Ron Hornaday's celebratory burnout. More pix at the bottom of this page...

Hornaday Wins AAA Insurance 200
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, DE (June 1, 2007) - Ron Hornaday Jr. survived some early chaos, then outlasted his strongest competition to visit victory lane for the second time in three races, winning the AAA Insurance 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover International Speedway on Friday afternoon.

Hornaday beat out surprising Stacy Compton by 7.009 seconds in a race where just nine trucks finished on the lead lap.

Travis Kvapil, Johnny Benson and Mike Bliss rounded out the top five in the series' 300th race.

"We finally won the Monster Mile!" Hornaday said, slapping a high five with crew chief Rick Ren.

The race was barely half of a lap old when polesitter Mike Skinner made contact with fellow front row starter Clint Bowyer, sending Bowyer into the backstretch wall.

Bowyer, Hornaday's Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate, drifted back down the track and caused a chain-reaction wreck that collected a piece of seven other trucks, including Brendan Gaughan and Jack Sprague, both of whom started in the top seven.

"I guess the old man [Skinner] didn't want the kid to get around him," Bowyer said.

But Gaughan blamed Bowyer, who drives for Richard Childress in the Nextel Cup Series, for the incident.

"This just kills me," Gaughan said. "We've got a great truck, we've got a great day in front, and then you put a Nextel Cup superstar [up there] who thinks he doesn't have to lift or something."

But after the early incidents, the race stayed mostly caution-free as the leaders cycled through green-flag pit stops.

After a final restart with 67 laps remaining, Kyle Busch overtook Hornaday for the lead, but the veteran quickly passed him back.

Busch was within 2.8 seconds of Hornaday with 20 laps to go, but blew a right-front tire to take his truck out of contention.

The only remaining question was whether a caution would allow the rest of the field to catch Hornaday, but the race stayed green and Hornaday cruised to the win.

It was an unlikely victory considering that after 20 laps, Hornaday's truck was so loose that the driver of the No. 33 grew upset with Ren's setup.

But Ren made an adjustment that tightened the truck and allowed Hornaday to stick to the bottom groove of the 1-mile concrete racetrack.

"Rick told me to trust him and I did, and I know now to just put my faith in his hands," Hornaday said.

Hornaday cut Skinner's lead in the point standings to 77.

Complete race results and point standings in the Related news section below...

Television Schedule

• Qualifying: Friday, June 1 (SPEED ay 11:30 a.m./AT, 10:30 a.m./ET)
• Race: Friday, June 1 (SPEED at 9:30 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. ET)

Related News

5/30: Entry List (PDF)

5/31: First Practice (PDF)

5/31: Rookie Practice (PDF)

5/31: Final Practice (PDF)

6/1: Qualifying Order (PDF)

6/1: Qualifying Results (PDF)

6/1: Starting Lineup (PDF)

6/1: Race Results (PDF)

6/1: Point Standings (PDF)

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: AAA Insurance 200
The Place: Dover International Speedway
The Date: June 1, 2007
The Time: 5:45 p.m./AT, 4:45 p.m./ET
TV: SPEED, 9 p.m./AT, 8 p.m./ET
Track Layout: 1-mile concrete oval
Race Purse: $667,461
2006 Winner: Mark Martin
2006 Pole: David Reutimann
Schedule: Thursday–Practice 2:30-3:30 p.m.; 3:45- 4:15 p.m. (rookies) and 4:30- 5:30 p.m. Friday–Qualifying, 10:30 a.m.
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Qualifying Notes

• Mike Skinner won the Bud Pole for the AAA Insurance 200, his sixth Bud Pole in 2007 – all in the past six races.
• This is Skinner’s 37th Bud Pole in 137 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
• This is his sixth consecutive Bud Pole in 2007 and he is now within two of his own series record set in 1996.
• This is Skinner’s first Bud Pole and third top-10 start in as four races at Dover.
• Clint Bowyer (second) is running in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover.
• Johnny Benson (third) scored his sixth top-10 start on 2007 and his second top-10 start in four Dover races.
• Brendan Gaughan (fifth) posted his best qualifying effort of the season.
• The first three years of racing at Dover, the race winner started on the front row. In the past four races the best start for a race winner was fifth.

This'N'That

• Manufacturers’ Standings - Chevrolet scored its second consecutive victory at Mansfield Motorsports Park and broke its deadlock with Ford in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers’ Championship. Perhaps more significant, Ken Schrader (No. 18 Fastenal Dodge) gave DaimlerChrysler its first top-five finish and was joined in the top 10 by Bobby Hamilton Racing teammate Kevin Hamlin (No. 4 Open Joist Dodge). Schrader said this year’s struggle is all about numbers. “You can’t go to war with two trucks,” said the veteran driver. The speedway in pre-race ceremonies honored the late Hamilton, whose 10th and final victory came at Mansfield in 2005.
• Chris Showalter didn’t plan to make a career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when he went to the inaugural event in February 1995 as a 21-year-old general mechanic for Butch Miller and Liberty Racing. Two hundred ninety eight races later Showalter is still here – and the only competitor to have been in the garage at every event. "I figured in five years I’d be in the NEXTEL Cup Series," said Showalter, a native of Ohio and currently truck chief for the Morgan-Dollar Motorsports’ No. 47 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet and driver Kraig Kinser. "But I found out I love it here. People treat you good and I’ve had a lot of fun." Showalter has worked for five different teams during the series’ 12-plus seasons.

Photo Gallery - Friday, June 1


Eventual race winner Ron Hornaday (33) battles Aaron Fike for position...


Victory Lane...

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