John Boy & Billy's Hardee's 250 - Official Results
Mike Bliss in Victory Lane

Mike Bliss in Victory Lane
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Bliss Rallies at South Boston for Fifth Win

Mike Bliss, bidding for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, extended his points advantage Saturday with a half-second victory over Dennis Setzer in the Hardee's 250 with John Boy and Billy at Big Daddy's South Boston Speedway. Bliss, who started second in the 36-truck field, dropped to 13th after a lap 92 pit stop but methodically worked his way back to the front of the pack. He passed Coy Gibbs for the lead on lap 199 and held a six-second lead over Setzer when the afternoon's 10th and final caution extended the scheduled 250-lap distance to 257 -- and gave Setzer a two-lap shot at Bliss's IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet. Bliss, however, drove away from Setzer's ACXIOM/Computer Associates Chevrolet. Rick Crawford finished third in his Ford, followed by Gibbs and Travis Kvapil. Ted Musgrave, the Bud Pole winner, experienced late handling trouble and finished 14th despite leading the race's first 92 laps. Bliss, who carries a 55-point championship lead with four races remaining, won $41,250. There were four lead changes among three drivers. The race's 88 laps of caution was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record -- 11 more than the 77 here in 2001 when Musgrave won.

02-23-2005 | Race 18 - South Boston Speedway - September 21, 2002

F S # Driver Sponsor / Owner Truck Laps Money Status
1 2 16 Mike Bliss IWX Motor Freight / Knights Inn Chevrolet 257 $41,250 Running
2 3 46 Dennis Setzer Acxiom / Computer Associates Chevrolet 257 $25,975 Running
3 4 14 Rick Crawford Circle Bar Motel & RV Park Ford 257 $18,875 Running
4 9 20 Coy Gibbs MBNA Chevrolet 257 $11,950 Running
5 15 60 Travis Kvapil CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet 257 $10,900 Running
6 11 50 Jon Wood Navy Racing Ford 257 $9,875 Running
7 17 75 David Starr Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet 257 $8,975 Running
8 18 08 Bobby Dotter Albertsons Chevrolet 257 $8,925 Running
9 7 2 Jason Leffler Team ASE / Carquest Dodge 257 $8,825 Running
10 12 4 Ryan Hemphill Hamilton Racing Dodge 257 $10,250 Running
11 6 62 Brendan Gaughan NAPA Auto Parts Dodge 257 $9,725 Running
12 26 88 Matt Crafton Menards / Sealmaster Chevrolet 256 $10,115 Running
13 13 39 Steve Portenga Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 256 $8,565 Running
14 1 1 Ted Musgrave Mopar Performance Dodge 256 $11,840 Running
15 20 90 Lance Norick Express Personnel Services Chevrolet 256 $8,715 Running
16 25 86 Lance Hooper Blair.com / Red Line Oil Chevrolet 256 $8,365 Running
17 31 8 Bill Lester Dodge Motorsports Dodge 255 $8,315 Running
18 21 72 Randy MacDonald businessdriver.com Chevrolet 254 $8,265 Running
19 33 79 Jerry Hill RDS Racing Engines Dodge 254 $6,965 Running
20 16 45 Adam Clarke Richard Petty Driving Experience Dodge 251 $6,165 Running
21 22 17 Andy Houston Hardee's Dodge 250 $5,615 ignition
22 14 15 Brian Rose Perry Connection Ford 248 $6,565 Running
23 23 43 Carlos Contreras Hot Wheels Dodge 241 $5,515 Running
24 8 18 Robert Pressley Dickies / Square D Dodge 241 $5,465 Running
25 5 29 Terry Cook Power Stroke Diesel Ford 199 $5,440 Running
26 19 59 Tommy Pistone Pistone Race Cars & Parts Ford 188 $5,390 Crash
27 24 07 Jason Small Sunbelt Rentals Chevrolet 167 $5,365 Running
28 30 41 Clay Collier Col-Met Dodge 146 $5,340 Crash
29 28 63 Regan Smith Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool Ford 123 $5,315 Engine
30 35 23 Dana White Red Line Oil / Motor State Perf. Chevrolet 86 $5,290 Crash
31 29 54 Brian Sockwell Lowdermilk Electric Chevrolet 72 $5,265 Crash
32 27 00 Ryan McGlynn Pro Financial Services Chevrolet 64 $5,240 Crash
33 36 28 Conrad Burr UFA-FDNY / National Peening Chevrolet 55 $5,215 Crash
34 10 84 Jamey Caudill Bojangles' / Wayne Realty Ford 54 $5,190 Crash
35 32 5 Scott Kirkpatrick Tums Antacid / Tums Cool Relief Dodge 18 $5,165 Crash
36 34 93 Brad Bennett Troxell Racing Chevrolet 18 $5,140 Rear End

Failed to Qualify:  (5) Jeremy Thompson (#92), Dude Teate (#31), Jay Sherston (#30), Bob Coffey, Jr (#74), James Stephenson (#36).

