Lebanon, TN (Sports Network) - Mike Skinner led the first 102 laps, but Travis
Kvapil finished with a rush to capture Saturday night's Toyota Tundra 200
Craftsman Truck Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway. The No.6 Roush
Racing driver crossed the finish line more than one second ahead of Ron
Hornaday Jr.
The victory was Kvapil's third of the season and eighth of his truck career.
Skinner brought the field to the green flag for 150 laps of truck racing.
Skinner set a fast early pace and only Todd Bodine and Jack Sprague were
within five seconds of the leader after just 20 laps.
Skinner had still been the race's only leader as the field crossed the 40-lap
mark. He had lapped up to the 26th truck and held a five-second lead. But a
caution flag quickly erased the lead on lap 42.
Everyone pitted and Skinner, who made no chassis changes, was first off pit
road and ready to rebuild his lead.
The green flag dropped and off went Skinner. Meanwhile, Erik Darnell, who
restarted in sixth, immediately dropped out of the top-20 with a severe
handling problem, likely a tire going flat. Another caution flag slowed the
field, but helped Darnell, who quickly came to pit lane for a new set of
tires.
The race got back underway and again Skinner took off. One driver that was
making progress in the chase of Skinner was Ron Hornaday Jr. who started 14th,
but cracked the top-five by lap 60. And it was Hornaday Jr. who was second in
the championship to Skinner and couldn't afford to let him runaway and hide
from the field.
Skinner was still putting up a fast numbers, but Musgrave was staying with him
this time, as the field passed the halfway point of the race. Musgrave was
trying different lines and found one that he could keep up with Skinner,
though passing didn't seem in the cards.
It was still a "two-horse race" after 100 laps as both Skinner and Musgrave
built a one-second lead on Kvapil and Johnny Benson. Bodine and Hornaday Jr.
were stuck in fifth and sixth, respectively but were not making any moves
towards the leaders.
A caution flag just after halfway sent everyone down pit lane. Suddenly,
Kvapil's truck came to life and within a couple of laps he not only caught
Skinner, but made the pass for the lead.
"We made the right adjustments...and we saved our best tires for last," said
Kvapil.
On lap 110 Benson blew a right-front tire and he slapped the outside wall to
bring out a caution flag. Kvapil was first off pit lane with Hornaday Jr. in
second and Skinner in third.
Kvapil stretched the lead to more than one second as the field hit the 115-lap
mark, 35 laps to go. They were still one-two-three with 20 laps to go. Kvapil
held 1.528 seconds on Hornaday Jr. and more than two seconds on Skinner as the
laps dwindled to just 15.
Kvapil was still pounding out the quick laps and the gap between first and
second was two seconds with 10 laps to go. Kvapil cruised to the checkered
flag.
Skinner finished third and will bring an 82-point lead to the next event.
The next race in the series is set for Wednesday, August 22nd at the Bristol
Motor Speedway.