MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 20, 2007) -- Mike Skinner earned his third career Martinsville Speedway victory in the Kroger 200, clinched the manufacturer's title for Toyota, and regained the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points lead all in one Saturday afternoon.
"When Jack (Sprague) and Terry (Cook) got together (on lap 134), it really opened the door for me," Skinner said. "I didn't think I had a truck that was strong enough to stay up front. . . The 60 (Sprague) was the best truck on the long greens, but those cautions kept flying and we came out victorious."
Behind Skinner, tension rose and tempers flared as trucks slammed into each other and into the wall.
The chaos started on lap 193 of the 200-lap race when Tim Sauter got turned exiting turn 4 with Travis Kvapil and Todd Bodine. When the smoke cleared, another six trucks were involved and the track was blocked with Sauter's destroyed truck sitting against the outside wall.
After a 17-minute red flag for cleanup, the green flag flew for the final time on lap 197, and contact between Matt Crafton and pole sitter Jack Sprague started to muddle the front of the field. Ron Hornaday jumped to the outside and raced from fifth to third by the white flag lap. Then Crafton spun off turn 4, triggering another huge pileup as Skinner took the checkered flag.
Skinner, Sprague and Hornaday were the first three across the line, while David Starr and Rick Crawford slipped through the smoke to round out the top five.
"I don't know. I'm not happy, but it was a great run," said Sprague, who made his 400th career NASCAR start. "I think I had a shot at Skinner, but Crafton turned me sideways with two (laps) to go. Man, I wanted that bad."
Hornaday, who lost his standings lead and dropped to 11 points behind Skinner as the lead changed hands for the fourth time in the last five races, said, "We just came through it, that's all we can say."
Sprague led the first 26 laps when nearly all of the lead-lap cars made their only stop -- most for fuel only -- on lap 27, while Cook stayed out to try to go the distance without stopping. Cook led the next 108 laps until Sprague tagged Cook's Toyota on lap 134, getting it out of shape. After Sprague completed the pass, Cook returned the contact, but instead of a run for the lead, it opened the bottom lane and Skinner took it, passing Cook and pulling alongside Sprague for the lead.
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10-20-2007, 10:58 PM
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