Darnell Takes the Photo Finish

June 14, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

It took NASCAR officials a couple of looks to determine the winner of the Cool City Customs 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan on Saturday, and at the end, they finally determined that Erik Darnell fended off Johnny Benson in a photo finish. The win is the first of the season for Darnell and the second in his career.

A caution flag with six laps remaining bunched the field up for a final restart. Darnell led the field when the green waived with just three to go, with Scott Speed and Benson following behind in 2nd and 3rd. After an exciting side-by-side battle, Benson was able to make the pass on Speed to take over second, and then began working on Darnell. The two battled side-by-side all the way to the finish line, and it was eventually determined that Darnell edged him by mere inches.

Scott Speed went onto finish 3rd, followed by Todd Bodine and Brendan Gaughan to complete the top-five. Kyle Busch - again pulling triple duty this weekend - finished in 7th, and Mike Skinner finished 8th. The Kevin Harvick Inc. duo had a rough weekend. Jack Sprague finished 8 laps down in 30th place, and Ron Hornaday spun out on the final lap, relegating him to 23rd. Hornaday’s disappointing finish dropped him out of the points lead all the way down to third, with Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine each picking up two spots to move into 1st and 2nd.

Check here for the Cool City Customs 200 complete results.

Craftsman Truck Series Standings:

RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 +2 Johnny Benson 1422 Leader 10 1 0 5 7
2 +2 Todd Bodine 1407 -15 10 0 1 5 6
3 -2 Ron Hornaday 1401 -21 10 2 2 5 6
4 -2 Matt Crafton 1375 -47 10 0 1 4 5
5 +1 Rick Crawford 1361 -61 10 0 0 3 5
6 +1 Mike Skinner 1349 -73 10 2 0 3 8
7 +1 Chad McCumbee 1314 -108 10 0 0 2 6
8 -3 Jack Sprague 1304 -118 10 1 0 3 5
9 Terry Cook 1303 -119 10 0 0 2 5
10 +2 Erik Darnell 1270 -152 10 1 1 3 3
11 Dennis Setzer 1237 -185 10 0 1 1 3
12 -2 David Starr 1230 -192 10 0 0 2 4
13 Kyle Busch 1205 -217 8 1 2 4 6
14 +2 Brendan Gaughan 1200 -222 10 0 0 2 3
15 -1 Colin Braun* 1200 -222 10 0 0 1 4
16 -1 Ted Musgrave 1141 -281 10 0 0 0 3
17 Justin Marks* 1101 -321 10 1 0 0 1
18 +1 Donny Lia* 1049 -373 9 0 1 1 2
19 -1 Shelby Howard 1045 -377 10 0 0 0 1
20 Stacy Compton 997 -425 10 0 0 0 2

 

Truck Series Produces Another First-Time Winner

May 24, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie, Donny Lia, took home his first checkered flags in the series during the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motor Park with a last lap bump on David Starr to get the win. The race drew a record 15 caution flags throughout the day, the last of which came from a Brendan Gaughan spin with 11 laps to go. At the time, Lia was running in second behind Starr, but was able to nudge him up the track on the final circuit to make the pass successfully. He then had to hold off Starr and Todd Bodine as they got three-wide going into Turn 3, and eventually picked up the win for TRG Motorsports.

Starr went onto finish second, followed by Bodine in third. Fourth place went to Terry Cook, and Mike Skinner completed the top-five. Skinner had an earlier incident with Ron Hornaday, who came into the race with the points lead. As the two battled for the race lead with Johnny Benson back on lap 49, the they made contact, and Hornaday ended up in the wall with a wrecked truck. He went onto finish 35th, and dropped four spots in the standings. Todd Bodine’s third place run bumped him up two spots into the points lead.

