#75-David Starr became only the second driver in Truck Series history to win by leading only the final lap, bumping his way to victory Saturday night in the Dodge Ram Tough 200. Starr nudged his way past #18-Chad Chaffin in Gateway International Raceway’s first turn and beat #46-Dennis Setzer to the checkered flag by 0.444 seconds – about two truck lengths. The race was scheduled for 160 laps, but was extended by caution a record four times for 14 laps. Starr, who averaged 93.694mph, won $54,210 for his first victory since October 2002 in Las Vegas. #1-Ted Musgrave was third, followed by #18-Chaffin and #6-Matt Crafton. Setzer, who entered the race with a six-point championship lead over #4-Bobby Hamilton, extended his advantage to 64. Nine drivers exchanged the lead a Gateway-record 15 times. A tense battle between #15-Shane Hmiel and pole starter #16-Jack Sprague ended on the 155th lap when Sprague cut a tire and hit the wall. The ensuing caution at lap 157 allowed Hamilton to move up from third to the rear bumper of Hmiel’s Chevrolet for what, under series rules, was supposed to be a two-lap run to the finish. Accidents, however, caused the race to be restarted a total of four times. A three-truck accident brought out the yellow at 162. Hmiel lost control at the head of the backstretch on lap 167, sending both his Chevy and Hamilton’s Dodge into the wall and out of contention. That put Chaffin, Hamilton’s teammate, into the lead. #2-Andy Houston and #14-Rick Crawford then wrecked on lap 170, producing an eight-minute red flag to clear the track of debris from Crawford’s Ford, which slid several hundred yards on its side. Crawford was uninjured.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)
For race results see:
ThatsRacin.com
Motorsports One
Truckseries.com
NASCAR.com.(7-17-2004)
