Mike Skinner Just Beats Erik Darnell For The Win At Las Vegas
Mike Skinner won Saturday nights Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350, by beating Erik Darnell by two hundredth of a second. It was a exciting green/white/checkers finish, resulting in his first win of the year and the twenty-fifth win of his career.
Ron Hornaday in the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado started on the pole, with Colin Braun in the No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150 starting on the outside pole position.
Mike Skinner in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra sponsored truck would start third and made a incredible save qualifying, enabling him to start where he was. Chad McCumbee in the No. 8 MRD Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado truck started in fourth.
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Johnny Benson in the No. 23 Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra truck starts fifth.
Ron Hornaday would take the green flag, having one of his patented great starts and pulls away from Colin Braun by five truck lengths.
But on Lap Three, Mike Skinner would go to the bottom, fight past Ron Hornaday for the lead.
On Lap Four, the first caution flew for Sean Murphy in the No. 07 ASI Limited Chevrolet Silverado. Murphy lost it, would spin down onto pit road without hitting anything.
On the Lap Eight restart, Mike Skinner took the green flag, but Todd Bodine in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota Tundra truck would pass Skinner coming off of turn four.
Two laps later, Mike Skinner would catch, re-pass Todd Bodine for the lead of the race.
On Lap 11, Rick Crawford in the No. 14 Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel Ford F-150 truck and Chad McCumbee in fifth would pass Ron Hornaday for third and fourth respectively.
On the very next lap, Johnny Benson would pass Ron Hornaday for fifth.
On Lap 16, Colin Braun would pass Ron Hornaday for sixth.
On Lap 22, Todd Bodine would catch, re-swapping the lead with Mike Skinner.
On Lap 23, Johnny Benson is starting too catch the leaders and Ron Hornaday with a rear right spring issue has dropped to 10th place.
On Lap 24, Justin Marks brings out the second caution flag, as he spins the No. 9 Crocs Toyota Tundra flat spoting his tires and not hitting anything.
Sending the leaders, down pit road for the race's first pit stop. Johnny Benson would get only fuel, be the first truck off of pit road, followed by Rick Crawford, Shane Sieg, Colin Braun and Chad McCumbee rounding out the top five.
Ron Hornaday comes out in 16th place, after getting the spring issue fixed and will have his work cut out for him getting back up front.
On the Lap 28 restart, Johnny Benson pulls away, Shane Sieg in the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Toyota Tundra passed Rick Crawford for second.
Johnny Benson and Shane Sieg used pit strategy taking fuel only on their first stop.
On Lap 32, Ron Hornaday has picked up two positions and currently running in 14th place.
On Lap 34, Rick Crawford and Todd Bodine would pass Shane Sieg for second and third respectively.
On Lap 35, Johnny Bensonhas a 1.165 seconds lead on Rick Crawford in second.
On Lap 37, Ron Hornaday running in thirteenth and Scott Speed in the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota Tundra truck started 17th and is currently running in twentieth.
On Lap 38, Ron Hornaday would pick up three positions, currently running in tenth.
On Lap 39, the third caution flag came out for Stacy Compton in the No. 59 Harris Trucking/Team ASE Toyota Tundra truck hitting the wall and resulting in rightfront end damage.
On Lap 40, Johnny Benson leads with Todd Bodine in second, followed by Rick Crawford in 3rd, then Colin Braun in 4th and Erik Darnell rounds out the top five. Hornaday's running in tenth.
On the Lap 42 restart, Johnny Benson takes the green, but Todd Bodine would pass him low and takes the lead. Rick Crawford would follow, taking second from Johnny Benson.
On Lap 45, Ron Hornaday would pass both Mike Skinner ninth and Chad McCumbee for eighth place.
On Lap 46, Johnny Benson would re-pass Rick Crawford for second place.
On Lap 47, Matt Crafton would pass Colin Braun for fourth.
On Lap 48, Scott Speed is running in twenty-first place, has issues with truck handling and his first pit stop didn't help fix it.
