter mark in the event for additional seat time and to build a notebook with Tri-Star Motorsports for their upcoming outing at Texas Motor Speedway. Through the bulk of the 206 lap affair, Martin’s Toyota Camry showed speed capable of running well inside the top 15, and even posted lap times as fast as the leaders, before a late race incident forced a premature end to his day. The performance throughout his debut weekend at Kansas has the Ragin’ Cajun confident and looking forward to his second start at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hal Martin on Kansas Speedway
Are you pleased with the progress and experience you gained this weekend?
“It’s obviously not where we wanted to finish the day. When we came back out after the brake failure, we had a pretty good American Custom Yachts Toyota once we got tweaking on it. We were just racing hard at the end, trying to learn all I could out there. When I got underneath the no.8, we got pinched down and lost the air off the right side and spun out. I’m a lot more confident now going to Texas. Even though the result wasn’t where we wanted it, I learned a lot about driving these cars in traffic as well as by myself. We’ll carry what we had and learned this weekend and apply it to Texas.”
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Race Recap Date: October 20, 2012 Race: 30 of 33 Start: 16th Finish: 25th
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Crunch Time – Crucial stretch ahead for Keselowski
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[/media-credit]Through the first six races of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski has done everything to put himself in position to win his first Sprint Cup Series title. The Rochester Hills, MI native has won two of the opening six races (Chicago and Dover) and his worst finish in the six chase races is 11th at Charlotte two weeks ago.
While as good as Keselowski has been in these opening six races, ultimately it is the last four race tracks that Keselowski has struggled mightily at. Judging by the numbers, Martinsville is the best remaining track for Keselowski. In five career races on the 1/2 mile oval, Keselowski has two top-10 finishes with a best finish of ninth in the spring race this year.
However in order to remain neck and neck with Jimmie Johnson all the way to Homestead, he will have to score his best runs at Texas and Phoenix. These are two tracks that have not served well for Keselowski in recent history. In eight career starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Keselowski has never scored a top-5 or a top-10 finish. In fact his best finish on the 1.5 mile oval is 14th back in the 2010 spring race. During that eight race stretch, he has led only 34 laps and has an average finish of 25.2. Phoenix has not been much better. In six career starts on the 1-mile oval, he has only one top-5 finish to go along with an average finish of 22.2.
To win this championship, Keselowski will have to have his best career races in the next four weeks. In fact he will have to match Johnson step for step on two of Johnson’s best tracks, Martinsville and Phoenix. But should Keselowski weather Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix, he will be in a position at Homestead to fight for the title. But if past history rears its head, this could be ultimately the stretch that Keselowski loses his shot at the title.
