Backstretch Motorsports

By Tim Tuttle

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (June 28, 2008) — Ron Hornaday Jr. led the final 129 laps and survived a green-white-checkered finish to win the O’Reilly 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race Saturday night at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Hornaday’s victory in the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet was his third of the season and boosted him into the points lead, 27 in front of Matt Crafton. It was Hornaday’s 36th career victory in the series, tops all-time.

Erik Darnell was second in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford and Crafton third in his ThorSport Racing Chevrolet.

Hornaday led 139 of the 204 laps, four over the scheduled distance on the .75-mile track. He pulled away from Darnell on the overtime restart, leading by two truck lengths into the first corner, and was never threatened. Hornaday’s margin of victory was .269 seconds.

Each Memphis race winner is presented with a statuette of Elvis Presley, a copy of the full-size statue on Memphis’ famous Beale Street.

“That Elvis (Presley) Trophy is the coolest in the world,” Hornaday said. “I really wanted that trophy.”

Hornaday started third and passed polesitter Johnny Benson for the lead on the inside in Turn 1 on the 44th lap. He tapped Benson’s Bill Davis Racing Toyota in the rear in Turn 4 to set up the pass.

“Benson got loose and I got into the back of him,” Hornaday said. “I’ll take the blame. I didn’t want to pass him that way, and Johnny knows that.”

Hornaday was seventh and Benson eighth for a restart on Lap 58 following their first pit stops, trailing trucks that had either not pitted or pitted earlier.

The two blasted in tandem to the front, passing Stacy Compton on the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 76.

On the next restart on Lap 83, Benson’s truck didn’t accelerate. He limped around the track with an engine that didn’t have any power and dropped out, finishing 33rd. Benson, who led 43 laps, fell from first to fourth in the points, 56 behind Hornaday.

“Benson had the truck to beat,” Hornaday said. “He needed to break for us to win. I don’t know if we want to be in the points lead. Everybody who gets in it seems to have problems.”

Darnell’s second-place run was his third straight top-five and fifth of the season.

“It was a really good night,” Darnell said. “We qualified well and kept it up front most of the night. We were good on long runs. Ron (Hornaday) was better on restarts all night.”

Darnell was 10th for the restart on Lap 83 and steadily worked his way forward. He passed Rick Crawford for second on the inside in Turn 1 on Lap 139 and stayed there to the checkered flag.

Crafton started 16th and charged to third, passing Crawford for the position on Lap 181 and holding it to the end. Crawford was fourth and David Starr finished fifth.

NASCAR Race Number 12
Unofficial Race Results for the O’reilly “200″ - Saturday, June 28, 2008
Memphis Motorsports Park - Memphis, TN - .75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 204 Laps - 153 Miles - Purse: $576,749

Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 3 33 Ron Hornaday, Jr Camping World Chevrolet 204 195 10 $57,100 Running 2 139
2 4 99 Erik Darnell Northern Tool + Equipment Ford 204 170 $42,925 Running
3 16 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet 204 165 $30,770 Running
4 7 14 Rick Crawford Circle Bar Truck 204 160 $24,285 Running
5 17 11 David Starr Red Horse Racing Toyota 204 155 $25,310 Running
6 5 2 Jack Sprague American Commercial Lines Chevrolet 204 150 $15,260 Running
7 10 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Tundra Toyota 204 146 $17,660 Running
8 2 09 Bobby East Zaxby’s Ford 204 142 $15,335 Running
9 8 51 Shane Sieg Miccosukee Resorts Toyota 204 138 $14,935 Running
10 15 4 Stacy Compton Red River Dodge Dodge 204 139 5 $23,785 Running 1 22
11 13 22 Michael Annett Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 204 130 $12,235 Running
12 11 18 Dennis Setzer Tahoe Dodge 204 127 $17,010 Running
13 6 16 Brian Scott # Albertsons Chevrolet 204 124 $14,760 Running
14 20 30 Todd Bodine Lumber Liquidators Toyota 204 121 $11,910 Running
15 14 8 Chad McCumbee Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet 204 118 $13,210 Running
16 9 13 Shelby Howard Bobcat Chevrolet 204 115 $11,810 Running
17 28 60 Terry Cook Wyler.com Toyota 204 112 $11,710 Running
18 29 7 T.J. Bell, Jr Heathcliff’s Cat Litter Chevrolet 204 109 $11,610 Running
19 18 46 Willie Allen Rascal Flatts/Nashville Music City 204 106 $10,310 Running
20 19 59 Ted Musgrave Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota 204 103 $10,985 Running
21 27 07 Ryan Lawler Manheim’s Dealers Auto Auction of 204 100 $9,260 Running
22 23 10 Brendan Gaughan International MAXXFORCE Diesel 204 97 $9,235 Running
23 26 40 Chad Chaffin Key Motorsports Chevrolet 203 94 $9,210 Running
24 22 9 Justin Marks # Construct Corps/crocs Toyota 202 91 $9,185 Running
25 32 08 Jason White GunBroker.com Dodge 202 88 $11,610 Running
26 21 71 Donny Lia # Nationrides.com Chevrolet 201 85 $9,085 Running
27 24 12 Scotty Crockett DEX Imaging Chevrolet 201 82 $9,060 Running
28 33 42 Tim Cowen Cowen Truck Lines Ford 199 79 $9,035 Running
29 12 6 Colin Braun # Con-way Freight Ford 198 76 $9,010 Running
30 31 21 Keven Wood Air Force Ford 195 73 $8,985 Accident
31 25 15 Marc Mitchell # Hyprene Ergon Toyota 194 70 $8,960 Accident
32 30 87 Chris Jones Copy Wizard Chevrolet 163 0 $8,910 Accident
33 1 23 Johnny Benson Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota 84 69 5 $10,785 Engine 1 43
34 35 89 Nick Tucker Lafferty Performance Chevrolet 5 0 $8,860 Transmission
35 34 0 Wayne Edwards ASI Limited/Cofer’s Body Shop 2 0 $8,825 Suspension
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 10,000 - Ron Hornaday Jr. won the O’Reilly 200, his 36th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory and second at Memphis Motorsports Park. Prior to the green flag no driver(s) dropped to the rear.
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 59 Secs. Average Speed: 86.617 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.269 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 37 laps: Laps: 8-11 (#30, #71 accident turn 3); 36-39 (debris); 54-57 (#30 accident turn 2); 79-82 (#18 spun turn 2.); 123-126 (#71 accident turn 4); 132-136 (#08, #30 spun turn 3); 167-170 (#6, #09, #87 accident turn 4); 188-191 (debris); 199-202 (#15, #21, #40, #59 accident turn 4 [Red Flag 9 min. 01 sec.]).
Lead Changes: 3 among 3 drivers: J. Benson 1-43; R. Hornaday, Jr 44-53; S. Compton 54-75; R. Hornaday, Jr 76-204.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) R. Hornaday, Jr 1,742;(2) M. Crafton 1,715;(3) T. Bodine 1,688;(4) J. Benson 1,686;(5) R. Crawford 1,668;(6) M. Skinner 1,629;(7) E. Darnell 1,605;(8) J. Sprague 1,578;(9) T. Cook 1,553;(10) C. Mccumbee 1,514.
Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award : Brian Scott, #16 (19 Places) Keystone Light Pole Award : Johnny Benson, #23 (118.229 mph)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 Mobil1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Matt Crafton, #88
Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award : Brian Scott, #16 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33
Wix Filters Lap Leader Award : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 (139 Laps)
Next Race: Jul. 19, 2008 - Kentucky Speedway