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 +2 Todd Bodine 1001 Leader 7 0 1 3 4
2 Rick Crawford 993 -8 7 0 0 3 4
3 +1 Matt Crafton 956 -45 7 0 1 3 3
4 +4 Johnny Benson 943 -58 7 1 0 3 4
5 -4 Ron Hornaday 937 -64 7 2 1 3 4
6 +4 Terry Cook 920 -81 7 0 0 2 4
7 +4 Mike Skinner 918 -83 7 0 0 3 5
8 +6 David Starr 913 -88 7 0 0 2 3
9 Erik Darnell 901 -100 7 1 0 2 2
10 -4 Chad McCumbee 899 -102 7 0 0 2 4
11 +2 Jack Sprague 896 -105 7 1 0 1 3
12 -7 Dennis Setzer 883 -118 7 0 1 1 3
13 +2 Ted Musgrave 841 -160 7 0 0 0 3
14 -2 Brendan Gaughan 824 -177 7 0 0 1 2
15 +1 Colin Braun* 811 -190 7 0 0 1 2
16 -9 Kyle Busch 797 -204 5 1 2 3 4
17 Justin Marks* 736 -265 7 0 0 0 1
18 Stacy Compton 730 -271 7 0 0 0 2
19 +1 Shelby Howard 725 -276 7 0 0 0 1
20 +7 Donny Lia* 704 -297 6 0 1 1 2

Crafton Gets First Truck Series Win

May 17, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

North Carolina Education Lottery 200
Image details: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 served by picapp.com

It took awhile - 178 races to be exact - but, Matt Crafton has finally won his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race by holding off Chad McCumbee in a green-white-checkered shootout Friday night in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch appeared as though he was headed for another victory, leading 86 of the 136 laps, but he was involved in an accident with Ron Hornaday back on lap 104 that sent both trucks spinning into the Turn 3 wall. Busch suffered significant damage to the right side of his truck, essentially knocking him out of contention for the win.

Erik Darnell was leading the race with just 7 laps to go, spun his tires on a restart and gave up several positions. As this was happening, Johnny Benson passed Darnell for the lead, but was black flagged by NASCAR for jumping the restart and was ordered to make a pass through penalty in the pits. The series of events handed the lead over to Crafton, with Todd Bodine and Hornaday battling it out for second place just behind him.

With just three more trips around the 1.5 mile track left to go, Bodine spun Hornaday heading into Turn 1, and NASCAR froze the field under caution for the final time of the evening, sending the race into overtime. From there, Crafton held off Chad McCumbee, who made a run down the backstretch during the final lap in an effort to catch the race leader, but all for naught. Crafton crossed the finish line and secured his first official set of NASCAR checkered flags.

Brendan Gaughan finished third, followed by Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford to complete the top-five. Kyle Busch was able to get enough out of his car after the earlier accident to hang onto an 8th place finish. Bodine was still able to finish up in 12th, and Hornaday was relegated to a 23rd place finish.

Following the race, Crafton said, “Finally, we can shut them up. Now they can say, ‘When’s the second one coming?’  Track position was everything. I have a really good group of guys. We’ve been together for two years now. We’re a small group of guys, but we’re going to win more races. I can promise you that.”

Despite Bodine’s claims that his tangle with Ron Hornaday was unintentional, an irate Hornaday stated, “There’s no excuse for that. He flat tried to kill me,” Hornaday said. “You don’t do that on the straightaway. We were pretty good friends, but I don’t know now.”

Hornaday’s lead in the points standings has now been reduced to a mere 5 points over Rick Crawford, and Todd Bodine now trails by only 38. The win by Crafton has placed him 4th in points, and the top-five run by Erik Darnell puts him into the top-ten, as he moves up four spots to ninth.

