Darnell wins by inches in photo finish at Michigan

Busch, Hornaday get into war of words following race

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Erik Darnell surged past Johnny Benson in the final 50 yards to win by inches Saturday in the Cool City Customs 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Benson drove his Bill Davis Racing Toyota inside Darnell's Roush Fenway Racing Ford in Turns 3 and 4 on the 100th and final lap and had a half-truck length lead coming onto the frontstretch.

Darnell dove down to run alongside Benson, who was on the apron beneath the white line, and they ran side-by-side to the finish.

"The way these trucks draft, the way you can side-draft with them, especially in the air at a bigger place like Michigan, I knew he was going to be able to suck up to the side of me and pull off and get a run, so I had to do the same thing to him," Darnell said. "And, fortunately for me, I got it right at the start-finish line and we were able to beat him by just a little bit."

Darnell wasn't sure that he'd won.

"It's so hard to tell from inside the truck," Darnell said. "I thought I may have had him by a little bit, but if we did, it wasn't by much. It was close and then you get done and you don't really know whether to come back around and try to grab that checkered flag. You're just kind of in a state of confusion there for a little bit, but once you get it figured out, it's alright."

Benson lost by .005 seconds, the closest margin of victory in the Truck Series since NASCAR began electronic timing a decade ago.

"I thought I'd try on the last lap way down low," Benson said. "I timed it perfectly. I was able to get alongside him, got ahead of him. I just couldn't stay ahead of him. I don't know what I'd do differently if I had to do it again."

Darnell's victory was the second of his CTS career and the first this season for both Roush Fenway Racing and Ford in the series. Roush Fenway has won the past two years and four of the nine CTS races at Michigan. It was the 17th Michigan win for Roush, whose Roush Industries headquarters are in nearby Livonia, Mich.

"This is my favorite place," team owner Jack Roush said. "This is home for me."

Scott Speed was third in a Bill Davis Racing Toyota, followed by Todd Bodine's Germain Racing Toyota and Brendan Gaughan's Circle Bar Racing Ford.

Ron Hornaday and team owner Kevin Harvick had an angry confrontation with Kyle Busch in the garage after Busch's contact spun out Hornaday on the final lap in Turn 1.

Hornaday, the points leader going into the race, was running fourth. Busch's Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota tapped him in the left rear. Hornaday finished 23rd, the last truck on the lead lap, and fell to third in the points, 21 behind Benson, the new leader.

Darnell led the final 25 laps and was in control until a late caution forced a restart with three circuits to go on the two-mile track. Darnell pulled away on the restart, but Benson closed on the final lap.

"I think the finish was a little more exciting than I wanted it to be," Darnell said.

Hornaday holds off Busch for long-awaited Texas win

Second-place kicks off tripleheader weekend for Busch

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kyle Busch arrived at Texas Motor Speedway, got in his truck and started driving through the field.

Busch finished second Friday night in the Craftsman Truck Series race, the first of a planned cross-country trifecta to become the first driver to race in all three of NASCAR's national series at three different tracks on the same weekend.

Ron Hornaday held off Busch for the final two laps after a green-white-checkered finish for his 35th career victory, his first at the 1.5-mile, high-banked Texas track.

On the previous restart with 11 laps to go, Busch moved from fourth to second in less than one lap, getting past Johnny Benson and Jack Sprague to get behind Hornaday. But Busch never could push in front for the lead.

Because Busch didn't drive the truck during qualifying Thursday, and also missed the drivers' meeting, he had to start at the back of the 35-truck field. He was up to 16th after only 30 laps, and was in the top 10 within 53 laps.

"We fixed it and made the most of it," Busch said of his Toyota, which he wasn't happy with all night. "It wasn't for me. We made so many adjustments to it all night. We're lucky we made it home in second. ... That's all we could do."

Busch was going for his third Craftsman Truck victory in seven starts this season. He is the Sprint Cup points leader and is second in Nationwide points, with four victories in each of those series.

Busch arrived at the track about an hour before the start of the Truck race, after a nearly three-hour flight from Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, where he had earlier qualified 10th for the Sprint Cup race Sunday.

