With a second-place finish at Gateway International Raceway, Ron Hornaday Jr. launched into the top spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. He overtook Mike Skinner, who finished 28th at Gateway, and now holds a four point lead.

Hornaday also caught up to Skinner in many of the Loop Data statistics as well.

Coming into Gateway, Hornaday trailed by 92 points in the series standings and had a 111.3 Driver Rating to Skinner's 122.2.

He shrunk the deficit this weekend - Hornaday now has a 112.9 to Skinner's 120.3.

The same goes for Average Running Position. Prior to Gateway, Skinner was lapping the field with a dominant Average Running Position of 4.4. Hornaday held a fourth-best 8.2.

Skinner's number dropped to 5.3 after Gateway, while Hornaday improved to 7.8, which moved him into third place in the category.

Though Skinner lost the points lead, he remained on top of the charts in practically every key Loop Data category. Along with occupying the top spot in Driver Rating and Average Running Position, Skinner also leads in Fastest Laps Run (368) and Laps in the Top 15 (2,631).

Travis Kvapil also took advantage of the Skinner stumble at Gateway. His points deficit is now 194, down from 256 last week. He has the third-best Driver Rating (107.6) and the second-best Average Running Position (7.5).

SOURCE: NASCAR Communications