Musgrave didnt lead em all but he came close Musgrave led 158 of 160 laps at Gateway to set a series record for domination by a winner in a live pit stop era race. There have been five occasions in which the winner led every lap – most recently by Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 6 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet) at the old Louisville Motor Speedway in June 1997 – when pit service took place during a mid-race break. The following chart shows the top five most dominant winning performances in pit stop events.
Year, Track, Winner, Laps Led/ Laps %, Laps Led
2005 Gateway Intl Raceway, Ted Musgrave, 158 of 160, 98.75
2001 Richmond Intl Raceway, Jack Sprague, 196 of 200, 98.00
2001 Darlington Raceway, Bobby Hamilton, 125 of 135, 92.60
2001 Gateway Intl Raceway, Ted Musgrave, 145 of 160, 90.60
1999 Michigan Intl Speedway, Greg Biffle, 90 of 100, 90.00
Championship lead changes hands Musgrave, who became the series sixth $3 million winner with a career total of $3,020,791, displaced Hamilton as the 2005 championship leader, occupying the top spot for the first time since the 12th race of the 2002 season. Its the fifth time that Musgrave has headed the points. Nine competitors among the current top 10 have started more than 100 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and/or NASCAR Craftsman Truck events.
ETC. At age 49 years 4 months, Musgrave is the tours oldest winner since Joe Ruttman, 56 years six months, won in May 2001 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Sprague and his crew chief Chris Showalter, the latter the only competitor to have performed in all 247 series races, will guest on Wednesdays NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Teleconference at 3 p.m. ET. Members of the media may call 1-800-946-0706. Sprague is the defending winner of the May 15 GM/UAW Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway. Carolina Panthers Mike Minter, Mike Rucker and Stephen Davis will serve as Grand Marshals for the Quaker Steak & Lube 200 presented by Click It or Ticket on May 20 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Diamond Rio will perform the National Anthem as well as appear on the truck of Tony Stewart (No. 47 Nashville Music All-Star Chevrolet).
10 YEARS TOUGH
Mike Bliss and Mark Martin scored first victories for Ultra Motorsports and Roush Racing respectively. Ironically, both wins came at the old North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. Bliss won on Sept. 30, 1995 and Martin on Sept. 28, 1996.
Fast Facts
Next Event: GM/UAW Ohio 250 (Race 6 of 25).
Where: Mansfield Motorsports Speedway.
When: 2:15 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 15.
Track layout: .5 -mile paved oval.
Race length: 250 laps/125 miles.
Posted awards: $452,500.
TV: SPEED Channel, 2:15 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.
2004 winner: Jack Sprague.
2004 polesitter: Jack Sprague.
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Saturday Practice 11:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. 2 p.m. Qualifying 5:30 p.m. Trucks impounded after qualifying.(NASCAR PR)(5-9-2005)
