MARTINSVILLE — Already assured of a spot in the Kroger 250 field, Brett Butler gingerly guided his truck around Martinsville Speedway late Saturday morning.
Rain was beginning to fall on the 0.526-mile paper clip-shaped oval, and Butler was the last of 36 drivers to attempt a qualifying run for the Camping World Truck Series race. Rather than risking a crash while trying to improve his starting position, Butler took a more cautious approach and turned a lap at 83.654 miles per hour, more than 11 mph off the pole speed of Rick Crawford.
Butler and his team will have two days to search for more speed. A large storm system, stretching all the way from the Florida Panhandle into southern Virginia, reached Martinsville shortly before the race’s scheduled 2 p.m. start and caused NASCAR officials to postpone the event until noon on Monday. At that time, according to AccuWeather.com, temperatures should be near 60 degrees with bright sunshine.
The weather is also expected to cooperate for today’s Sprint Cup race, with morning clouds giving way to blue skies by early afternoon.
Crawford edged Shane Sieg for the top spot by .087 of a second. Johnny Benson, who won here in October, will start third, followed by Ron Hornaday and Colin Braun.
Kevin Harvick, Max Papis, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner and Timothy Peters rounded out the top 10. Peters, a Danville resident who currently sits ninth in the points standings, qualified at 93.975 mph, just ahead of Kyle Busch, the Camping World Truck Series points leader.
Terry Cook and David Starr, both of whom drive for Lynchburg-based HT Motorsports, will start 13th and 22nd, respectively. Cook is seventh in points while Starr is 10th.
Stacy Compton of Grit will start 21st. Compton has finished in the top 20 in all three truck races this season and sits 15th in the points standings.
Five former Martinsville winners are in the field: Crawford, Skinner, Benson, Starr and Dennis Setzer. Skinner and Setzer have both won three events here.
Saturday’s final Sprint Cup practice session was also washed out. In anticipation of the inclement weather, many drivers turned more laps than usual during Friday’s practice. Bobby Labonte took 82 laps, while Carl Edwards took 81 and Tony Stewart 79.
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