Busch, who owns his own truck, charged from the back of the field after a pit road penalty to win in the series for the first time since Sept. 24, 2011 at New Hampshire. The victory was Busch’s fifth at Charlotte and the 31st of his career in 107 starts.

Brendan Gaughan ran second, .468 seconds behind Busch, with the race decided in an eight-lap green-flag run to the finish after the eighth caution of the night. Max Gresham finished a career-best third, followed by series leader Matt Crafton and Ty Dillon.

“It was an eternity—the starts were spread over a year and half,” Busch said of his seven-race winless streak. “It certainly was frustrating last year that (crew chief) Eric (Phillips) and I weren’t able to get to Victory Lane. We only ran three starts, and in all of those three starts, we were a really good truck and had a shot to win in all three of those…

“We’ve been fast. These guys do a good job, (crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) here, taking over for my stuff on the No. 51with a smaller team—it’s only him and a couple of other guys that are full-time for it… These guys do a lot of work for being so small and just coming out here trying to knock out some wins.”

Busch had led 66 laps by the time Tyler Young’s spin caused the fourth caution of the race on Lap 82. On a fuel-only pit stop under yellow on Lap 84, Busch drew a penalty for dragging his gas can out of the pit stall and restarted on Lap 88 at the rear of the field.

Undeterred—and using the penalty as an opportunity to take four fresh tires–Busch carved his way through the field and had just taken over the seventh position when hard contact between the trucks of Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jake Crum—after Hornaday cut his right front tire–brought out the fifth caution on Lap 94.

After a spate of cautions, Busch finally regained the lead, passing Miguel Paludo for the top spot a lap before a pair of simultaneous wrecks caused caution No. 8 on Lap 122. A crash near the front of the field eliminated Darrell Wallace Jr. and damaged the truck of Brad Keselowski.

Note: The victory was the first as a crew chief for Fugle…Busch now has 113 wins in NASCAR’s top three series combined…Gaughan scored his third straight top-five finish and climbed three spots to fourth in points… Crafton leads in the series standings by 22 points over polesitter Jeb Burton, who finished 13th.

Sauter led the final 17 laps of the NextEra Energy Resources 250, and was leading when the a caution for a last-lap wreck came out, ending the race.

Defending Truck Series champion James Buescher spun Jeff Agnew on the final lap, which caused the caution that prevented Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch from making a move for the victory. Buescher finished 13th.

Sauter said, “I was having flashbacks of last year,” when he was turned by race-winner John King. They always say you want to be second going into the last lap. It just didn’t work out that way. … I’m not going to lie, I was happy to see that caution come out at the end. Just a wild race. Speedway racing is just crazy. … I’m just ecstatic to be in Victory Lane.”

Busch finished in the runner-up position for the third time. Ron Hornaday, Justin Lofton, Jeb Burton, and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 5.

The race was pretty uneventful until the caution came when Scott Riggs lost an engine.

The next caution came when Brendan Gaughan attempted to squeeze between pole-sitter Brennan Newberry and German Quiroga in Turn 3. The trucks made contact and hit the outside wall, causing an accident that collected 13 trucks. Burton, Tim George Jr., John Wes Townley, Ryan Truex, and Jason White were among those involved.

The plan seems to be to run Dillon in six to eight, possibly more, Cup races this season to prepare him for 2014.

Dillon will drive for Circle Sport, a satellite team of Richard Childress Racing, the team owned by his grandfather. Dillon will also drive one race for Phoenix Racing and owner James Finch.

Dillon made one start for Circle Sport in the Sprint Cup Series last season, finishing 24th in the No. 33 Chevy in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Stephen Leicht, Tony Raines, Elliott Sadler, Hermie Sadler, and Cole Whitt also drove for Circle Sport in 2012, with Leicht winning Rookie Of The Year honors.

Childress indicated that he didn’t know how many Cup races his grandson would run, saying that it depended on sponsorship.

Austin’s younger brother Ty Dillon may also run some Cup races. In 2014, the younger Dillon will move from the Camping World Truck Series to the Nationwide Series full time.

Many speculate that the elder Dillon may drive the No. 3 Chevy, which hasn’t been run in Cup since 2001, when Dale Earnhardt Sr died in a last lap crash in the Daytona 500.

