2012 ASCC Martinsville 200

The 2012 ASCC Martinsville 200 is the fourth race of the 2012 American Stock Car Championship season. It was held at the venerable Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

Pre-race storylines
Justin Parker replaced Tim Averill for this race.

Summary
Palmer Stiles won the pole for the 200-lap race, with A.J. Murphy starting on his outside. One of the big surprises in qualifying was Bobby Miller, Jr. placing his Tri-Oval Racing trashmobile 14th.

Ethan Everett, who started in a very solid 22nd, was caught by surprise as Jason Richardson broke very early going into turn 1. Everett had nowhere to go and hit the back of Richardson. Richardson was shoved up next to the wall, and Everett tried everything he could to keep control of his car, but he hit Richardson again coming off of turn 2. Everett and Richardson were stuck together until Jim Kidd, in a moment of irrational anger, spun Everett.

Phillip Kaslow was running in fourth under yellow, but he gave up that spot to pit. He was the only car on pit road under caution; it is not certain whether this was due to strategy, or if he had a problem.

Richardson decided to swing wide and hit the wall coming to the restart. Tommy Nash got around him before the line, and the officials, in all of their infinite wisdom, black-flagged him. Everett, in the most controversial moment of the whole race, was also black-flagged when he passed Joe Burns before the line. Nobody had an explanation for what the officials were thinking.

Richardson and Aaron Cruise pitted on the following lap. Richardson had to repair his right-side damage, while Cruise had a cut tire.

In the meantime, Stiles continued to lead the race, with Aaron McLaw keeping within three car lengths of him. Murphy sat in third, eager to take second from McLaw. However, Murphy soon had to deal with the lapped car of Nash, who apparently thought that racing with the leaders was encouraged. Nash challenged Murphy for the fictitious position, causing Murphy to lose sight of the leaders. Nash soon caught up to and passed both McLaw and Stiles as the leaders came across some slower cars.

Nikki Curtis, who started 25th, made an outstanding drive up to 15th by Lap 30. Miller, Jr. ran one spot behind Curtis in a surprisingly solid run for Tri-Oval Racing.

Murphy cycled back to second as the leaders continued to fight the lapped traffic. He had apparently grown tired of the slower cars, and gave Justin Parker a big shunt going into Turn 1.

Green-flag pit stops began amongst the lapped cars at about Lap 47. The top two stayed out for a very long time, resulting in said lapped cars blowing by them on fresher tires. Stiles finally pitted on Lap 56, and continued to lead once pit stops cycled out. McLaw got second back, knocking Murphy to third.

On Lap 69, Reverend Joe Burns decided to brake-check Ethan Everett coming out of Turn 2. Everett had nowhere to go, and turned Burns into Roman Musico. Jim Kidd piled into the back of Aaron Cruise trying to miss this wreck and spun into the inside wall. His teammate, Billy Bob Childers, smashed into him and sent him careening into the path of second-place Aaron McLaw. Both Kidd and McLaw rolled down the backstretch. Many boos were thrown Burns’ way for triggering this pileup and endangering the leaders.

Everybody pitted under caution except for Curtis, who inherited the lead with brilliant pit strategy. Sadly, Curtis’ lead was short-lived, as Mike Whitmore got around her fewer than 10 laps later with fresher tires. Curtis was then freight-trained by Garth McCallister, Jr. and A.J. Murphy.

Whitmore was stuck behind the lapped car of Richardson, jamming up the top five, which consisted of Whitmore, McCallister, Murphy, Curtis Darcy, and Aaron Collins as of Lap 92. A few laps later, Darcy made his way up to second, but Whitmore was then able to get by Richardson, who trapped Darcy behind him. McCallister took second back a few moments later as Darcy struggled with more lapped cars, but McCallister broke free and stole the position back.

Another cycle of green-flag pit stops began on approximately Lap 113. Curtis Darcy grabbed the lead from Mike Whitmore a few laps later, but Whitmore then pitted on Lap 121. Darcy pitted on the following lap, but that one extra lap on old tires was enough for Whitmore to take the lead back. Darcy then lost several more spots when he got held up by Darren Moore, who received damage in the Lap 69 wreck.

Mike Whitmore got trapped behind Nikki Curtis for several laps, allowing Curtis’ fellow Saar driver Garth McCallister, Jr. to catch up to and pass the No. 25 car. However, McCallister got trapped behind more lapped traffic shortly afterwards, allowing Whitmore to take the lead back. Whitmore wouldn’t get to pad his laps led stat for very long, as McCallister got by him again just a few laps later.

Harry Raynor, running in 13th in the underfunded No. 80 machine, cut a tire on Lap 162. Thankfully, he got his car to the pits without incident. Mike Whitmore pitted with the No. 80 while running in second to kick off another round of pit stops. However, Whitmore’s strategy of pitting earlier didn’t work this time, as McCallister continued to lead after pit stops cycled out. Joe Olenick surprisingly made his way up to second after being nowhere near the front all day.

Officials spotted a dangerous tab from a beer can in the grass lining Turn 3, and threw the yellow flag on Lap 177 to get it cleaned up.

McCallister continued to lead on the restart, and drove away from the rest of the field as they focused on fighting with the high number of lapped cars. Bobby Miller III made his way up to 10th in one of his more impressive runs of the season, but he broke down in the middle of Turn 1, drawing the yellow on Lap 193.

The race restarted with just 3 laps remaining. Garth McCallister, Jr. had Nikki Curtis behind him as a cushion from the rest of the field. Mike Whitmore got by Curtis Darcy for second going into turn 1, but he was not able to challenge McCallister, who survived the shootout to take the win.