In much the same way that Jimmie Johnson beat Denny Hamlin a day earlier in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kevin Harvick tapped Kyle Busch to slip by for the win in the Kroger 250 Monday at Martinsville Speedway.
The race was initially scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but persistent rains postponed the race to Monday and a noon start time.
Busch had led for 139 laps in the Kroger 250 before Harvick got to the inside heading into the third turn and pulled ahead after dueling side-by-side to the flag stand. Harvick’s pass came after several laps running his Chevrolet right on the bumper of Busch’s Toyota.
After a crash brought out the 13th of 14 cautions, Harvick outran Ron Hornaday Jr. on the restart on lap 249 until another crash allowed him to coast to the victory under a caution.
The victory was the fourth for Harvick in 97 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
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Busch, the series points leader entering the race, was forced to pit after losing the lead when he drove over the line that obligates a driver to visit pit road. He finished 17th.
“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 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 added. “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.”
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kroger 250 - Race Result
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 pole-sitter Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.
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