Jack Sprague hold his winners trophy over his head. (Christina R/High Sierra Photo)

Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague outlasted Erik Darnell in a classic battle pitting veteran against rookie and won Saturday night's O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park breaking a winless streak of more than a year.

Sprague, who started from the Budweiser Pole, was well behind race leader Dennis Setzer when the night's fifth caution closed the field with less than 25 laps remaining and most competitors facing a round of green flag pit stops.

After a bizarre incident on pit road dropped Setzer to 14th on the restart - and Darnell's Roush Racing Ford beat Sprague's Con-way Freight Toyota onto the track - the pair set off in pursuit of Terry Cook.

Cook, making a record-breaking 211th consecutive series start, had pitted off-sequence to repair crash damage and took the lead when the remainder of the field stopped for service. But Cook, on well-worn tires, lasted just one lap at the helm when the green flag flew.

Both Darnell and Sprague shot past as the yellow waved again for Chad Chaffin's spin in Turn 3.

Darnell's Roush Racing Ford was able to hold off Sprague until the 193rd lap and was maneuvering for a final challenge when Aric Almirola's accident in Turn 1 added two laps to the 200-lap scheduled distance.

The pass for the win, Jack Sprague uses the inside line to overtake Eric Darnell with 10 laps left in the event. (Nate Mecha/High Sierra Photo)

Sprague neatly won the restart battle carrying a two-truck lead into the first turn and that closed the books. Darnell settled for the runnerup spot - his best and tops by a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in 2006 - just .251 second behind.

The victory, worth $59,175, was Sprague's 26th in series competition. The 41-year-old Michigan native, who snapped a 29-race winless streak, last went to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2005.

He averaged a series track record 88.367 mph as seven cautions consumed 30 laps.

"The older you get, you wonder if you're ever going to win again," said Sprague. "It's sweet."

The victory was the first for the Jeff Wyler-owned Toyota team and for veteran crew chief Tony Furr, a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup winning crew chief as well.

Said Darnell, who posted the best finish by a rookie driver at Memphis, "I think we were about the best on the long runs. It just bit us there at the end. We needed to go after that second-to-last restart and we didn't get it."

Matt Crafton, who started third in the Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, raced at the front of the field throughout the race and came home third to match his season's best. Kentucky Speedway winner Ron Hornaday Jr. brought the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevy from 20th at the start to grab fourth ahead of fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Bliss.

Darnell's Roush teammate David Ragan, David Reutimann, Cook, Mike Skinner and Setzer completed the top 10 as 18 of 35 finishers went the distance. Robert Richardson's Chevrolet was the night's only DNF with engine failure after 83 laps.

The Morgan Dollar pit crew at work on a 4-tire change for Dennis Setzer. (Nate Mecha/High Sierra Photo)

Setzer, who led twice for 51 laps, was denied what appeared to be a second Memphis victory when he ran over a pit sign in an adjacent pit stall. The sign became wedged under the FlexFuel 85 Chevy and led to the truck being dropped off the jack before the left rear tire could be attached completely.

"It really was an unfortunate deal," said Setzer, whose streak of eight consecutive Memphis top fives was broken by the incident.

Six drivers - Sprague, Darnell, Crafton, Cook, Setzer and Chad McCumbee traded the lead nine times.

Series point leader Todd Bodine had an "off night" finishing 15th but still added five points to his advantage over Reutimann, who trails by 117 heading to the Aug. 4 Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Reutimann bypassed previous standings runnerup Johnny Benson, who finished 32nd after being involved in a Turn 2 accident on the 83rd lap.

The Memphis race concluded a run of nine consecutive races that began in mid-May at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Ten events remain on the 2006 schedule.