Dillon finished third in the Nationwide Series standings, winning two races last year. He will look to improve upon that in 2013.

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Behind the dramatic race to the checkers, James Buescher rolled to his first series championship, securing the title with a 13th-place run.

In a championship battle that generated little drama until the closing laps — when rookie Ty Dillon made a last-ditch move — Buescher drove a methodical race en route to the title. After Dillon wrecked with two laps left in regulation distance, Buescher finished six points ahead of series runner-up Timothy Peters, who ran eighth Friday.

Joey Coulter finished third in the season finale, followed by Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo.

Gale claimed the first victory of his career in a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race six laps beyond its scheduled distance of 134 laps. As he and Busch exited the final turn, Gale pinched Busch’s No. 18 Toyota against the outside wall, taking the checkered flag by a nose in a shower of sparks.

“I got drove into the fence,” Busch said. “That’s it. You saw it.”

Gale didn’t disagree.

“It’s not my style, but I knew that, if I could pinch him a little bit, I could get the advantage, and pretty much, that’s what I was thinking at that point,” Gale said. “A guy like me, it’s my first opportunity to come down for the checkered flag in a NASCAR race.

“Kyle’s a racer. He’s been in the same position I’ve been in. We’ve all seen hungry racers get an opportunity and take it. That’s what you have to do in this sport. He owes me, but I saw the checkers in the final race. That’s all I can say…

“When it comes down to the final straightaway to win at Homestead in the last race, and your first NASCAR win, I believe anybody would do it.”

Buescher started 17th, 14 spots behind Dillon (who entered the race 12 points behind the leader), but the driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet moved briskly toward the front, working his way up to eighth by the time debris from Bryan Silas’ contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 caused the second caution on Lap 43.

Buescher had dropped to 12th, the last car on the lead lap, when NASCAR called the third caution on Lap 104, again for debris. He held that spot after pit stops under the yellow and gained one spot to 11th before Max Gresham’s spin with 10 laps left brought out caution No. 4.

After a restart on Lap 130, Dillon charged into second place, 11 positions ahead of Buescher, but contact between the trucks of Kyle Larson and Dillon wrecked both as they fought for second and also collected the Dodge of Ryan Blaney.

Buescher pitted for tires after a 10-minute, 40-second stoppage and came home 13th after the two-lap sprint to the finish.

“Everybody on this team has done a fantastic job,” said Buescher, who won four times on the way to the title. “We had a shot at it last year, but we came into this year swinging and did a lot of work over the offseason. It definitely paid off. This is definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done in racing.”

Despite the wreck that took him out of contention and dropped him to fourth in the standings behind Coulter, Dillon was philosophical when he talked about the final race.

“We just had to go out there and win the race and make something happen,” said Dillon, the series rookie of the year. “I just tried to make something happen there at the end, I got to second, and the points were looking good.

“We just missed that championship by a little bit, but I’m all right with everything that played out. We were going for it. We almost had it. We were trying to hit the home run in the bottom of the ninth and almost did it. But it’s all right. We’ll be back next year, fighting harder than ever.”

Harvick said:

I’m looking forward to finishing out this season on a strong note with RCR and continuing to build our program going into the 2013 season with the ultimate goal of winning a championship. Anything beyond that, once I know what my future plans are set, I’ll let you know.

In 2014, Harvick will join the SHR stable, which includes Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Danica Patrick.

RCR owner Richard Childress wouldn’t talk about the rumor:

I’ve got a contract for 2013 and this is 2012. I’m not talking to you about nothing (regarding that).

Harvick has 18 career Sprint Cup victories, and has driven for RCR since his Cup career began, the week after Dale Earnhardt Sr was killed in a crash at Daytona International Speedway.

In 2010, Harvick considered leaving the team, but decided to stay in good faith. This time, he chose to leave because he thinks SHR will provide motivation that seems to be lacking at RCR.

RCR shrunk to three cars this season, after Clint Bowyer left due to a lack of sponsorship. Reports indicated that Bowyer had a sponsor lined up, but RCR wasn’t interested. As a result, Bowyer left to join Michael Waltrip Racing and had arguably the best season of his career.

Childress’ grandsons both drive in NASCAR’s lower levels. Austin Dillon is driving in the Nationwide Series, where he sits third in points. Dillon will drive the No. 33 in the Daytona 500 next season.

