On a rainy weekend in Martinsville VA, the Craftsman Truck Series took the stage in a rare Saturday afternoon race for the series. Sharing the race weekend with the Sprint Cup, the Craftsman Series was given the opportunity to shine on a national stage and also race for the first time in the presence of NASCAR President Mike Helton.

“Shoo whee!” Helton exclaimed as he watched the trucks whiz by. “Whoever thought to race these trucks is a plum genius! I can’t believe we haven’t been doing this all along.” When informed by an aide that the trucks do race regularly, Helton met the news with a blank stare and raised his fist and returned to cheering on the passing trucks as he let out a mighty “yee haw!”

The Saturday race presented drivers in the truck series a chance to show their skills to a wider television viewing audience but most drivers were most excited that Helton actually showed up. “Mike never seems to make it out to one of our races,” said Ron Hornaday, driver of the #33 VFW Chevrolet. “Honestly, I didn’t think Mr. Helton even knew there was a truck series.” Wallace’s comments are not totally without merit. All efforts to explain to Helton that the truck series is a permanent fixture were unsuccessful. To complicate matter further, any attempt to convince Helton that Sprint Cup drivers were not behind the wheels of the trucks failed miserably. Helton expressed concern for Kurt Busch when the #2 Rvs.com Chevrolet driven by Jack Sprague crashed late in the race and a look of utter confusion crossed his face when he saw Tony Stewart seated atop the pit box of Chrissy Wallace, driver of the #3 Geico Toyota.

Although Kyle Busch participated in Saturday’s race driving the #51 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Toyota, Mike Helton repeatedly made the mistake of cheering Busch on as the #18 Duck Head Footwear Dodge, driven by Dennis Setzer drove past.

After Setzer took the checkered flag, Helton left victory lane disappointed after he was unable to located Kyle Busch.