Time of Race: 1 hour 43 minutes 50 seconds
Average Speed: 59.403 mph (TRACK RECORD)
Margin of Victory: .559 second

Caution Flags: Laps 22-28 (Truck #5 accident, Turn3); 47-53 (Truck #59 spin, Turn 2); 56-64 (Trucks #28, 43, 84 accident, Turn 2); 74-80 (Truck #54 accident, Turn 3); 90-96 (Truck #23 accident, frontstretch); 106-113 (Truck #63 spin, Turn 3); 115-118 (Truck #54 stall, Turn 1); 150-157 (Truck #41 accident, Turn 1); 166-183 (Truck #18 spin, Turn 2); 248-255 (Truck #72 accident, Turn 3). 10 for 83 laps.

Lap Leaders: Ted Musgrave 1-92, David Starr 93-145, Coy Gibbs 146-198, Mike Bliss 199-257.

Total Laps Led: Ted Musgrave 92, Mike Bliss 59, Coy Gibbs 53, David Starr 53. 3 changes involving 4 drivers.

Bud Pole Award:
Ted Musgrave, #1 Mopar Performance Dodge, 15.681 seconds, 81.831 mph

Clevite Engine Builders Award:
Mark Smith, #16 IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet

Featherlite Long Haul Award:
Mike Bliss, #16 IWX Motor Freight/Knights Inn Chevrolet

Gatorade Front Runner Award:
Ted Musgrave, #1 Mopar Performance Dodge

Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award:
Brendan Gaughan, #62 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge

Waste Management Picking Up Places Award:
Matt Crafton, #88 Menards/Sealmaster Chevrolet (14 places)

Points following this race:
Rank Driver Points -Back
1 Mike Bliss 2742  
2 Rick Crawford 2687 -55
3 Ted Musgrave 2630 -112
4 David Starr 2573 -169
5 Terry Cook 2565 -177
6 Jason Leffler 2546 -196
7 Dennis Setzer 2533 -209
8 Robert Pressley 2514 -228
9 Coy Gibbs 2460 -282
10 Travis Kvapil 2426 -316
11 Brendan Gaughan 2327 -415
12 Jon Wood 2298 -444
13 Lance Norick 2150 -592
14 Bobby Dotter 2071 -671
15 Matt Crafton 1948 -794
16 Carlos Contreras 1904 -838
17 Bill Lester 1860 -882
18 Lance Hooper 1850 -892
19 Brian Rose 1812 -930
20 Steve Portenga 1800 -942

Waste Management Picking Up Places
Randy MacDonald 2
Steve Portenga 2
Dennis Setzer 2
Aaron Daniel 1
Bobby Dotter 1
Ryan Hemphill 1
Bill Lester 1
Brian Rose 1
Jerry Hill 1
Bryan Reffner 1
Lance Norick 1
Carlos Contreras 1
Coy Gibbs 1
Travis Kvapil 1
Matt Crafton 1

Manufacturers Championship
Points Wins
Chevrolet 124 (8)
Dodge 114 (6)
Ford 104 (4)

Clevite Engine Builder
Mark Smith #16 210
Joey Arrington #1 209
Joey Arrington #2 202

Bud Pole Award Standings
Jason Leffler 8
Mike Bliss 3
Ted Musgrave 3
Terry Cook 2
Rick Crawford 1

Gatorade Front Runner
Ted Musgrave 22
Jason Leffler 20
Terry Cook 15
Rick Crawford 14
Mike Bliss 12
Robert Pressley 10
Dennis Setzer 6
Travis Kvapil 6
Brendan Gaughan 5
David Starr 5
Brian Rose 3
Stan Boyd 1
Rick Carelli 1
Carlos Contreras 1
Bobby Hamilton Jr. 1
Lance Hooper 1
Andy Petree 1
Joe Ruttman 1
Mike Wallace 1
Jon Wood 1
Tony Stewart 1

Raybestos Rookie of the Year
Brendan Gaughan 231
Bill Lester 158
Jason Small 157

 NEXT EVENT: LAS VEGAS 300, LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LAS VEGAS, Nev.,
10/13/02, 219 Miles, 146 Laps, $458,493