NCTS Results from Martinsville Speedway 

1.  Mike Skinner, No. 5 Toyota
2.  Jack Sprague, No. 60 Toyota
3. Ron Hornaday Jr., No. 33 Chevrolet
33. Dario Franchitti, No. 41 Target/Fuji Film Dodge

FRANCHITTI 33RD IN NASCAR DEBUT AT MARTINSVILLE

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 20, 2007)-After successfully qualifying for his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series earlier in the day, Dario Franchitti and his No.41 Target/Fuji Film Dodge team suffered rear end problems on Lap 149 of 200 and finished 33rd at Martinsville Speedway.

Franchitti started the event 30th and settled in over the opening laps before moving up to as high as 15th on the scoring tower after the team's only scheduled pit stop for fuel on Lap 76.

But on Lap 109 the sixth caution of the race flew for an incident involving the No. 41. While Franchitti was being passed on the inside of Turn 3, the No. 18 truck stuck his nose in after the initial exchange and turned the No.41 around, sending him spinning up the track and into the No.75 machine. Franchitti would continue in 32nd with left front damage, but rear end problems ultimately sent the team behind the wall and out of the race for good 52 laps shy of the finish.

As was the case following Franchitti's ARCA debut at Talladega earlier in the month, the team will again evaluate his progress following Martinsville and release plans for future races in the coming days.

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard:
DARIO FRANCHITTI: “The truck was handling really well to start with and we were making good progress and really enjoying it .But we got really tight toward the middle of our first run there and we really started struggling. Then I got hit, spun around and it kind of got spoiled from then on. We came here with a program kind of thrown together a little bit to get experience, and that's what we did. So I've got to thank Chip and everybody in the team because we learned a lot for next year."