CONCORD, N.C. -- It took Matt Crafton 178 starts to snare his first Craftsman Truck Series victory. It took about 35-crash filled laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway to set the unlikely win in motion.
Crafton took advantage of the mistakes and ill behavior of others to drive his Menard's Chevrolet Silverado to victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Crafton's victory was his first in 177 NCTS starts, the longest stretch any driver has gone before winning his first race in the series.
Crafton held off Chad McCumbee in a green-white-checkered finish to score his historic win in a wild night of racing.
"Finally, we can shut them up," Crafton said. "Now they can say, 'When's the next one coming?
With the win Crafton moved up from seventh to fourth in the points race.
1. Ron Hornaday 874 Leader
2, Rick Crawford 865 -5
3. Todd Bodine 836 -38
4. Matt Crafton 829 -45
5. Dennis Setzer 817 -57
A fierce battle for second ended with Germain Racing's Todd Bodine third in the point standings, spinning points leader Ron Hornaday just past the start-finish line at the entrance to Turn 1. An angry Hornaday limped home 23rd and took umbrage with Bodine, who finished 12th after being penalized for rough driving.
"He just flat tried to kill me," Hornaday said. "You don't spin somebody out on the straightaway. Life is too short to have an #### like that."
Bodine said he didn't mean to cause Hornaday to wreck.
"I was just trying to help him," Bodine said. "And now I look like a goat."
McCumbee was followed by Brendan Gaughan who finished third.
Erik Darnell was leading late in the race but spun his tires in the night's second-to-last restart, recovering to finish fourth. Rick Crawford finished fifth. Hornaday leads the series points race, by five over Crawford.
Dennis Setzer finished seventh and slipped to fifth in the points behind Crafton.
RacingOne: With your strong run at Talladega do you think Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an eye on the team?
Marlin: You’ll have to talk to Junior and Bobby Ginn, I guess. I don’t know.
RacingOne: If it were down to Ginn and Hendrick to sign Dale Jr. who do you think it would be?
Marlin: Ummm...I’d say Hendrick.
Hmm. Does Sterling know something about the driver situation at Hendrick or was this just an off the cuff remark before Hendrick's "no room at the inn" statement was aired?
Note: I recently talked to another official board administrator about cutting and pasting articles after he copied an entire article to his board. His response? No worries. My response? Hakuna Matata.
RacingOne: Jamie McMurray said you were one of the best at playing practical jokes on the guys in the garage area. What was the best one you played on a driver throughout the years?
Marlin: I’ve done a lot, but Earnhardt and I used to prank each other a whole lot. Probably the best one on him was I put a bunch of wheel weights on his car. We were in Sonoma. I wheel weighted him real good and greased his windshield wipers and put a bunch of dust on his windshield wipers where he had to cut it on. Come to find out, it wasn’t a rent-a-car, it was some dealer’s car. He was hot!
Just one more reason I came to like Dale. He and Sterling were better buddies than most people realized.
RacingOne: How many more year's will we see Sterling Marlin behind the wheel of a Cup car?
Marlin: I don’t know. I’m studying on it now and if I do run anything I might run 20 races or the whole schedule again. I don’t know. Kind of waiting on sponsors and see what they are going to do, and what Jay (Frye) and Bobby want to do, and work it all out.
RacingOne: When you do retire would you still be involved with something at the race track?
Marlin: I’d still come and hang out a little bit. I mean you won’t see me at Watkins Glen or Sonoma. But you'll see me at other tracks. I still have a bunch of friends still in it.
If Sterling doesn't make plans, they will be made for him. I think he is letting fate help him make his decision. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It is wise to take inventory of circumstances. I believe he will retire from full time Cup racing if he doesn't finish in the top 20 in points.
Ron Hornaday was marvelous, simply marvelous. He had the best truck tonight. And tonight the best truck won the race. Hornaday took his new sponsor Camping World to victory lane on their first outing with him. Somewhere on a lake near Charlotte they are having a big bonfire, camp out and celebration party tonight.
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press May 19, 2007 12:23 AM EDT
CONCORD, N.C. -- Ron Hornaday Jr. passed A.J. Allmendinger with 36 laps to go, then held on for two restarts to win the Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday night. It was Hornaday's 30th career Truck Series victory, but the first at LMS. Hornaday, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., also scored the first win of the season for Chevrolet after Toyotas won four of the first five events.
CONCORD, N.C. (May 14, 2007) - Carl Edwards, the defending winner of the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300, topped the speed chart Monday as 35 NASCAR Busch Series cars tested at the 1.5-mile superspeedway.
Driving the No. 60 Ford, Edwards posted the fastest lap of the day at 182.648 mph. Bobby Hamilton Jr. was second fastest in the No. 35 Ford with a lap at 181.074 mph with Reed Sorenson third at 180.947 mph in the No.42 Dodge. Aric Almirola and Scott Wimmer rounded out the top five on the final speed rundown.
David Green, the 1994 NASCAR Busch Series champion, made his debut behind the wheel of the No. 91 Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports Toyota.
CONCORD, N.C. - The third annual Ricky Hendrick Memorial Charity Ride, presented by the Hendrick Foundation for Children, will make its way to Lowe's Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 6. Staging for the event begins at 7:30 a.m. local time at Knights Stadium, home of the Charlotte Knights baseball club, in Fort Mill, S.C., and the first motorcycle will depart at 11:30 a.m. The 48-mile trek will conclude at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., with all ride proceeds benefiting the Levine Children's Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center. Riders are asked to make a $20 contribution in advance or $25 the day of the event.
"The ride has been a great success the past two years," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and chairman of Hendrick Automotive Group. "Ricky was always so passionate about helping others, especially children, and this event is a fitting way to honor his memory while giving back to the children of our community. "I can't tell you how appreciative we are of all the people -- the riders, sponsors and volunteers -- who have made the ride so much fun. To see that many motorcycles rumbling down the interstate is pretty incredible. We've been so humbled by the response."
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