Busch was headed back to Pocono late Friday night, and his itinerary said that he was scheduled to arrive at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport "really late." There will be more Cup practice Saturday before Busch goes to Nashville for the Nationwide Series race.

Asked how he felt, Busch said he wasn't tired.

"[Friday night] was a hot night, that's for sure," he said. "I'm not tired. No, just hot."

The final restart was set up when Scott Speed, the ARCA rookie who traveled with Busch from Pocono, slammed into the wall with two laps to go in the scheduled 167-lap race.

That set up the fifth consecutive green-white-checkered finish at Texas, extending the race to 172 laps. But Busch, more than a half-second behind Hornaday when the caution flag came out, couldn't take advantage of the extra restart.

"I spun my tires a little too much and wasn't able to get alongside Ron," Busch said. "When he went, I went and I went too hard, and spun the tires. So I missed out on a good run."

Hornaday led a record 140 laps and finished 0.283 seconds ahead of Busch, taking over the season points lead.

"You have no idea what was going through my mind," Hornaday said about the final restart. "I'm going for a championship ... He had nothing to lose at this race but to try to win all three races in three different starts. But that shows what kind of driver Kyle is. He raced me clean."

When Hornaday crossed the finish line, he excitedly yelled in his radio about finally winning at Texas. He had led at least 78 laps three other times, but had late-race accidents and even ran out of gas while running up front.

"Things happened and it wasn't meant to be," Hornaday said. "I wanted this race so bad. When Kyle got up there, I knew I had my hands full."

Benson was third and Sprague was fourth. Todd Bodine, a four-time winner at Texas, finished fifth. Rookie driver and pole-sitter Justin Marks, who felt ill during the race, finished 14th.

Busch gave up most of his gained track position on the first pit stop, during a caution 34 laps into the race. As planned, there was an extended stop to make adjustments on the truck, and he restarted 28th.

After the second stop, on a caution brought out by Aric Almirola's accident on the backstretch on the 61st lap, Busch came out of the pits 10th.

In seven starts for owner Billy Ballew, Busch has five top-10 finishes.

Speed, who will run an ARCA race at Pocono on Saturday, also had to start at the back of the field a week after getting his first Craftsman Truck victory at Dover.

On the 128th lap, Speed made contact along the frontstretch with Rick Crawford on the 128th lap when both were running around the top 10.

Speed slid through the grassy infield, though somehow managed to avoid slamming into the inside pit wall. But Crawford blew a tire, then had to make almost a full lap around the track, causing serious damage to his Ford.

But Speed couldn't avoid the wall at the end.

Mike Skinner, who started on the front row at Texas for the eighth consecutive time, finished ninth. He still hasn't won at Texas.

Speed outruns Sprague, Hornaday for first victory

DOVER, Del. -- Making the most of his sixth start in Craftsman Truck Series -- and capitalizing on transmission troubles that temporarily sidelined Kyle Busch's dominant Toyota -- former Formula 1 driver Scott Speed ran away from the field after a late restart to win the AAA Insurance 200 on Friday at Dover International Speedway.

Speed, whose previous best finish was eighth at Kansas Speedway, is the third consecutive first-time winner in the series, following Matt Crafton (Lowe's) and Donny Lia (Mansfield) to Victory Lane.

Jack Sprague held off Chevrolet teammate Ron Hornaday for second position, as Sprague crossed the finish line 3.379 seconds behind Speed. Travis Kvapil finished fourth and Crafton fifth. David Starr, Mike Skinner, Colin Braun, Rick Crawford and Johnny Benson completed the top 10.

"[Friday] we had a good strategy and an awesome truck, and we got everything we could out of it," Speed said of his No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota. "The learning curve I've had has been amazing. Every time I go out on the track, I feel I come away with a lot of knowledge.

"I'm just having an awesome time trying to learn this sport."

With a two-tire stop on Lap 133, Speed improved his track position dramatically, restarting third behind Todd Bodine and Shane Sieg on Lap 136. After picking off Sieg, Speed passed Bodine for the lead on Lap 150 and opened a lead of more than 3.5 seconds over Hornaday (who gained three positions to second).

