05-15-2005 | by Charles Krall, TrackSide Editor

Bobby Hamilton used patience, stayed out of trouble, and took advantage of Ron Hornaday's misfortune to take the win in the UAW/GM Ohio 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway. Hornaday had the dominant truck throughout the afternoon, but a black flag for jumping the restart in the late stages sent Hornaday to the penalty box and elevated Hamilton to the a lead he would never relinquish.

Hamilton played a one-stop strategy and took care of his tires throughout the race to have enough to hold off a furious charge by Jack Sprague late in the race. Sprague muscled his way past Brandon Whitt and Todd Kluever in the late stages to put himself in position to win on a final two-lap sprint to the finish. Whitt, who spent several laps running in the top-5, had tire problems within sight of the checkered flag and made contact with the turn three wall, ending a career run.

Shane Hmiel raced to third, while Todd Kluever was the top finishing rookie in fourth. The finish matches his best career finish, set earlier this season at California Speedway. Rich Bickle had a strong afternoon all day long in the Green Light Racing Chevrolet to finish an impressive fifth.

Rick Crawford was consistent all day long to finish sixth, while Dennis Setzer drove hard from the 29th starting position to finish seventh. Ricky Craven, David Starr, and Butch Miller rounded out the top-10.

Hornaday persevered to an eleventh place finish, with Ted Musgrave in twelfth, Brad Keselowski in thirteenth, Jimmy Spencer fourteenth and Brendan Gaughan fifteenth.

There were 13 cautions for 86 laps. There were several incidents for minor accidents, but no major crashes on the day.

The series moves to Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday for the Quaker Steak and Lube 200.