Concord, NC (Sports Network) - Ron Hornaday Jr. captured Friday night's
Quaker Steak & Lube 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Lowe's Motor
Speedway in dominant fashion. The No.33 Chevrolet crossed the finish line
comfortably ahead of A.J. Allmendinger.
The victory was Hornaday Jr.'s first of the season and record 30th of his
truck career.
After winning his fourth consecutive pole Mike Skinner led the 36-truck field
to the green flag for 134 laps of high-speed racing.
The No.5 Toyota pulled away from the field early as Travis Kvapil followed
behind in second. The first caution of the night came out on lap eight when
Justin Hobgood made contact with the wall.
On the restart Skinner and Kvapil battled side-by-side for the lead. As they
entered turn three Kvapil took the outside lane to pass Skinner. Hornaday Jr.
and Erik Darnell also took to the high side to pass Skinner. The No.5 Toyota
dropped to the fourth spot.
The No.6 Ford continued to lead as Hornaday Jr. started to close the gap. And
by lap 19 Hornaday Jr. was able to catch Kvapil and pass him for the first
position.
Hornaday Jr. wasted no time in opening up a four-second lead. Kvapil, Skinner,
and Jack Sprague battled behind the leader for second. Todd Bodine eventually
joined these drivers to make it a four-way battle for second.
On lap 38 the second caution flag of the night came flying out for Sprague,
who was running in second. The No.60 Toyota had a right-front tire go down as
he entered turn three causing him to slam into the wall.
During the caution period Hornaday Jr. led the field down pit road for a round
of pit stops. Skinner regained the lead by winning the race off pit road.
Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Hornaday Jr. and Matt Crafton followed behind.
The No.5 Toyota maintained his lead on the restart as Hornaday Jr. made his
way to second. A few laps later another caution flag came out for a Bryan
Silas spin out on lap 47.
On the lap 51 restart the outside lane proved to be fast again as Hornaday Jr.
passed Skinner for first. Skinner dropped to third as Musgrave also used the
outside lane to pass him.
The veteran once again created a big margin, over a three-second gap this
time. Skinner took over second as he continued his battle with Bodine.
Musgrave and Crafton rounded out the top-five after 70 laps of racing.
The domination continued for the No.33 Chevrolet as he expanded his lead to an
impressive five seconds. But on lap 87 the margin was erased when Dennis
Setzer brought out the caution flag.
During the caution period Hornaday Jr. led the field down pit road for the
last stops of the night. Allmendinger won the race off pit road by only
taking two right-side tires. Hornaday Jr., Johnny Benson, Ken Schrader and
Bodine followed behind the leader. A slow stop by Skinner put him in ninth
after the stops.
When the race got restarted on lap 93 Allmendinger was able to hold onto his
lead despite heavy pressure from Hornaday Jr. On lap 98 Hornaday Jr. proved
to be too fast for the No.00 Toyota as he passed on the inside lane. Benson,
Bodine and Crafton rounded out the top-five.
On lap 100 Erik Darnell and Joey Clanton got together to bring out the caution
flag.
During the lap 103 restart the No.33 Chevrolet jumped out to a five length
lead. On the next lap Benson slipped under Allmendinger to take over the
second position. Meanwhile Mark Martin entered the top-five by passing
Crafton.
With 11 laps to go in the race Hornaday Jr. held a two-second lead over
Benson. As Benson came off turn four his right-front tire blew causing him to
crash into the wall to bring out the sixth caution flag.
The No.33 Chevrolet led the field to the restart with six laps remaining.
Hornaday Jr. held onto his lead as Allmendinger followed close behind. With
three laps to go Darnell brought out the caution flag to set up a green-white-
checkered finish.
On the restart Hornaday Jr., known as "The King of Restarts" maintained the
top-spot as Allmendinger spun his tires. Allmendinger couldn't make a run on
Hornaday Jr. and he comfortably crossed the finish line.
Bodine, Martin and Musgrave completed the top-five.
Skinner finished eighth and will take an 85-point lead over Bodine into the
next race (1,052 - 967). Hornaday Jr. (946) jumped one spot to third, 106
points behind Skinner.
The next race in the Craftsman Truck Series is set for Saturday, May 26th at
the Mansfield Motorsports Speedway.