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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race
#22 | EasyCare Vehicle
Service Contracts 200
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Atlanta, GA
Saturday, October 27, 2007
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Epic. That's the best way to describe the incredible NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point battle that has evolved since the series visited Daytona back in February. With only three races remaining in 2007 after the Hampton, Georgia visit, No. 33 Chevrolet driver Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Mike Skinner in the No. 5 Toyota continued to test their teams and each other at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Skinner, the undisputed king of Bud Pole qualifying this year, would qualify on the outside front row. But it was Ron Hornaday that edged by Skinner to capture his first Bud Pole award this season. The stage was set – Hornaday on the pole and Skinner out front by eleven points separating the championship contenders. (VPS Motorimages Photo)
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Kyle Busch Wins at Atlanta
(Steve Keller/TruckSeries.com Photo)
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Kyle Busch was both lucky and good Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch benefited from two timely caution flags, including one when we was about to be black flagged for a having a loose window net, and then powered past leader Ron Hornaday Jr. with seven laps to go to win the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Hornaday finished second, followed by Johnny Benson, Mark Martin and Mike Skinner. Hornaday's runner-up performance enabled him to sneak past Skinner and retake the lead in the Truck Series standings by a mere four points with three races remaining in the season. It is the fifth time in the past six races that the series lead has changed hands between the two drivers. Busch became the first repeat winner at AMS in the Truck Series (he also won here in 2005) thanks in part to two fortunate caution flags.
While Hornaday was disappointed that he didn't win the race, he was pleased that he managed to grab the lead in the standings away from Skinner. For one week, at least. "The way we're going to beat him is just to race as hard as we can," said Hornaday, who led five times for 51 laps. "We did our job today." Skinner was not totally upset with his showing, especially considering that he had handling problems early on and dropped as far back as 17th place midway through the race.
There was only one major accident in the race. It occurred on lap 45 when Josh Wise got sandwiched between Clay Rogers and Chad Chaffin as the trio came off Turn 4. The contact turned Wise sideways, which then sent all three trucks into a spin. Joey Clanton - a native of nearby Canton, Ga. - finished sixth, making him the highest-finishing rookie in the race.
Rounding out the top-10 were Matt Crafton in seventh, Brendan Gaughan eighth, Musgrave ninth and Terry Cook 10th.
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Kyle Busch was both lucky and good Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch benefited from two timely caution flags, including one when we was about to be black flagged for a having a loose window net, and then powered past leader Ron Hornaday Jr. with seven laps to go to win the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Hornaday finished second, followed by Johnny Benson, Mark Martin and Mike Skinner. Hornaday's runner-up performance enabled him to sneak past Skinner and retake the lead in the Truck Series standings by a mere four points with three races remaining in the season. It is the fifth time in the past six races that the series lead has changed hands between the two drivers. (Steve Keller/TruckSeries.com Photo)
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The top two drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings will be able to keep a close eye on each other at the start of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That's because they both qualified on the front row for this afternoon's race. Ron Hornaday Jr. captured the pole during Saturday morning qualifying with a fast lap of 181.669 mph. That enabled him to edge out Mike Skinner, who posted a speed of 181.503.The starting order of the two drivers is the reverse of the current point standings, where Skinner holds a slim 11-point lead over Hornaday with four races remaining in the season. (Photo: Worth Canoy/VPS Motorimages)
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It has been two years since Kyle Busch raced around Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but he picked up right where he left off. Busch, who won the Truck Series race at Atlanta in 2005, led the way again Friday during practice for Saturday's running of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. On his second trip around the 1½-mile track, Busch turned in the fastest lap of the day, posting a time of 30.192 and a speed of 183.625 mph. (Steve Keller/TruckSeries.com Photo)
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The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series arrives at Atlanta Motor Speedway this week with a point race that is tighter than rush-hour traffic. With four races remaining in the season, Mike Skinner holds a slim 11-point edge over Ron Hornaday Jr. The points lead has swapped hands between the two drivers four times in the past five races. The latest change took place last week at Martinsville Speedway, with Skinner winning the race (his series-best fifth victory of the year) and Hornaday finishing third. That enabled Skinner to turn a 14-point deficit in the standings into his current narrow advantage. (TruckSeries.com Photo)
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Beginning on Friday, October 26th, free head and neck cancer screenings will be conducted for drivers, crew members and media members by physicians, nurses and speech pathologists from Emory University Hospital. These screenings will occur near the media center from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The entire screening process takes approximately 10 minutes and is non-intrusive. On Saturday the screenings will relocate from inside the race track to the outside vendor area. Fans may take part in the free screenings from 9 a.m. to until the start of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at 1 p.m. The screening tent will be located near Gate 15 across from the General Motors and Motor Racing Outreach exhibits.
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