On Lap 49, Chad McCumbee who had been running in ninth has a cut left rear tire and makes a green flag pit stop. He looked really good, would make up two laps and finish eleventh place.
On Lap 50, Matt Crafton passes Rick Crawford for third, then Colin Braun would also pass Crawford for fourth.
On Lap 53, Todd Bodine leading is starting to feel pressure from Johnny Benson in second. While Ron Hornaday is running in seventh place.
Both Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson separate themselves from the field and on Lap 56 Johnny Benson would pass for the lead.
On Lap 57, Johnny Benson leading and Todd Bodine in second, separated themselves by over three seconds from the rest of the field.
On Lap 63, Johnny Benson is leading, Todd Bodine is in second, followed by Colin Braun in third, Matt Crafton in fourth and Erik Darnell in fifth.
On Lap 65, Johnny Benson while leading loses a right front tire, in turn one, hits the wall hard , causing the fourth caution flag. Benson's truck had extensive damage to the right front side and the tire was pointing outward.
Because of the tire failure, Benson's night was over, finishing twenty-ninth and eighty-three laps down. He would retain his points lead by one point over Ron Hornaday.
Under this caution, everyone on the lead lap will pit. Mike Skinner wins the battle off of pit road, Jeff Green in the No. 40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado truck comes out in second, Erik Darnell in third, Colin Braun in fourth and Terry Cook in the No. 60 Wyler.com Toyota Tundra truck in fifth. Ron Hornaday would come off pit road in seventh.
On the Lap 71 restart, Mike Skinner takes the green flag, feels pressure from Jeff Green who had Erik Darnell all over his bumper.
Both Erik Darnell and his teammate Colin Braun would both pass Jeff Green for second and third respectively.
On Lap 72, Ron Hornaday would pass Jeff Green for fourth.
On Lap 74, Mike Skinner starts to feel pressure from Erik Darnell in second.
On lap 75, Bill Davis Racing lets NASCAR know they are done for the night and will not return. Another BDRdriver Scott Speed is running in twenty-fourth, still having handling issues with his truck and having problems communicating to his crew chief Doug Wolcott's.
On Lap 77, Jack Sprague in the No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado truck and Brendan Gaughan in the No. 10 International Maxx Force Diesel Ford F-150 truck have contact bring out the fifth caution. Resulting in Sprague having extensive damage ending his night finishing in twenty-fifth place and seventy-one laps down.
While Gaughan had minor damage on his right front end, would stay on the lead lap and finish in twentieth.
On Lap 80, Mike Skinner is leading, Erik Darnell in second, Colin Braun in third, Ron Hornaday in fourth and Todd Bodine in fifth.
On the Lap 83 restart, Mike Skinner would take the green, but have to deal with Chad McCumbee battling to get a lap back. But he cleared McCumbee better then Erik Darnell. Ron Hornaday would pass Colin Braun for third place.
On Lap 86, Erik Darnell would pass Mike Skinner for the lead, while Ron Hornadayfell to fifthafter getting passed by Colin Braun for third and Todd Bodine for fourth.
On Lap 88, Rick Crawford passes Ron Hornaday for fifth. But two laps later Hornadaywould re-pass him back for fifth.
On Lap 92, Erik Darnell's leading Mike Skinner in second by 0.582 of a second.
On Lap 94, Todd Bodine catches Colin Braun, passes him on the low side for third.
On Lap 97, the sixth caution came out for Jason White who lost it in turn four and spun with minor damage. While most of lead lap would pit, John Andretti and Scott Speed stayed out, taking the top two spots.
Skinner would win the battle off of pit road, followed by Erik Darnell, Dennis Setzer, Colin Braun and Rick Crawford. Hornaday comes out in tenth place.
On the Lap 102 restart, John Andretti took the green cleared the lapped traffic. While Scott Speed running in second would get passed by Erik Darnell for second.
