Backstretch Motorsports

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Kevin Harvick powered by Kyle Busch for the lead with 10 laps to go Monday and held on to win the Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Driving his No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, Harvick collected his fourth career truck win in his 97th start in an event that had been postponed because of rain on Saturday.

“I was able to get to his bumper there and just kind of get him up about half a groove and got up under him,” said Harvick, who ran the final 185 laps, including one extra lap because of a green-white-checkered-flag finish, on one tank of fuel.

“I got him up there once before, and he was able to get back by me on the outside,” Harvick said. “I didn’t want to wreck him, but I knew it was time to start applying the pressure pretty heavily if I was going to get by in case a caution or something would come out. It just takes a while to complete a pass over another fast vehicle.”

Busch was subsequently penalized for a commitment line violation when he intentionally ran against the inside backstretch wall under caution in an attempt to straighten out a fender that was bashed in. Busch led a race-high 139 laps and finished 17th.

KHI’s Ron Hornaday finished second, and Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson and polesitter Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.

Busch wasn’t the only driver to find trouble in the race, which featured 13 cautions, the first on Lap 1.

After the fifth caution, Busch needed less than three laps to dispose of Jason White and take the lead on Lap 102. Busch held the spot until Harvick moved underneath him in the final laps.

Busch remained the series points leader over Todd Bodine, who finished 18th after being involved in two separate accidents, including one with two laps to go that forced the race to finish under caution.

Busch, who is running a partial schedule, won’t compete in the series’ next race, April 25 at Kansas Speedway.

Notes: Mike Bliss finished 15th in his 200th truck start. … Ken Schrader finished 10th for his first top-10 since a fourth-place finish last year at Martinsville. … James Buescher, who turned 19 last week, finished 11th, the highest finish among the six rookies in the race.

Race Fast Facts
Martinsville Speedway
KROGER 250

Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Age: 33
Team : No. 2 - KHI / Bounty Chevrolet
Owner: Delana Harvick
Crew Chief: Ernie Cope
Kevin Harvick won the KROGER 250, his fourth victory in 97 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2009.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Martinsville Speedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr. (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 14 races at Martinsville Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2009.
Mike Skinner (third) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 13 races at Martinsville Speedway.
James Buescher (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 38 points over Todd Bodine.

NASCAR Race Number 4
Unofficial Race Results for the Kroger 250 - Saturday, March 28, 2009
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - .526 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 251 Laps - 132.026 Miles - Purse: $498,018

Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 6 2 Kevin Harvick KHI / Bounty Chevrolet 251 190 5 $32,825 Running 1 11 127.6
2 4 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Longhorn Chevrolet 251 175 5 $27,059 Running 1 16 125.1
3 9 5 Mike Skinner Bad Boy Mowers Toyota 251 165 $22,215 Running 110.0
4 3 1 Johnny Benson Red Horse Racing Toyota 251 160 $14,780 Running 105.9
5 1 14 Rick Crawford Circle Bar / International Truck Engine Ford 251 160 5 $18,007 Running 1 78 114.2
6 21 60 Stacy Compton Wyler.com / Safe Auto Insurance Toyota 251 150 $12,557 Running 85.7
7 17 8 Dennis Setzer Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet 251 146 $13,407 Running 90.5
8 12 16 Brian Scott Albertsons Toyota 251 142 $11,457 Running 87.6
9 8 88 Matt Crafton Energizer / Menards Chevrolet 251 138 $11,407 Running 94.8
10 24 52 Ken Schrader Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 251 134 $10,405 Running 74.1
11 25 10 James Buescher # International Maxx Force Diesel Ford 251 130 $12,307 Running 76.9
12 20 29 Mikey Kile Greased Lightning Cleaning Products Chevrolet 251 127 $8,880 Running 67.2
13 7 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 251 124 $11,132 Running 60.4
14 18 81 Tayler Malsam # One Eighty Toyota 251 121 $11,082 Running 67.6
15 32 40 Mike Bliss Westerman Companies / StopRepairBills.com 251 118 $8,805 Running 52.5
16 13 25 Terry Cook Harris Trucking / Toyota Tundra Toyota 251 115 $9,880 Running 79.5
17 11 51 Kyle Busch Miccosukee Resort Toyota 251 122 10 $8,580 Running 1 139 123.6
18 19 30 Todd Bodine Whelen Toyota 251 109 $10,832 Running 85.2
19 31 48 Hermie Sadler Slip In Food Marts / TNA Wrestling Chevrolet 250 106 $8,480 Running 50.5
20 27 84 Chris Fontaine Glenden Enterprises Chevrolet 250 103 $9,105 Running 44.3
21 28 7 J R Fitzpatrick # TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 249 100 $10,682 Running 55.2
22 10 17 Timothy Peters Hayes Iron & Metals / Strutmasters.com Toyota 249 97 $8,355 Running 84.9
23 30 23 Jason White GunBroker.com Dodge 249 99 5 $8,330 Running 1 7 64.0
24 22 24 David Starr Zachry / Toyota Tundra Toyota 247 91 $10,582 Running 58.4
25 34 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 246 88 $8,205 Running 32.8
26 36 47 Brett Butler Rockingham Speedway Chevrolet 245 85 $8,155 Running 35.2
27 14 13 Johnny Sauter # Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevrolet 244 82 $10,432 Running 58.4
28 23 07 Chad McCumbee Chevrolet 240 79 $10,407 Running 54.4
29 29 4 Ricky Carmichael # Oakley Chevrolet 240 76 $10,357 Running 38.8
30 35 89 Dillon Oliver Blue Ox / Lafferty Motorsports Chevrolet 237 73 $8,530 Running 28.0
31 15 11 T J Bell Jr. Red Horse Racing Toyota 212 70 $9,887 Accident 58.3
32 2 15 Shane Sieg Woodward Pools Toyota 197 67 $9,857 Running 64.0
33 26 85 Brent Raymer # BuyGeorgiaCabins.com Ford 167 64 $7,530 Vibration 30.6
34 16 21 Ryan Sieg GunBroker.com Dodge 121 61 $7,505 Ignition 45.0
35 5 6 Colin Braun Con-way Freight Ford 32 58 $9,782 Accident 42.8
36 33 08 Sean Murphy ASI Limited Chevrolet 4 55 $8,477 Drive 26.2
Race Comments: Before a crowd of 2,500 (originally 10,000) - Kevin Harvick won the Kroger 250, his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, originally schedule for Saturday, March 28. Prior to the green flag, the following drivers dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #84 Chris Fontaine (missed drivers meeting); #89 Dillon Oliver (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 09 Secs. Average Speed: 60.865 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 14 for 80 laps: Laps: 15-24 (Oil on track [57]); 26-34 (#6, 8 accident turn 1 [89]); 50-53 (#1, 33 accident turn 2 [57]); 64-71 (#85 spun turn 4 [57]); 93-99 (#4, 7 accident turn 1 [9]); 115-120 (#85 accident turn 2 [4]); 129-132 (Debris [57]); 154-158 (#57 accident frontstretch [4]); 163-166 (Debris [24]); 188-191 (#4 accident turn 3 [7]); 208-212 (#9, 23 accident turn 2 [84]); 214-220 (#11, 30 accident turn 1 [23]); 244-249 (#48 spun turn 4 [None]); 251-251 (#25, 30 accident turn 3 [None]).
Lead Changes: 4 among 5 drivers: R. Crawford 1-78; R. Hornaday Jr. 79-94; J. White 95-101; K. Busch 102-240; K. Harvick 241-251.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 682;(2) T. Bodine 644;(3) R. Hornaday Jr. 611;(4) M. Skinner 606;(5) M. Crafton 561;(6) T. Cook 528;(7) J. Benson 515;(8) C. Mccumbee 505;(9) T. Peters 503;(10) R. Crawford 496.
Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” Award : Dennis Setzer, #8 (21 Places) Keystone Light Pole Award : Rick Crawford, #14 (94.737 mph)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Rick Crawford, #14 Mobil1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Mike Skinner, #5
O’Reilly People, Service and Performance Award : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 (118.774 sec) Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award : James Buescher, #10
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kevin Harvick, #2 Wix Filters Lap Leader Award : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 (139 Laps)
Next Race: Apr. 25, 2009 - Kansas Speedway