Harvick Wins Truck Race

Kevin Harvick got by the indomitable Kyle Busch for the lead with 10 laps to go Monday and held on to win the Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Driving his own No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, Harvick obtained his fourth career truck win in his 97th start in an event that had been postponed because of rain on Saturday.

"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-flag finish, on one tank of fuel.

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 polesitter Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.

The race had 13 cautions, the first on Lap 1.

After the fifth caution, Busch needed less than three laps to dispose of Jason White and take the lead on Lap 102. Busch held the spot until Harvick moved underneath him in the final laps.

Busch remained the series points leader over Todd Bodine, who finished 18th after being involved in two separate accidents, including one with two laps to go that forced the race to finish under caution.

Busch, who is running a partial schedule, won't compete in the series' next race, April 25 at Kansas Speedway.

Notes: Mike Bliss finished 15th in his 200th truck start. ... Ken Schrader finished 10th for his first top-10 since a fourth-place finish last year at Martinsville. ... James Buescher, who turned 19 last week, finished 11th, the highest finish among the six rookies in the race.

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Kroger 250 Truck Race Look At Martinsville

Next Race: Kroger 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sat., March 28, 2009
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 250 laps / 131.5 miles
TV: FOX, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM. Listen locally on WZBB-FM 99.9.
Track Layout: .526-mile oval
2008 Winner: Dennis Setzer
2008 Polesitter: Jack Sprague
Schedule: Friday—Practice, 11-11:50 a.m.; 1:45 - 3:30 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying, 9:10 a.m.
Track Contact: Mike Smith, (276) 956-7232 or mksmith@martinsvillespeedway.com

2009 Driver Standings
Driver Points
1 Kyle Busch 560
2 Todd Bodine 535
3 Mike Skinner 441
4 Ron Hornaday Jr. 436
5 Chad McCumbee 426
6 Matt Crafton 423
7 Terry Cook 413
8 TJ Bell 412
9 Timothy Peters 406
10 David Starr 384