#62-Brendan Gaughan ran the fastest race in NASCAR Truck series history and continued his domination of the circuit by winning Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Gaughan averaged 154.044mph in the Sears 200, his second consecutive victory and fourth in the last seven races. The speed easily eclipsed the previous record of 144.260 by Kurt Busch at California Speedway in 2000. The victory moved Gaughan to the top of the series standings halfway through the season. Gaughan and #16-Travis Kvapil have 2,000 points each, but Gaughan is leader on the strength of his four wins. Gaughan, who started sixth in a Dodge, took the lead for the final time on the 80th of 100 laps on the 2-mile track after a round of green-flag pit stops. He extended a nine-second advantage to a final margin of victory of 11.477 – nearly a quarter of a lap – over #1-Ted Musgrave, who also drove a Dodge. The margin of victory was third-largest in series history. Gaughan led 48 of 100 laps in a race slowed just once for six laps of caution. #18-Chad Chaffin finished third to match his best performance in the series. Polesitter #2-Jason Leffler was next as Dodges swept the first four positions. Rookie points leader #99-Carl Edwards was fifth in a Ford. #50-Jon Wood, #16-Kvapil, #46-Dennis Setzer, #29-Terry Cook and #4-Bobby Hamilton completed the top 10. There were 10 lead changes among eight drivers.(Thatsracin.com/AP)
See race results at Thatsracin.com, Truckseries.com, MotorsportsOne or nascar.com.(7-26-2003)