Ty Dillon drives in the Camping World Truck Series, where he sits second in points.

Childress is grooming RCR for his grandsons to eventually take over. While there is nothing to indicate that this has anything to do with Harvick’s decision, it is possible that it does.

Paul Menard and Jeff Burton have been struggling this season, with both out of the top 15 in the standings and winless.

Elliott Sadler, who drives the team’s Nationwide Series entry, is tied for the N’Wide series points lead. He will not return to RCR next season. He is rumored to be close to a deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. Ty Dillon could move up to the Nationwide Series next season.

Update: Stewart was asked to comment on the rumor. He said:

Well, it’s actually Dale, Jr. And (NASCAR reporter) Marty Smith is actually going to be in the fourth car. Yes, that’s where we are at. I will tell you this, when we have something to tell you guys, we’ll tell you. I’ve always said that. You guys can throw darts, but when we have something to tell you that’s different than what we’ve got going on, we’ll obviously tell you.

Update 2: Kevin Harvick is said to be taking Budweiser and Jimmy Johns with him to Stewart Haas Racing in 2014.

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Passing Parker Kligerman with 10 laps left, Sauter won Friday night’s Winstar World Casino 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to claim his second victory of the season. Both of Sauter’s wins have come at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.

Sauter finished 2.199 seconds ahead of Kligerman, who came home second. Nelson Piquet Jr. ran third, followed by Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon, who trimmed six points off series leader James Buescher’s advantage with two races left in the season.

Sauter roared past Piquet, the polesitter, on Lap 100 and quickly began to stretch his advantage. The margin reached nearly three seconds, but soon the handling of Sauter’s truck began to deteriorate, and Kligerman cut the edge to less than a second before the lead-lap trucks began a round of green-flag pit stops on Lap 113.

Sauter is the third driver to sweep both races at Texas in the same year. Brendan Gaughan and Ron Hornaday Jr. also accomplished the feat, with Gaughan doing it twice.

Sauter’s winning average speed of 154.737 mph was a series record for the track.

Quick pit work on a two-tire stop put Kligerman in the lead by more than three seconds over Sauter by the time the pits stops cycled through. Sauter, on four new tires, caught and passed the No. 7 truck on lap 137 of 147.

“I looked up (after the pits stops), and he was pretty far out there, and I was like, ‘Oh, boy,’” Sauter said. “At that point they kept telling me my laps times, telling me I was two, three, four tenths faster than him per lap, and I knew that, with as much time as there was left in the race — 20 or 25 laps — I didn’t think (two tires would) prevail.

“I just knew it was a matter of time. As fast as we reeled him in, I just figured there was plenty of time.”

The two-tire call was a spur of the moment decision, but not everyone was immediately on the same page. Kligerman’s jack man raised the left side of the car before getting the message that new left-side tires, which had been placed over the pit wall, wouldn’t be required. The process of raising the car and dropping the jack cost Kligerman several seconds.

“The whole two-tire stop thing — I was thinking it,” Kligerman said. “I didn’t key up the radio. I didn’t say anything. Then I came down pit road, and I guess (crew chief) Chad (Kendrick) saw something the 30 (Piquet) did or the 13 (Sauter), and just said, ‘Hey, let’s take two.’

“But the pit crew… our jack man didn’t quite get the message, I guess. It was a spur-of-the-moment audible, as they say in football. He got the jack up, and that probably lost us about four seconds, and it might have been the difference between winning and losing, but we win and lose as a team.”

After a restart from the second spot on Lap 70 Buescher reported a vibration in his No. 30 Chevrolet and began to fall back through the field. On Lap 95, Buescher lost the ninth position to Justin Lofton, and with Dillon running fifth at the time, faced the prospect of losing a significant portion of the 21-point series lead he held entering the race.

Buescher held on to finish 11th and leaves Texas with a 15-point advantage.

Note: The race tied an NCWTS track record for fewest cautions (two) and set a new mark for fewest caution laps (eighth). The last 78 laps were run under the green flag.

Johnny Sauter pushed Kligerman to the lead on the white-flag lap, and Kligerman held the top spot when a massive wreck on the backstretch forced NASCAR to throw the yellow before Kligerman reached the finish line.