Speed's lead disappeared, however, when Bodine's No. 30 Toyota blew a right-front tire and slapped the Turn 3 wall on Lap 170.

But Speed said his truck was quicker on two tires, and after taking the green flag for a restart on Lap 179, he stretched his advantage to nearly 4 seconds over Sprague before backing off on the final circuit.

"It was time to get a little aggressive," Speed said of the restart.

Busch led the first 96 laps of the race, until heavy smoke from his No. 51 Toyota forced him to the garage. Busch lost 19 laps as his crew changed a transmission, a turn of events that opened a window of opportunity for the Truck Series regulars. He finished 17 laps down in 27th place after making up two laps during the remainder of competition.

But veterans Hornaday and Sprague had nothing for the series rookie at the end of the race.

Sprague thought he had a chance to win, but the performance of his No. 2 Chevy fell off after the restart with 22 laps to go.

"I could barely outrun [Hornaday] with a sour motor," Sprague said. "After the green [on Lap 179], I got tight again. Dammit! I want to win."

Hornaday also felt he could catch Speed until his engine lost power late in the race.

"I don't know if we broke a header, but we lost a little bit of power," Hornaday said. "I had to pull down and let Jack go."

A flashy dresser and a bit of an eccentric (he just had the tips of his toenails painted blue), Speed found a quick way to gain acceptance among the series veterans.

"He's a winner in the Craftsman Truck Series now, so he'll fit right in," Hornaday said.

One victory, however, won't be enough to satisfy Speed, who was informed in Victory Lane that there has never been a repeat winner in the Truck Series at Dover.

"I haven't been back," Speed said.

Note: Crawford took over the series points lead, with Crafton 20 points down in second.

Lia wins first NASCAR truck race in dramatic fashion at MMP

MANSFIELD, Ohio -- Rookie Donny Lia banged his way past David Starr on the final lap Saturday to win the Ohio 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck race at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

Lia's victory was his first in eight NCTS starts, and he became the series' first rookie winner since Carl Edwards in August 2003. It was also the first win in NASCAR for TRG Motorsports, which is in its first season in the series.

Lia's Chevrolet tapped Starr's Toyota in the left-rear in Turn 2 on the half-mile track. Starr, Lia and Todd Bodine went three-wide into Turn 3. Lia had a slight advantage exiting Turn 4 and beat Starr to the checkered flag by 0.241 seconds, with Bodine a close third.

"I knew I had to get to Starr's back bumper to have a shot," Lia said. "I didn't like to have done that, but it was the last lap on a short track. I'd expect the same thing from him if I was in the lead and he was second. David was getting real tight and he squared the corner [Turn 2]. I got into him and turned him sideways. I guess we pulled even on the back straight.

"As we were rolling through the center of the corner, I knew I had to get to the throttle first. I've never won a race coming out three-wide to the checkered flag before."

The 27-year-old Lia was NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour champion in 2007. TRG's previous experience had been in sports-car racing.

"We don't have any information on the racetracks," Lia said. "That's what makes this win amazing to me. The feeling I have is indescribable. I'm in shock."

Starr led from Lap 80 through 249, 170 total, in Red Horse Racing's Toyota.

"It's just a shame to have it turn out the way it did," Starr said. "We got beat on the final lap. That one hurts pretty bad. Once I got into the marbles [in Turn 2], there wasn't much I could do."

Starr also had a left-front tire going down in the final three laps.

"I could feel it with three laps to go," Starr said. "I was just hanging on."

Bodine, who moved into the points lead by eight over Rick Crawford with seven of 25 races complete, thought Lia drove too hard on the last lap.

"The way he drove it [into Turns 1 and 2] was ridiculous," Bodine said. "He drove in there to turn him."

Matt Crafton to first career Truck win

CONCORD, N.C. -- It took Matt Crafton 178 starts to snare his first Craftsman Truck Series victory. It took about 35-crash filled laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway to set the unlikely win in motion.

A chaotic turn of events that took frontrunner after frontrunner out of contention in the late stages of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Crafton hung on and survived for an unlikely triumph in a race that may well be remembered more for who didn't win than who did.

