Mike Skinner came in leading Ron Hornaday Jr. by 11 points. Hornaday left with a four-point advantage. The margin, with three races remaining, is second only to the one point edge - Dennis Setzer over Bobby Hamilton - in 2004.

In three different seasons the margin has been 10 points or fewer. Saturday's lead swap matched the 2001 campaign for most changes during the final 10 races - six.

That record would appear in jeopardy as the scene shifts to Friday night's Chevy Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway.

"That's okay for now, but after Homestead is when I'll be jumping up and down," Hornaday said of the rankings and the Nov. 16 season finale in South Florida. "I am sure Skinner will get it back next week and I will try and get it back the week after.

"To have two great teams battling and changing the points lead each week is unbelievable."

Skinner, who won Atlanta's spring race, struggled for the most part after leading his 21st (of 22) races. He was 11th following the race's final pit stop at lap 107 but charged back to fifth.

"We never really got the truck fixed. We had some good pit strategy, though," he said. "We used up our right side tires early and used some used tires in the middle of the race so we had new tires for the end. That's how we got back up to fifth."

Skinner said the team will have to improve to win the title.

"We're going to have to get better than that," he said. "We just haven't done well adjusting it whether it's loose or tight. Once we figure that out we'll be tough."

***

Youth was served Saturday thanks to Kyle Busch. The 22-year-old became the season's youngest winner - and the youngest since May 2006 when, surprise, the then-21-year-old Busch last went to Victory Lane at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The race's next youngest top-five finisher, Johnny Benson, is 44.

Busch, in fact, is younger than the eldest sons of both Hornaday and Skinner. Ronnie Hornaday is 28; Jamie Skinner 29. Both are former series competitors.

Busch - previously the only driver to win in all three national series in multiple seasons - extended that record to three. He's won at least once in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Trucks from 2005-07. Only two other drivers, Terry Labonte (1995) and Kevin Harvick (2003) have been able to accomplish the "triple" in the same season.

Busch also has the second most series wins by a fulltime NEXTEL Cup competitor: five. Mark Martin is the leader with seven.

***

By finishing third, Benson became the series' 17th competitor to reach the $2 million mark in career winnings. Benson has won $2,005,743.

***

Busch's margin of victory was 0.971 second. That is the widest winning margin in seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck races at AMS.

By leading 65 of the 130 laps, Busch became the most dominant winner since the series came to the 1.54-mile speedway in March 2004.

***

Matt Crafton partially at least salved his Martinsville disappointment by mounting a late charge to a seventh-place finish thus maintaining his No. 8 ranking in series points. The finish was the Californian's 75th among the top 10.

"I think we had a top-five truck easy but just didn't have the track position we needed get there," said Crafton. "(I'm) looking forward and then Phoenix; those are two of my favorite tracks."

***

It's been slim pickings for Roush Fenway Racing since Travis Kvapil's Sept. 20 victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team has fielded nine entries in the most recent three races without a top-10 finish - the longest dry spell of the 2007 season. Kvapil started the EasyCare 200 fifth but finished 11th.

***

Two drivers, Chad Chaffin and Jon Wood, will start their 100th series races at Texas Motor Speedway. They will be the 25th and 26th competitors to reach the century mark.

***

Busch's crew chief Richie Wauters has won races in four consecutive seasons - five with Busch and one with Shane Hmiel beginning with Las Vegas in 2004. The streak, shared with Germain Racing's Mike Hillman Jr., is the series' current longest.

Dennis Connor, who currently oversees David Starr's International/MAXXFORCE Diesel Ford, holds the record at six set with Jack Sprague between 1996 and 2001.

Starr had a so-so day with a finish of 15th but moved into ninth in the points. That's the first time the Texan has ranked among the top 10 in 2007.

The lead isn't the only hot spot in the standings. Benson and Todd Bodine stand fourth and fifth with an identical point total of 3,139 and trail third-place Kvapil by 88. The difference between 10th and 13th - Sprague and Brendan Gaughan - is 124 points.

***

It was a big day for Atlanta area residents Billy Ballew and Joey Clanton. Ballew, who owns a sixth-floor condo in the Tara Tower overlooking the track's Turn 4, was the winning truck owner for the second time at his home track. Clanton, who lives in nearby Canton, finished sixth to match his career performance at Daytona International Speedway.

Clanton, who has shared the No. 09 Zaxby's Ford out of the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing stable with Stacy Compton, finally reached his 14th start on which Raybestos Rookie of the Year points. He now trails leader Willie Allen by nine points.

"This is definitely big," said Clanton, owner of several Atlanta area Zaxby's franchises. "I need to replace two more races now. I need top-10 finishes."

***

Sprague's Wyler Racing changed crew chiefs prior to Saturday's race with Rick Gay replacing the departed Tony Furr.

Gay resigned from his post with Germain Racing's No. 9 Team ASE truck. General manager Mike Hillman backed Ted Musgrave to a finish of ninth.

***

The Chevy Silverado 350K is the 20th to be held at Texas Motor Speedway. The track is the first to reach that milestone. Todd Bodine is going for a record fifth victory to break a deadlock with Brendan Gaughan for most wins at a single track.

"I'm happy to have a lot of victories at Texas; I love that Eddie Gossage got me a pair of boots for the last win there, and I really like racing at Texas," said Bodine. "But when we get to the track, nothing matters except we want to win. Holding the record for the most wins at Texas would be nice, but having that record on the line won't change my approach or the team's approach when we show up at the track."