Craig Goess battled his way to a 24th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday at his first appearance at the famed "Paperclip" track.

The No. 46 team utilized the two practices on Friday afternoon to get acquainted with the .526-mile speedway, the shortest track on the NCWTS 2011 schedule.

Goess' qualifying attempt Saturday morning landed the No. 46 in the 16th position for the start of the Kroger 250, the team's highest start of the season.

The green flag dropped on the fourth event of the NCWTS season, and Goess looked to use what he learned last weekend at the team's test at the Little Rock track throughout the 250-lap event.

Crew chief Trip Bruce encouraged Goess to continually keep his tires clean, especially if the truck went up high on the track based on the build up of rubber.

By lap 41, Goess was competing with the No. 97 of Matt Lofton to maintain the 29th position. The No. 97 hit the corner of the track and came up into the No. 46 of Goess, causing a large dent in the left door panel of the Tundra. The No. 97 spun, causing the caution flag to drop and allowing the No. 46 to come down pit road to assess the situation.

The No. 46 crew worked on the truck during the caution period, and Goess restarted on lap 47 in the 27th position.

The team continued to face bad luck during a yellow-flag pit stop on lap 55. The No. 46 came down pit road to work on the left rear when the truck fell on the jack. The crew worked hard to lift the truck off the jack, but lost time and positions.

Crew chief Bruce continued to strategically plan for the long race. "Your lap times are good," said Bruce. "We are going to have to stay out a while on these tires, so get into a rhythm, ride this thing out and hit all of your marks."

Goess remained patient and moved up to the 23rd position. "Keep digging and stay patient," said spotter David Green.

Johnny Sauter grabbed his first win of the season at the Kroger 250. Goess finished in the 24th position, two laps down.

"It was a tough day," said Goess. "We made a lot of headway this week in preparing for the Martinsville event, but we had trouble early when the No. 97 got into the left side of our truck. A few problems in the pits and on the track held us back today, but I'm glad our team got this track under our belts, and I'm looking forward to getting back here in the fall."

Next up for the No. 46 Greenville Toyota of N.C. team and the NCWTS is the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on April 22.

Craig Goess Finishes 24th in Tough Race at Martinsville Speedway

Craig took 24th at Martinsville.