Todd Bodine's last lap pass kept Ted Musgrave from taking over the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship lead but the battle with five races remaining matches the closest in series history.

Dennis Setzer holds a five point lead, the same margin by which Jack Sprague headed Ron Hornaday Jr. at the same point of the 1998 season. Hornaday wound up winning his second title by three points, the closest margin in history.

Setzer has the lead for the 10th consecutive race. He ousted 2004 champion Bobby Hamilton from the top spot after the season's 10th event at Michigan International Speedway on June 18. In all, Setzer has been the points leader 21 times in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck career. That's No. 4 on the all-time list. Hamilton is No. 3 with 24 weeks led, following Sprague (52 weeks) and Hornaday (37).

Martinsville Speedway's Oct. 22 Kroger 200 is next up for the adversaries. Setzer is the track's only two time winner while Musgrave's best finish in 2003 is second to Setzer. Musgrave finished seventh, Setzer 33rd when the series visited Martinsville in April.

Musgrave has pared Setzer's lead to virtually nothing despite failing, until Saturday, to lead a race since June 18 at Michigan. Musgrave has led in only three events, spotting Setzer a net 45 lap leader bonus points.

Still, Musgrave has been the model of consistency, leading the series in top five (10) and top 10 (13) finishes.

Sixteen drivers remain mathematically in the hunt for the title. The difference between third place, Hornaday, and 10th, Matt Crafton, is 194 points. That's fewer than the 200 that separates Setzer from Hornaday.

Saturday's race was the third of the season to be decided by a final lap pass. Bobby Hamilton beat Jimmy Spencer in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway while Brandon Whitt bypassed race leader Hornaday to post his first series victory at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Bodine was Las Vegas Motor Speedway's eight different NASCAR Craftsman Truck winner and seventh different winner in as many races.

The latest event drew an estimated 65,000 race fans. LVMS announced next year's race will be held on Sept. 23.

Toyota is the season long lap leader on the manufacturer side. Tundra trucks have headed 1,407 laps to Chevrolet's 1,401. Chevrolet continues as the manufacturer point leader by 22 over Toyota. The truck maker could clinch its sixth title with a victory at Martinsville, if Toyota finishes no better than third among manufacturers.

David Starr's third place finish was the best by the Spears Manufacturing team in 2005, eclipsing the driver's pair of fifths. Starr could be pardoned for being distracted as Hurricane Rita ripped through Houston where the driver's father hunkered down in the family business.

Happily, there was no major damage.

Starr hasn't been pleased with 2005. He can't blame his owners to feeling a bit frustrated as well.

"We have had some rough last few races and have been in a little bit of a slump so to run this hard all race in the top 10 and then the top five is good," said Starr, who won the race in 2002. "Being here in Vegas is close to Wayne and Connie's (Spears) home in LA so there are a lot of friends and family here."

Starr and Spears have yet to decide whether to extend the driver's contract into the 2006 season.

SPEED Channel publicist Becky Severs, whose Charlotte-based job includes coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, has begun a one-month stint as a Red Cross volunteer assisting residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf States. Initially assigned to shelters in Austin, Texas, Severs will write periodically of her experiences at truckseries.com.