The victory was Kligerman’s first after five second-place finishes during the past two seasons. It was a vindication of sorts for a driver who was jettisoned from his ride with Brad Keselowski Racing and found a new home with Red Horse Racing.

“When you get so close to something so many times, you can pick two paths,” Kligerman said of his second-place runs. “You can doubt yourself, you can doubt the situation you’re in, you can doubt everything around you. Or you can keep your self-confidence and look at the positive of what you did to get yourself in that position each and every time and say, ‘Hey, if I can do that, it’s just a matter of time.’

“I feel like switching teams — all the things that have happened — this team gave me a ton of confidence. Halfway through the season, it looked like my career was not on the upward slope I’d hoped it would be on. We were fifth in points, we weren’t really achieving a lot, we were getting slower as a team, and I felt like my career was looking at a position where I was not going to be a part of NASCAR much longer.

“There is a vindication ’cause we won. Winning fixes everything, I like to say.”

The truck Kligerman drove now has been to Victory Lane in three superspeedway races.

“This is a magic truck,” said DeLoach, who won for the 10th time in his 300th start as an owner. “This truck that Parker was driving has won Daytona twice. It won Daytona earlier this year with John King, and now it wins Talladega, so it’s a pretty special truck to us.”

Sauter ran second, followed by James Buescher and Ty Dillon. Timothy Peters came home fifth. Dillon maintained a one-point lead over Buescher in the series standings.

Buescher was just as happy to escape Talladega with no change in the championship battle, especially after saving his truck from spinning out of control on the next-to-last lap.

“I’m satisfied with the day,” Buescher said. “You always want to gain, but not losing is good, too. Definitely, with what happened in the tri-oval coming to the white flag, we could have been 25th. The fact that I was able to hang on to it and hang on to a third-place finish makes it a really good day.”

On Lap 46, contact from John Wes Townley’s Toyota turned the Toyota of Ross Chastain into the outside wall, igniting a chain-reaction wreck that also collected the trucks of two-time series champion Todd Bodine and Johnny Chapman (watch).

Fourteen laps later, a melee on the frontstretch damaged the truck of another former champion, Ron Hornaday, and knocked last week’s Las Vegas winner, Nelson Piquet Jr., and Donnie Neuenberger out of the race (watch).

Justin Lofton led the field to a restart on Lap 66, pulling Peters and Kurt Busch with him. Ten laps later Hornaday’s spin, the result of a cut tire, caused the fifth caution, with Lofton still in the lead. During the yellow, Kligerman’s team changed the battery on the No. 7 Toyota after the gauges registered a voltage drop.

Kligerman restarted 21st, but before the field completed two laps, the driver of the No. 7 Tundra had pushed the No. 23 Ford of Jason White from 18th to the lead.

White and Kligerman were running 1-2 when Hornaday spun again in the tri-oval, his right-rear tire shredded.

The 22-year-old Buescher, who also won at the 1.5-mile track back on June 28, captured his fourth overall win of both the season and his NCWTS career (all on 1.5-mile tracks).

“I wouldn’t say it was a dominating performance like the last time we were here (led 119 of 150 laps), but I think we led the most laps and dominated anyway,” said Buescher, who indeed led the most laps Friday (64 of the race’s 134 circuits around the track). “We’ve won four races with the same truck and now we’re going to dust it off and take it to another mile-and-a-half (next week at Las Vegas).”

The Plano, Texas native won Friday’s race the hard way — taking a bigger gamble than most gamblers might do at some of the nearby casinos along the Ohio River — by not pitting for fuel in the final 53 laps.

Buescher’s Turner Motorsports crew chief, Michael Shelton, made sure his driver saved enough fuel in their Chevrolet Silverado at the right time — particularly on the last caution period from Lap 108 to 111 — to motor all the way to the checkered flag.

“We should have been at least two (laps) to the good,” Shelton said. “James saved fuel for us every way he could, but we were definitely close. It would have been real interesting if it had been a green-white-checker there and where everybody would have been, but fortunately it played out for us.”

Buescher, who admitted he wasn’t feeling 100 percent in the race, having battled the flu bug for the last three days, came in on Lap 81 for just two right-side tires and fuel to gain an advantage coming out of the pits. The strategy added to the drama when the seventh and final caution of the race occurred on Lap 107 after Jason White wrecked.

