Calgary’s Cameron Hayley ready for Martinsville challenge

The No. 13 ThorSport Racing team will utilize chassis No. 11 for Saturday's Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville. This is the same chassis that Johnny Sauter piloted at both Martinsville events in 2015, which included a fourth-place finish in the spring race, and a ninth-place finish in the fall event.

Hayley says that the short Martinsville oval fit him perfectly. "I love Martinsville. Obviously growing up short track racing, Martinsville is probably the one track on the schedule where I feel 100 percent comfortable; it's just what I grew up racing on.

“Last year in the spring race at Martinsville, we had a top-five run going, and got shuffled back, and got put into the wall there at the end. In the fall race, we finished third and had a shot for the win, which was a huge confidence booster for me. I think this year, we are going to be that much better, and hopefully we can get those wins this year."

A tough short track

He also admitted that a very short, .526-mile paperclip track like Martinsville Speedway can be mentally draining for a driver.

"In my experience I've found Martinsville to be very mentally draining, but to me Martinsville is more physically draining. At these short tracks, you always have to be up on the wheel - you're passing trucks and blocking trucks. So, there is a mental aspect to that, but I find Martinsville to be much more physically draining. Tempers can definitely get the best of you. Towards the end of the fall race, John Hunter (Nemechek) and I got together a little bit. I said some things after the race I probably shouldn't have, but I think that's all part of racing, especially at a place like Martinsville. I've tried to learn how to deal with that over the past year, and turn it into a positive, so that's my goal this year."

The 250-lap race will go green at 2:30pm, Saturday.