RIDGEWAY, VA – Jake Crum opened up Martinsville speedweek 2015 by making a statement as he chases his second victory in Late Model Stock Car racing’s crowned jewel event.

Crum, racing for Jamie Yelton and Fat Heat Racing, consistently recorded laps in the 20.3-20.4 second range and all the competitors are now looking at the 2009 winner as the car to beat.

“We have a really good car,” Crum said. “Actually, it’s a brand new car. I was really nervous coming into the day not knowing if it was going to fall off here or there. Jamie Yelton and everybody at Fat Heat Racing have worked their guts out and prepared a pretty good car for us. Everybody’s looking at us now. I think we set a standard for everybody to come back and really have to shoot for a lap time.”

Winning practice is only just that, winning practice. Crum knows that the car will have to be just as good – if not better, when they unload next Saturday ahead of qualifying the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

“We just want to get better,” Crum remarked. “Never want to be good enough, want to keep on getting better. We’ll come back and just be prepared to keep out of the wrecks, watch out and stay out of trouble mainly. The biggest thing is having luck on your side so we’ll see how it goes next week.”

Crum said the car was consistently fast.

“We put sticker tires on right there and went out on sticker tires and ran some pretty good lap times,” Crum commented. “The car’s really consistent. It stayed under me really well. That’s the big thing here. Anybody can go out and put a fast lap up. Consitency and repetition’s going to be the key to winning the race.”

Crum won the Bobby Isaac Memorial at Hickory Motor Speedway racing for Yelton. Sam Yarbrough, Brayton Haws, Brandon Butler and C.E. Falk also recorded some of the fastest times, unofficially, during the Wednesday test session at Martinsville Speedway.

The Valley Star Credit Union 300 will be run on Sunday, October 4th. Heat races and the feature race will both be run on Sunday with qualifying for the race being held on Saturday, October 3rd. The qualifying session will lock in the front row and set the field for the four heat races to determine the starting lineup for the Valley Star Credit Union 300.

Unofficial Times:
Jake Crum | 20.35
Sam Yarbrough | 20.38
Brayton Haws | 20.38
Brandon Butler | 20.40
CE Falk | 20.41
Kres VanDyke | 20.43
Timothy Peters | 20.52
Alex Yontz | 20.53
Jamey Caudill | 20.56
Matt Waltz | 20.56
Philip Morris | 20.56
Tommy Lemons | 20.56
Tyler Ankrum | 20.57
Josh Berry | 20.58
Bruce Anderson | 20.61
Stacy Puryear | 20.61
Austin Thaxton | 20.62
Lee Pulliam | 20.64
Thomas Scott | 20.65
RD Smith | 20.68
Kyle Dudley | 20.70
Davin Scites | 20.71
Chad McCumbee | 20.72
Ryan Wilson | 20.72
Bobby McCarty | 20.73
Quin Houff | 20.74
Ryan Robertson | 20.75
Justin Crider | 20.77
Dennis Holdren | 20.78
Travis Swaim | 20.78
Shane Lee | 20.80
Derrick Lancaster | 20.81
Juan Garcia | 20.81
Spencer Davis | 20.81
Todd Gilliland | 20.82
Anthony Anders | 20.84
Garrett Campbell | 20.84
Kaz Grala | 20.84
Justin Taylor | 20.85
Dylan Ward | 20.86
Chris Johnson | 20.87
Blake Stallings | 20.88
Brandon Baker | 20.89
Dalton Sargeant | 20.89
GR Waldrop | 20.89
Michael Fose | 20.90
Tony Keen | 20.90
Myatt Snider | 20.91
Wesley Thomason | 20.91
Patrick Coleman | 20.95
Daryn Cockram | 20.96
Logan Bearden | 20.96
Jonathan Findley | 20.97
Tyler English | 20.97
Jeff Oakley | 21.00
Matt Bowling | 21.00
Jamey Sweeny | 21.02
Barry Beggarly | 21.03
Bryan Reedy | 21.03
Kelly Kingery | 21.03
Kyle Barnes | 21.03
Brenden Queen | 21.04
Ricky Gillespie | 21.05
Brian Pembleton | 21.06
Michael McGuire | 21.08
Dylan Ward | 21.09
Justin Carroll | 21.11
John Moore | 21.15
Chris Dodson | 21.18
Dude Gibbs | 21.20
Brad Kurth | 21.20
Annabeth Barnes | 21.21
Nick Cole | 21.34
Joey Throckmorton | 21.39
Wayne Hale | 21.40
Macy Causey | 21.46
Alex Brock | 21.47
Barry Cash | 21.47
Bob Saville | 21.52
Kevin Smith | 21.58
Kevin Parker | 21.70