Dodge Driver Mike Bliss had luck on his side at Martinsville Speedway during the running of the Kroger 200 Saturday afternoon. Even though disaster struck in some form or other 13 times that afternoon Bliss always seemed to be at the right place on the track at exactly the right moment. He started the 21st race of the season in ninth position and ran most of the day inside the top 10 before coming home in the sixth position. It was his sixth top 10 finish in his 10th race with Bobby Hamilton Racing.
By lap 20 Bliss was struggling with the same issue as teammate Dennis Setzer. “There is just no grip in these tires,” said Bliss. “This thing is all over the place.” Despite the uneasiness of the truck he was able to maintain his top 10 position.
The first caution waved on lap 26 for a spin in turn two. Crew Chief Marcus Richmond decided to bring Bliss down pit road for his only pit stop of the day. The Open Joist Racing team added fuel and went down three rounds on the track bar to help it turn better. Bliss restarted in the 12th position.
“I think we hurt it a little bit with those changes,” said Bliss under the second caution a few laps later. “Maybe it will come around as the race goes on.”
On lap 50 Bliss was holding his own in 10th spot despite the loose condition. Several laps later Richmond reminded Bliss, “This race is all about surviving.”
As cautions continued to wave on a track known for hard to pass racing, Bliss was unable to gain track position but held his own in 10th. “I am just shocked that the track has not tightened up any today,” said Bliss while under the sixth caution on lap 109.
The final 50 laps proved to be exciting ones with sixth caution flags including a red flag on lap 194 for a nine truck pile up in turn four. Unlike earlier in the race Bliss was able to gain positions during the series of cautions. When the race was restarted with three laps to go Bliss was in the seventh position.
On the final lap another multi-truck wreck accrued and blocked the race track coming out of turn four. Using his short track skills Bliss was able to judge which direction the spinning trucks were headed and he missed the pile up. As smoke bellied behind him Bliss crossed the finish line in sixth position. It was his sixth top 10 finish for Bobby Hamilton Racing this season.
Mike Skinner won The Kroger 200 before an estimated crowd of 39,000. Jack Sprague, Ron Hornaday Jr., David Starr and Rick Crawford rounded out the top five finishers. The next event for the NCTS will be at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Saturday.