Three laps later, Erik Darnell would catch John Andretti, passing him with ease due to the fresh tires and help make the pass stick.
On Lap 107, Brian Scott's No. 16 Albertson's Toyota Tundra truck spun in turn four into Bobby East's No. 09 Zaxby Ford F-150 on the front stretch bring out the seventh caution flag.
On Lap 110, Erik Darnell is leading with John Andretti in second, while Mike Skinner is third, followed by Scott Speed in fourth andDennis Setzer in fifth.
Ron Hornaday would be running in tenth, still not happy with his truck but told his crew chief Rick Ren and he's points racing now.
On the Lap 112 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green pulls away by several truck length from John Andretti in second. John Andretti had Mike Skinner all over his bumper and would be passed by Skinner.
On Lap 114, Ron Hornaday has made up three positions and running in seventh.
On Lap 117, Erik Darnell still leading, but Mike Skinner in second is right behind him putting pressure on him.
On Lap 120, Terry Cook makes contact with Robb Brent in the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Chevrolet Silverado Truck and brings out the eighth caution.
On Lap 123, Erik Darnell still in the lead, with Mike Skinner running in second, followed by Colin Braun in third, with Todd Bodine in fourth andJohn Andretti is in fifth with old tires. Ron Hornaday is running in eighth place.
On the Lap 126 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green, restarts good on Mike Skinner, while Todd Bodine would pass Colin Braun for third.
On that lap, Scott Speed would slow on the track, looked like he had a tire issue and would end up finishing twenty-first, one lap down to the leader.
But two laps later, Todd Bodine spun in turn two after going down on the apron and lost control bring out the ninth caution flag.
On the lap 132 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green, pulls away from Mike Skinner who gets pressured from Colin Braun in third.
On Lap 133, the tenth caution came out, for Dennis Setzer in the No. 18 uniteddodge.com Dodge Ram truck, had contact with Shane Sieg and wrecked hard into the wall.
On the Lap 138 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green, Mike Skinner who's on his bumper, goes low tries for the lead but the caution comes out.
The eleventh caution came out on Lap 138 as Jason White would just lose it and hit the wall.
On the Lap 140 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green, he starts good and gets a couple of truck lengths on Mike Skinner in second.
But the twelveth caution flag comes out for David Starr in the No. 11 K&N Filter Toyota Tundra truck has contact with Brian Scott and would wreck into the inside wall. Starr would finish in twenty-second, six laps down to the leader.
On Lap 144, Erik Darnell is leading, Mike Skinner is second, Colin Braun is third, Matt Crafton is fourth and Rick Crawford running in fifth.
On the Lap 145 restart, Erik Darnell takes the green, with Mike Skinner on his bumper. Coming off of the third turn, Mike Skinner would go high, passing Erik Darnell.
On Lap 146, Mike Skinner takes the white flag with Erik Darnell right beside him and comes around too take the checkers over Darnell by two hundredth of a second. Mike Skinner got his first win of 2008, did some burnouts, got the checkers and did more burnouts.
Skinner was happy to get the monkey off his back, getting back to victory lane and would thank his team.
Erik Darnell ran a great race, leading the most laps with 56, he had the better truck for long runs and was bad on short runs.
Matt Crafton would finish in third, looked really good and bounced ball into the points race for the title at Homestead.
John Andretti would finish in fourth, ran really well for Billy Ballew Motorsports and looked really good.
Ron Hornaday finished in fifth, ran really well for a truck that was junk for most of the night and finds himself one point behind Benson.
The points race, still has Johnny Benson leading by 1 point over Ron Hornaday and by 164 points over Matt Crafton.
The next race is at Talladega on Oct. 4th.
The top ten from the Qwik Liner 350 at Las Vegas
1. Mike Skinner
2. Erik Darnell
3. Matt Crafton
4. John Andretti
5. Ron Hornaday
6. Rick Crawford
7. Jeff Green
8. T.J. Bell
9. Todd Bodine
10. Donny Lia
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