One familiar face absent from the 2018 running of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway was Statesville, North Carolina resident Jake Crum, who was unable to put a deal together in time for the 200-lap feature.
No obstacles stand in the way of Crum entering the 2019 edition of the race, as he has formed a partnership with long-time veteran Mike Darne and will attempt to pursue his second career win in the prestigious Late Model event.
“This is always such a fun race to come to,” Crum said. “There are a lot of cars here that you don’t see in your typical weekly show, and these solid turnouts are always a part of the fun. Hopefully Mike and I can both make the show here this year and run good.”
Crum’s lone victory in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 came during his second attempt in 2009, where he battled Alex Yontz, Michael Kidd and Brennan Poole all afternoon before making the race-winning pass on Poole on the final restart of the day with less than 10 laps to go.
After crashing out in 2011 and missing the race in 2014, Crum emerged as a contender in his two recent starts in 2015 and 2017 by qualifying on the front row for both races, leading a combined total of 127 laps, and bringing home solid finishes of sixth and fourth, respectively.
Crum has only made a limited number of Late Model starts during the 2019 season while he has been busy with work and caring for his newborn child, but he is determined to shake off the rust and pick up from where he left off during his strong run in the 2017 ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
Although Crum is confident that the speed in his Mike Darne-prepared Late Model will be enough to get him into the main event, he stated that any driver who enters the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 must rely on more than just speed to bring home a checkered flag.
“Winning here comes down to a combination of things,” Crum said. “You have to have a good car, you have to have a good group of guys working with you, but most importantly, you have to have a lot of luck. If you can manage your equipment and miss the wrecks, then you can come out of here with a good finish or a win.”
Crum believes that the rule changes implemented by Martinsville for the 2019 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 should enable more competition and decrease the amount of desperate on-track moves, which include locking in the Top 20 fastest qualifiers and eliminating the invert and the Last Chance Qualifier.
Crum also approves of where the track place the two competition cautions, as he believes that a 50-lap sprint to the finish is an ideal to determine which driver gets to add his name to the long list of notable winners in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 as opposed to a 10 or 20-lap shootout.
“Things are getting back to the way they use to be here,” Crum said. “The competition caution they had with 10 to go really created such a disaster, so these are definitely some good changes because it gives everybody some time to get to the front and race with one another.”
A victory for Crum next Saturday evening would put him in an elite list of drivers that have won the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 twice such as Lee Pulliam, Tommy Lemons Jr. and Timothy Peters.