"Finally we can shut them up," a jubilant Crafton said in Victory Lane as he celebrated his long-awaited victory. "Now they can say, 'When's the second one coming?'"

Chad McCumbee placed second followed by Brendan Gaughan, Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford.

Billy Ballew Motorsports' Kyle Busch came home eighth but appeared headed for an easy victory when a collision with Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday on Lap 104 sent Hornaday spinning and Busch into the Turn 3 wall (watch video).

Busch, who led 86 laps after starting from the pole, sustained significant right-side damage to his Toyota and never recovered.

"My truck was glued to the race track I guess way better than his," Busch said in reference to Hornaday. "Just unfortunate, man."

Unfortunate would be an accurate description of the circumstances that derailed many of those who appeared most ready to capitalize on Busch's trouble.

While leading the field to a restart with seven laps to go, Darnell spun his tires and lost several positions. Then, Johnny Benson, who moved by Darnell on the outside at the start-finish line to take the lead, was ordered to pit road by NASCAR for jumping the start.

The exchange gave Crafton the lead with just three laps of the regularly scheduled distance left and set up a fierce battle for second that ended with Germain Racing's Todd Bodine spinning Hornaday just past the start-finish line at the entrance to Turn 1 (watch video).

An angry Hornaday limped home 23rd and took umbrage with Bodine, who finished 12th after being penalized for rough driving.

"He just flat tried to kill me," Hornaday said. "You don't spin somebody out on the straightaway. Life is too short to have an idiot like that."

Bodine said he didn't mean to cause Hornaday to wreck.

"I was just trying to help him," Bodine said. "And now I look like a goat."

Once the dust settled, all Crafton had left to do was hold off a charging McCumbee on a green-white-checkered restart. And he did, despite McCumbee's attempts to make a run down the backstretch on the final lap (watch video).

"That was a hard fought second place, I can tell you that much," McCumbee said.

And a hard night for a host of contenders.

Hornaday rolls at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Ron Hornaday won the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 in overpowering fashion Saturday at Kansas Speedway, starting from pole and leading 136 of 167 laps.

It was Hornaday's first win of the season and extended his all-time lead in the Craftsman Truck Series to 34. He also took the lead in the points by 61 over Rick Crawford.

"This thing was just a rocket ship," Hornaday said. "It's a brand-new truck. You don't have trucks like that, it was awesome."

Hornaday surrendered the lead three times during yellow-flag pit stops and impressively drove the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet back to the front in a few laps on each occasion. He was fourth following his final pit stop on Lap 108, regaining the lead in five laps and holding it for the final 55 around the 1.5-mile circuit.

KHI teammate Jack Sprague bounced back from a mid-race mistake that put his Chevrolet at the back of the field to finish second, one truck length (.149 seconds) behind following a restart with two laps remaining.

Hornaday pulled away to a two-truck length advantage and was in control heading onto the backstraight. Sprague made a strong run going into Turn 3, but wasn't able to get alongside Hornaday and followed him to the checkered flag.

"Coming off the backstretch, all of a sudden he [Sprague] was on my rear end," Hornaday said.

Sprague, also driving a new truck built by KHI, pitted out of sequence on Lap 74 and steadily gained positions. He passed rookie Colin Braun on the outside in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 155 to take third and moved up to second one lap later when second-running Todd Bodine spun in Turn 3 and hit the outside wall.

"We didn't pit when everybody else did, and we used our stuff up getting back to the front," Sprague said. "We wanted it bad."

Braun, in his Roush Fenway Ford, finished third, but angered veterans Sprague and Matt Crafton.

Braun rammed Crafton's Chevrolet in the bumper and turned him into the Turn 4 wall, ruining a strong race. Crafton confronted Braun on pit row after the race, and Braun took responsibility for the mistake.

"I didn't want to get into Matt," Braun said. "I apologize. Hey, I'm a rookie and I make mistakes."

Sprague was attempting to pass Braun on the inside on the frontstretch when the rookie moved to his left.

"He came down on me and I could have let him crash," Sprague said. "I went around him on the outside. I told him, 'That was a gift, but don't mess with me again.' He has to stop running into people. If he wants to win, he has to have respect."

Bill Davis Racing teammates Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in their Toyotas.