|
|
|
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Race
#24 | Casino Arizona 150
Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Phoenix, AZ
Friday, November 9, 2007
|
|
The future suddenly looks bright for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series veteran Jack Sprague. So it is appropriate that he is in the Valley of the Sun this week for the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. After winning three Truck Series championships in a five-year span from 1997-2001, Sprague spent two years away from the circuit as he attempted to make the move to the NASCAR Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series. Since his return to the trucks in 2004, Sprague has run well, but has yet to recapture the championship-caliber level of his earlier years. (David M. Vaughn Photo)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Skinner still needs a couple of good finishes to wrap up this year's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, but he already has proven that he has no equal when it comes to starting a race. Skinner, who leads the NCTS standings by 57 points over Ron Hornaday Jr. with only two races remaining in the season, claimed the pole position for Friday night's running of the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. It is Skinner's 11th Bud Pole of the year, breaking the series record for most poles in a season, a mark he originally set in 1995. It also extended Skinner's record for most career poles to 43. (VPS Motorimages Photo)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There were plenty of caution flags in the air but not much caution on the track Friday night in the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Kyle Busch emerged from the caution-filled race with his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the past three weeks. Meanwhile, Ron Hornaday Jr. used some aggressive driving over the final 10 laps to secure second place and close the gap between him and series point leader Mike Skinner to only 29 points with one race remaining in the season. The NCTS championship will be decided next Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Worth Canoy/VPS Motorimages Photo)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There were plenty of caution flags in the air but not much caution on the track Friday night in the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Kyle Busch emerged from the caution-filled race with his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the past three weeks. Meanwhile, Ron Hornaday Jr. used some aggressive driving over the final 10 laps to secure second place and close the gap between him and series point leader Mike Skinner to only 29 points with one race remaining in the season. The NCTS championship will be decided next Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway..
Skinner began the race on the pole, his record 11th Bud Pole of the season. He led for the first 18 laps, but later had some issues in the pits with Harvick and indicated after the race that he didn't have the cooperation on the track shown by Hornaday and Harvick, who is co-owner of Hornaday's team. "I'm not in a real good mood right now," Skinner said immediately after the race. "We're one team. It's just the (No.) 5 team. I don't know how many people we're going to have to race against. We're just going to do the best we can." When asked specifically about the incident in the pits, Skinner replied, "I don't really think that's for me to say, or not to say. They did what they felt like they had to do. If they win this thing like that - that's okay. We've had a great year. We had a good Tundra tonight. We lost our track position, and track position was hard to get back. We didn't play very well together. I'm just trying to stay positive with everything. (Hornaday) did everything that they accused us of doing. We obviously didn't do that. We'll go to Homestead and hammer down."
"It's a lot better than being 29 points behind," Skinner said of his precarious lead. "But obviously, we're standing out on an island by ourselves. We'll try to race a whole bunch of them at Homestead."
(Worth Canoy/VPS Motorimages Photo)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
