NASCAR: Kevin Harvick Teammates On Top Spots At Kansas Speedway

CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

Apr 27, 2008

Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jack Sprague, a pair of Kevin Harvick Inc. teammates, pulled away from the field, taking the top two spots in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.

Hornaday knew he had a good truck when he qualified as the pole sitter earlier on Saturday, but maybe not this good. It wasn’t a bad win considering he hadn’t even sat in the winning truck at the beginning of the week.

“I got here and I had to adjust the seatbelt a little bit and I was ready to race,” Hornaday said.

By the time Hornaday finished the race he was so happy with his truck he opted not to take any burnouts, so as not to damage it.

It was Hornaday’s first win of the season and extended his all-time lead in the Craftsman Truck Series to 34. He also took the lead in the points by 61 over Rick Crawford.

“This thing was just a rocket ship,” Hornaday said. “It’s a brand-new truck. You don’t have trucks like that, it was awesome.”

Hornaday pulled away to a two-truck length advantage and was in control heading onto the backstraight. Sprague made a strong run going into Turn 3, but wasn’t able to get alongside Hornaday and followed him to the checkered flag.

“Coming off the backstretch, all of a sudden he [Sprague] was on my rear end,” Hornaday said.

“We didn’t pit when everybody else did, and we used our stuff up getting back to the front,” Sprague said. “We wanted it bad.”
Braun rammed Crafton’s Chevrolet in the bumper and turned him into the Turn 4 wall, ruining a strong race. Crafton confronted Braun on pit row after the race, and Braun took responsibility for the mistake.

“I didn’t want to get into Matt,” Braun said. “I apologize. Hey, I’m a rookie and I make mistakes.”