With 27 laps to go, Shelton elected to keep Buescher on the track to maintain position, as did his four closest challengers — pole-sitter Joey Coulter, rookie Ty Dillon, Parker Kligerman and Matt Crafton — setting up the fuel mileage outcome. Ironically, none of the leaders ran out of fuel in the final laps.

“I think we were two laps to the good, so maybe two more laps (left),” Dillon said. “We were chancing it there. . . . I’m a little bummed about finishing third just because James won, but we’ve got some speed and some great momentum.”

Dillon made a surge toward the front in the final 15 laps, but Buescher’s truck was nothing short of flawless, building a nearly two-second lead before finishing with a 1.292-second winning margin over runner-up Parker Kligerman, who rallied back from an earlier spin.

Dillon finished third, followed by Coulter and Brian Scott in fifth. Dillon now has three top-3 finishes in his last three starts: his first career NCWTS win at Atlanta, a second-place showing last week at Iowa and Friday’s third-place outing.

Dillon came into the race atop the points standings, leading Timothy Peters by eight points and Buescher by 11. But Buescher’s win significantly tightened things up, as Dillon’s lead is now only four points over Buescher. Peters, meanwhile, wrecked just before halfway and finished 21st, dropping to third place in the season standings, now 22 points behind Dillon.

“We battled back and our team showed a lot of resiliency,” Dillon said. “I’ll take this kind of day any day. Our team really has a lot of momentum going. … It’s not easy to finish three times in a row in the top three — first, second and third the last three weeks. If we keep doing that, the wins are going to come. We’re still a young and learning team and we’re going to keep fighting for these wins.

“It was a great race, I thought. We just needed a little bit more speed for the 31 (Buescher).”

The threat of heavy rain prior to the start of the race dissipated as the storm front stayed north by about 50 miles, and by the time the green flag fell for the 36 trucks that qualified to race, the skies were relatively clear, promising an exciting night of racing.

“We knew from the start of the race that there was weather near the track,” Kligerman said. “I actually on the pace laps said to my crew to make sure they were up on the weather, especially as we approached halfway (through the 134-lap race), just to make sure that we’re not giving anything up. We’re not here to just win a race, we’re here to win a championship.”

Last week’s first-time winner at Iowa Speedway, 18-year-old Ryan Blaney, had his own share of excitement even before the race began. During the first of two practice sessions earlier in the day, Blaney lost the handle on his Dodge truck, crashing into the Turn 1 wall. The damage was irreparable, prompting the team to go to a backup truck for the second practice and qualifying, in which Blaney placed 16th.

Even though his backup truck was a handful to drive at times, Blaney still managed to come home with an 11th-place finish.

On Lap 81, Kligerman lost control and went on a single-truck spin down the frontstretch, but with little damage and he was able to continue on. Not only that, Kligerman was able to recover, earning his second runner-up and fourth top-5 finish in five starts since joining Red Horse Racing.

“We had one of those nights where just everything that could go against us, even with a fast truck, went against us,” Kligerman said. “I tried to force the issue and spun out. From there, we were in recovery mode and passed a bunch of trucks on the restart. From there, we just tried to chase down the 31 (of Buescher), and just came up a little short.”

Buescher regained the lead on Lap 83 and never relinquished it from that point on.

As it turned out, however, the rain that everyone appeared to be watching faded away and the race was able to go the entire scheduled length without even a hint of precipitation.

Making his first start for Turner Motorsports, rookie Dakoda Armstrong had problems that began on the pace laps, when smoke began emitting from his Chevrolet Silverado. While he took the green flag, it was pretty clear he was suffering from an engine problem that quickly dropped him from his 20th qualifying spot to 28th in just the first 10 laps.

He eventually came onto pit road and called it a night as the engine suffered irreparable damage.

“I think the motor just took a crap,” Armstrong said afterward. “Unfortunately right from the get-go, it was blowing smoke out of the headers. As soon as we took the green, there was no power. It was gone. . . . It’s really disappointing. Everyone worked real hard to get this thing going.”

NOTES: The series moves to Las Vegas for a night race next Saturday, followed by the always unpredictable Talladega on Oct. 6. . . . Jason White made the biggest move in the standings — unfortunately downward — dropping three spots from ninth to 12th.