Craftsman Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 Ron Hornaday 874 Leader 6 2 1 3 4
2 Rick Crawford 869 -5 6 0 0 3 4
3 Todd Bodine 836 -38 6 0 1 2 3
4 +3 Matt Crafton 829 -45 6 0 1 3 3
5 -1 Dennis Setzer 817 -57 6 0 1 1 3
6 +2 Chad McCumbee 808 -66 6 0 0 2 4
7 -1 Kyle Busch 797 -77 5 1 2 3 4
8 -3 Johnny Benson 796 -78 6 0 0 3 3
9 +4 Erik Darnell 771 -103 6 1 0 2 2
10 +4 Terry Cook 760 -114 6 0 0 1 3
11 Mike Skinner 758 -116 6 0 0 2 4
12 +3 Brendan Gaughan 751 -123 6 0 0 1 2
13 -4 Jack Sprague 750 -124 6 1 0 1 2
14 -2 David Starr 733 -141 6 0 0 1 2
15 -5 Ted Musgrave 729 -145 6 0 0 0 3
16 Colin Braun* 696 -178 6 0 0 1 2
17 Justin Marks* 627 -247 6 0 0 0 1
18 +1 Stacy Compton 596 -278 6 0 0 0 1
19 -1 Brian Scott* 596 -278 6 0 0 0 1
20 +2 Shelby Howard 570 -304 6 0 0 0 0

 

Bobby Hamilton Racing Back to Victory Lane

March 29, 2008 by Tim Zaegel  
Filed under Racing

The Craftsman Truck Series returned to action Saturday night at Martinsville for the first time in three weeks since points leader Kyle Busch won in Atlanta. This time, however, it was Dennis Setzer taking the checkered flag in the Kroger 250, sending Bobby Hamilton Racing to victory lane for the first time since the late Bobby Hamilton himself won in Mansfield back in 2005. It was also the first win for Setzer since his victory in Mansfield back in May of last year.

Setzer’s no. 10 Dodge was the class of the field for the majority of the day, but had a steady pack of challengers not far behind him late in the race. Brendan Gaughan appeared to have a truck capable of competing for the checkers, but had to pit alone for fuel under caution with about 25 laps remaining. The stop sent him to the back of the pack and out of contention, though he was able to rebound to an 11th place finish. With only four laps to go, Mike Skinner ran out of gas in turn 2 while running in third place, causing a charging Kyle Busch to get into him and bring out the 14th caution of the day. Skinner was able to get back on the track, but now found himself 2 laps down.

The field lined up for the final restart of the day with Setzer still leading the way, followed by Johnny Benson and Kyle Busch. Setzer pulled away from the field and had the race well-in-hand, but on the final turn of the last lap Busch tried to get under Benson for 2nd place, and incidentally spun them both out, giving them finishes of 25th and 26th, thus ruining both their days.

After starting the race in 35th, Chrissy Wallace finished 17th for Germain Racing in her official NASCAR debut.  Ron Hornaday finished the day off in 8th, moving him into third in points. Kevin Harvick Inc. continued to experience their woes with the other driver, however, as Jack Sprague finished up in 24th after his involvement in an accident between he and Shelby Howard with about 30 to go. Cup Series regulars Denny Hamlin and Ken Schrader both made their first truck series starts of the season. Hamlin finished 21st, while Schrader finished 4th.

Complete Results (from nascar.com):

