Ronda Greer Photo

A focused Ron Hornaday Jr. didn't know who he'd beaten Friday night - he just knew that he'd won.

Hornaday, who prevailed in the World Financial Group 200 by the width of his GM Goodwrench Chevrolet's front bumper cover for a record-extending 27th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, believed right up to his victory lane TV interview that his last-lap, Atlanta Motor Speedway adversary had been fellow series veteran Dennis Setzer.

Instead, Hornaday edged Setzer's teammate Bobby Labonte - driving an identically painted Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Chevy - in a dramatic duel that saw their trucks circle the final, 1.54-mile lap virtually side-by-side.

Labonte, running the outside groove, poked the nose of his Nashville Music All-Star Silverado in front of Hornaday as the pair rumbled off Turn 4. But Hornaday, whose truck wiggled enough to break Labonte's forward momentum, beat the six-time Atlanta NASCAR NEXTEL Cup winner to the stripe.

The final margin of victory was 0.008-second - the closest speedway finish (and third closest overall) in series history.

Ronda Greer Photo

"Man, this is special for us," said Hornaday, who joined Setzer and Jack Sprague as drivers to win in seven different seasons on the tour. He won $52,975. "Bobby and I raced each other so clean over those last two laps. He got a good run on me there on the top but the RCR power under my hood let me pull him by just enough."

Labonte, who'd recovered from an earlier spin through the frontstretch turf, expressed mixed emotions.

"Considering the run we had through the grass second is great but, boy, I want the trophy," he said.

The incredible finish, before a crowd estimated at 50,000, was set up by Kelly Sutton's Turn 2 spin on lap 105 as leader and Bud Pole winner Rick Crawford took the air off the sophomore driver's spoiler. Crawford maintained the advantage as the field pitted for "insurance fuel" and tires but his Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford - which held more than a three-second advantage as the laps wound down - went backwards when the race restarted at lap 111.

Hornaday snatched the lead with a three-wide pass into Turn 3, followed by Bobby Hamilton, who for the second time in three races had started dead-last in 36th. Hamilton, however - his Bailey's Dodge trapped on pit road by caution at lap 39 - had battled back into contention from a lap behind and snatched the advantage from Hornaday at lap 117.

The pair traded the point twice more - with Labonte, Setzer and David Starr packed on their bumpers and alongside - before Hornaday took the lead for good at lap 124. He appeared to have the race won with just over a serial remaining in the 130-lap distance when Crawford's Ford cut down a right front tire and slammed hard into Turn 2's outside SAFER barrier.

Crawford was unhurt and the field - 23 drivers still on the lead lap - lined up single-file for a green-white-checker finish in a repeat of last March's Atlanta inaugural, which Hamilton captured with a last-lap pass of Mike Skinner. This time, Hamilton - his transmission shy of first and second gear - couldn't come up to speed quickly enough to maintain contact with Hornaday and Labonte. Labonte made his move as the leaders took the white flag and probably would have bypassed Hornaday had there been another lap remaining.

Hamilton settled for third, his second top-three finish in as many races, with Setzer fourth and Starr fifth. Ted Musgrave took sixth, besting Chad Chaffin, Sprague, Terry Cook and Robert Huffman.

Hamilton maintained his championship lead, which grew to 65 points over Musgrave. Ricky Craven, the previous race's standings runnerup, dropped to third with a finish of 18th.

There were 13 lead changes among nine drivers with five swaps of the No. 1 spot during the race's final 14 laps.

The caution waved four times for 18 laps with Hornaday's winning average speed of 142.424 mph making the World Financial Group 200 the sixth fastest race in series history.

Next event is the April 9 Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, the first of two races at the .526-mile short track in 2005. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the EasyCare Vehicle Service 200 on Oct. 29.