Kevin Harvick won for the second straight time in the Truck series Saturday, dominating the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. He led 187 of the 250 laps.
Ron Hornaday Jr. survived a late-race altercation – and a post-race altercation – with Johnny Sauter to finish second and give Kevin Harvick Inc. a sweep of the first two spots. Brian Ickler, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, took third. FOX News
Harvick, who was fastest in both practice sessions and inherited the pole position after a Friday qualifying rainout, made it four wins in the last four Camping World Truck races he has entered. He led 187 of the 250 laps, including the final 61.
“That’s pretty cool. Don’t know that I’ve ever won four races in a row,” said Harvick, who won this race for the second straight year. “The worst thing about winning is starting to lose and everyone wondering what’s wrong.” USA Today
Harvick, working for the first time with new crew chief Butch Hylton, passed Peters for the lead on Lap 190 and held it the rest of the way.
“It was a lot of fun for me, just for the fact that the thing was so dominant to drive,” Harvick said. “I didn’t really have to do a whole lot different—I just drove my line every lap, and we were able to make our way through traffic when we needed to.
“When we passed the No. 17 [Peters] for the lead, it looked like his truck started to get a little loose getting into the corner, and we were able to capitalize on that.”
Peters’ series lead is now 59 points on sixth-place finisher Aric Almirola. Todd Bodine, the points leader coming into Saturday’s race, finished 30th after his truck overheated. Hornaday, the defending series champion, gained 16 positions to 12th in the standings. He started the race in 31st position. NASCAR
Other than Harvick’s domination, the only other excitement the race saw was when Hornaday and Johnny Sauter got together, sending Sauter’s No. 13 around. AHN
On the cooldown lap, Sauter steered his truck to block Hornaday’s path on pit road, then offered fiery words in a face-to-face confrontation.
No punches were thrown as the two offered intense explanations of the contact. Hornaday, who started 31st in the 36-truck field, accepted the blame for the offending bump.
“It’s what we needed for the points, but it’s not the way we wanted it to end up,” said Hornaday, the defending series champion. “I don’t know if he hit the curb or checked up or whatever, but I got into him pretty good. ... It’s a tough day. I hate to see it. Johnny’s all mad and that’s what truck racing is all about.” USA Today
Narain Karthikeyan made history at Martinsville as he became the first driver born in India to make a NASCAR national series start. Karthikeyan was on the lead lap until Lap 200, when contact with Clay Greenfield sent the No. 60 around and Karthikeyan was unable to get it re-fired, dropping him a lap. Karthikeyan was the benefactor of the free pass, returned to the lead lap and finished 13th.
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