On track action at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

With Erik Darnell's victory, nine of 11 series Raybestos rookies of the year have made it into the win column the exceptions being Mike Stefanik (1999) and Todd Kluever (2005).

Darnell won in his 31st start - fewest by rookies-of-the-year failing to win in their freshman seasons. He nosed out Roush Fenway Racing stable mate Greg Biffle, whose first victory in 1999 came in his 33rd race.

Bryan Reffner, the series' first top freshman in 1996, took the longest to score his first and only win in his 112th start at Texas Motor Speedway in 2000.

Darnell continued Kansas Speedway's run of twenty-something winners. At 24 years four months, he was the fourth competitor under age 25 to win at the 1.5-mile track. He joined Jon Wood (21) and Carl Edwards (24) - both Roush Fenway Racing competitors.

Edwards also drove for the No. 99 team that last won with Ricky Craven at Martinsville in 2005. Crew chief John Quinn backed both Craven and Darnell, drivers at opposite ends of experience.

The organization extended its NASCAR Craftsman Truck owner mark to 44 victories with Darnell becoming the team's ninth different winner.

Crawford joined the elite group of $4 million winners that now numbers five. His total winnings reached $4,022,282 following a second-place payoff of $40,375.

Starting a distant 19th after the previous day's final practice was washed out, Crawford didn't latch onto to the runnerup position for good until the 135th of 167 laps.

"We were wicked loose until (crew chief) Kevin "Cowboy" Starland fixed it," said Crawford, who grabbed his third top-three finish in the track's most recent four races. He was 4.7 seconds behind Darnell with roughly 30 laps remaining and never got closer.

"The tailgate (of the No. 99) looked really good," said Crawford. "That's all I saw was the tailgate."

The winning margin - 10.440 seconds - is fifth-widest in series history and larger than the sum of all six previous races (9.851 seconds) at Kansas Speedway. Darnell's cushion was the largest since Dennis Setzer defeated Ted Musgrave by 11.817 seconds in June 2004 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Ford hadn't scored a one-two finish since last July's O'Reilly Auto Parts 250, a span of 18 races. The manufacturer ended Toyota's four-race victory log that began with Daytona's season opener.

Darnell, the series' 57th different winner, is the first in 2007 to start further back (10th) than the front row. His previous best finish of second came last July at Memphis Motorsports Park.

The series has boasted a first-time winner in each of its 13 seasons.

Josh Wise and Bryan Silas made their series debuts at Kansas with finishes of 17th and 29th, respectively.

Joe Ruttman's series return - at age 62 and after an absence of 4-1/2 years - was marked by a 25th-place performance. Kelly Sutton was 33rd following a backstretch tangle with Johnny Benson that left her Team Copaxone Chevrolet with suspension damage in virtually the same spot as her spectacular accident in 2006.