Martinsville Shuffle Relegates Joey Coulter to 17th-Place Finish

Joey Coulter, driver of the No. 21 Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing, finished in the 17th position in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Coulter ran competitively inside the top-15 for the majority of the evening before a late restart shuffled the driver into the outside lane.   

 

“It was definitely frustrating,” said Coulter after the event. “It seemed like we could never get the track position we were looking for all race. Our Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet was decent for most of the day; just fought the truck being loose off the longer the run went under green. Martinsville is a place where you get caught on the top and it’s all you can do to not wreck. It definitely makes for a frustrating afternoon but my GMS Racing team will head back to the shop and keep working hard.” 

 

Rain moved into the area on Saturday, canceling qualifying and postponing the race until after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on Sunday evening. Coulter started from the 18th position and quickly broke into the top-15 by lap 28. As the second caution was displayed on lap 35, Crew Chief Jeff Stankiewicz called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel, chassis adjustments, and to remove tape as the water temperature was rising.

 

Running as high as the 12th position, Coulter continued to pass his competitors while fighting a tight handing condition in the middle of the corner. Stankiewicz radioed his driver back to the attention of his Alamo Rent A Car pit crew on lap 92 for four tires, fuel, and a track bar adjustment. Over the next 100 laps, a long green flag run occurred and Coulter’s Chevrolet started to become loose off the corner, hindering his forward progress.

 

In typical short track racing fashion, business on the racetrack began heating up with 50 laps to go. Coulter, with help from spotter Chris Osborne, narrowly made it through two accidents in front of the No. 21 Alamo Rent A Car Chevrolet, and looked to break into the top-10. Unfortunately over the course of two green-white-checkered finishes, Coulter was shuffled out of line into the outside groove and lost valuable track position. Coulter crossed the finish line in 17th-place.

 

The next event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway on Friday, May 9. The race starts at 8:30PM ET, with live television coverage on FOX Sports 1. The live radio broadcast can also be heard on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius-XM Satellite Radio.  

 

GMS Racing PR