Story By: HALMAR FRIESEN RACING – STATESVILLE, NC – Stewart Friesen enters the Martinsville weekend second in the playoff standings. He is 22 points above the cut line with two races remaining before the final elimination.
Stewart won the pole at Martinsville in March.
“We salvaged a solid top-five finish here in the spring,” Friesen said. “Starting from the pole gave me a lot of confidence at a track that had been kind of hot and cold for me previously. We just have to be smart and run our race.”
Friesen and the No. 52 team will utilize chassis No. 311 this weekend. In his four outings with this chassis this season, Friesen has earned three top-five finishes and led 40 laps.
“Martinsville is very aggressive track and it’s tough to find that balance between when to push and when to hold back,” he said. “We’re in an okay spot in the playoff standings, but that cushion we have could disappear with one or two bad stages. I hate racing for points, but Trip (Bruce, crew chief) loves it so I’ll rely on him to keep me focused on the big picture throughout the race.”
The No. 52 Halmar Silverado will feature a pink scheme in honor of breast cancer awareness. Special pink ribbons on the truck honor those close to HFR employees that are breast cancer survivors, fighters and those no longer with us.
Martinsville NGOTS Stats
- Starts: 5
- Best start: 1
- Best finish: 5
- Laps led: 24
2019 NGOTS Stats
- Starts: 20
- Best start: 1
- Best finish: 1
- Top 5s: 11
- Top 10s: 14
- Laps Led: 212
- Poles : 1
- Stage wins: 3
- Wins: 1