Blaney, making just his third truck series start, held off a final charge by Ty Dillon, who snared the points lead with a runner-up finish. The youngster, who drove a Brad Keselowski-owned truck to Ram’s first win in the series since 2008, celebrated in Victory Lane with his father, Sprint Cup series driver Dave Blaney.

“This is pretty incredible,” said the younger Blaney. “. . . It’s unbelievable — hopefully, we can get us a few more here.”

Said Dave Blaney: “He does so good and catches on so quick. It’s fun to watch.”

The 20-year-old Dillon, who closed to finish .168 seconds behind Blaney at the checkered flag, lauded the teenager’s poise in the frantic final stretch.

“I wanted it bad there at the end,” Dillon said. “We were coming, but Ryan Blaney, he’s an amazing driver. I’m glad we didn’t have to race against him all year this year. He’s a great guy and he really deserves this.”

Todd Bodine, who also praised the younger Blaney as “a chip off the old block,” finished third for his first top-five finish since his victory at Dover International Speedway on June 1. Johnny Sauter and Cale Gale completed the top five.

Dillon started the night third in the standings, but capitalized on rough nights by his closest rivals. Timothy Peters, who won the truck series’ first event of the season at Iowa in July, fell from the points lead after a crash in the 34th lap. Peters squeezed Matt Crafton on the exit of turn four, forcing both trucks into the wall.

Peters remained on the lead lap despite several stops for repairs, but faded further after a late stop to replace a faulty battery and cool an overheating engine. He salvaged a 19th-place finish, two laps down.

James Buescher was in line to snatch the points lead from Peters until his spin with six laps to go brought out the last of nine caution periods. He finished 17th, one lap off the pace.

The standings shuffle put Dillon atop the heap by eight points over Peters with Buescher 11 points off the top.

First-time pole starter Parker Kligerman led 107 of the 200 laps, but was bitten by pit strategy that forced him to stop for service during the race’s longest green-flag stretch. Kligerman rallied to as high as fourth place in the running order before spinning with 21 laps left. He wound up 23rd, three laps down.

Taking advantage of Kyle Busch’s brush with the wall in the late going, pole-sitter Ty Dillon won going away in Friday night’s Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first victory for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie.

Busch ran second, 3.227 seconds behind the race winner. James Buescher finished third, followed by Parker Kligerman and Aric Almirola. Series leader Timothy Peters came home 13th.

Dillon, 20, grandson of team owner Richard Childress, is third in the standings, nine points behind Peters, as he tries to duplicate the NCWTS championship won by 22-year-old brother Austin Dillon last year.

“I’m just so happy for how hard we’ve worked,” said Ty Dillon. “It’s our rookie year, and we’re battling for the championship. My team doesn’t give up.

“Man, I’m just so happy and so excited. I finally won a NASCAR race. It’s been my whole life, and to finally do it means so much. Man, it’s awesome.”

Busch, Buescher (second in the standings, six points back) and Dillon swapped the lead between them eight times in a 25-lap stretch before Busch began to pull away. After a cycle of green-flag stops that started with Dillon’s trip down pit road on lap 82, Busch held a five-second lead, but a caution for debris on the backstretch on Lap 105 slowed the race and bunched the field.

Lead-lap trucks came to pit road on Lap 106, eliminating the need for fuel conservation the rest of the way. After a restart on Lap 110, Busch pulled away to a one-second lead as Dillon and Buescher battled for second behind him.

But Busch scraped the wall on the final run and damaged his truck, allowing Dillon to overtake him for the lead on Lap 125 of 130.

Busch said Dillon’s truck was simply better.

“He had a lot better handle on the bottom of the race track than we did, especially throughout the longer run,” Busch said. “He could hold the bottom better than I could. There, when it’s time to race, when a guy catches you, you’ve got to go somewhere else.

“You’ve got to go to the top, and you try to push and get sideways and hit the fence. There’s no room to catch it up there. It was all I could do to push it as hard as I could.”

Bad luck continued to haunt four-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr., still seeking his first victory since joining Joe Denette Motorsports at the end of the season. On Lap 37, contact from the truck of Tim George Jr. trapped Hornaday against the outside wall in a wreck that also collected Jason White’s Ford.