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 10 18 Dennis Setzer Dodge Duck Head Footwear / AquaDuck 195/10 253 Running
2 24 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet Ideal Door / Menards 170/0 253 Running
3 5 14 Rick Crawford Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International 165/0 253 Running
4 28 52 Ken Schrader Toyota Federated Auto Parts 160/0 253 Running
5 18 99 Erik Darnell Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 155/0 253 Running
6 9 11 David Starr Toyota Red Horse Racing 150/0 253 Running
7 14 09 Travis Kvapil Ford Zaxby’s 146/0 253 Running
8 3 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet VFW 147/5 253 Running
9 25 71 Donny Lia * Chevrolet AutismSpeaks.org 138/0 253 Running
10 17 46 Scott Speed Chevrolet Red Bull 134/0 253 Running
11 16 10 Brendan Gaughan Ford International Maxx Force Diesel 130/0 253 Running
12 15 30 Todd Bodine Toyota Lumber Liquidators 127/0 253 Running
13 13 60 Terry Cook Toyota wyler.com 124/0 253 Running
14 7 6 Colin Braun * Ford Con-way Freight 121/0 253 Running
15 21 59 Ted Musgrave Toyota Team ASE / Harris Trucking 118/0 253 Running
16 12 22 Phillip McGilton * Toyota Three Wide Life 115/0 253 Running
17 19 07 Ryan Lawler Chevrolet Deals Auto Auction of Dallas 112/0 253 Running
18 35 03 Chrissy Wallace Toyota GEICO / Mobil Delvac oils 109/0 253 Running
19 6 47 Timothy Peters Chevrolet Tahoe Smokeless 106/0 253 Running
20 23 9 Justin Marks * Toyota Construct Corps / Crocs 103/0 253 Running
21 2 15 Denny Hamlin Toyota Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 105/5 253 Running
22 29 40 Chad Chaffin Chevrolet Key Motorsports 97/0 253 Running
23 33 20 Scott Lagasse Jr. Ford Nicholson Group 94/0 253 Running
24 1 2 Jack Sprague Chevrolet RVs.com 96/5 253 Running
25 22 23 Johnny Benson Toyota Toyota Certified Used Vehicles 88/0 253 Running
26 11 51 Kyle Busch Toyota Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 90/5 253 Running
27 31 08 Jason White Dodge Gunbroker.com 82/0 252 Running
28 34 21 Jon Wood Ford The Barnhill Group 79/0 252 Running
29 20 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Toyota Tundra 76/0 251 Running
30 4 16 Brian Scott * Chevrolet Shark Energy Drink / Albertson’s Supermarket 73/0 250 Running
31 32 185 Brent Raymer Ford Cars, Trucks & RVs / A&J Concrete 70/0 250 Running
32 30 8 Chad McCumbee Chevrolet Malcolmson Construction 67/0 249 Running
33 36 142 Tim Cowen Ford Cowen Truck Line 64/0 247 Running
34 8 13 Shelby Howard Chevrolet ThorSport Racing 61/0 237 Accident
35 26 4 Stacy Compton Dodge Shelor Dodge 58/0 219 Running
36 27 7 Andy Lally * Chevrolet TRG Motorsports / Adobe Road Winery 55/0 77 Accident

Truck Series Standings (from nascar.com):

RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10
1 Kyle Busch 645 Leader 4 0 2 3 3
2 Todd Bodine 610 -35 4 0 1 2 3
3 Ron Hornaday 580 -65 4 1 0 2 3
4 +5 Dennis Setzer 578 -67 4 0 1 1 2
5 +1 Rick Crawford 576 -69 4 0 0 2 2
6 +8 Matt Crafton 539 -106 4 0 0 2 2
7 +1 David Starr 534 -111 4 0 0 1 2
8 +5 Erik Darnell 527 -118 4 1 0 1 1
9 -4 Johnny Benson 501 -144 4 0 0 2 2
10 +1 Terry Cook 499 -146 4 0 0 1 2
11 +1 Ted Musgrave 493 -152 4 0 0 0 2
12 -2 Phillip McGilton* 491 -154 4 0 0 0 1
13 -9 Chad McCumbee 482 -163 4 0 0 1 2
14 -7 Mike Skinner 469 -176 4 0 0 1 2
15 Jack Sprague 454 -191 4 1 0 0 1
16 +4 Brendan Gaughan 436 -209 4 0 0 0 0
17 +1 Justin Marks* 430 -215 4 0 0 0 1
18 -1 Brian Scott* 417 -228 4 0 0 0 1
19 -3 Stacy Compton 414 -231 4 0 0 0 1
20 +3 Colin Braun* 408 -237 4 0 0 0 1
21 +6 Travis Kvapil 406 -239 3 0 0 0 2
22 +2 Jon Wood 362 -283 4 0 0 0 1
23 +2 Scott Lagasse Jr. 361 -284 4 0 0 0 0
24 -3 Andy Lally* 358 -287 4 0 0 0 0
25 -3 Shelby Howard 352 -293 4 0 0 0 0

 


About Us | Advertise with us | Blog for EveryJoe | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
Get This Theme


All content is Copyright © 2005-2009 b5media. All rights reserved.