Hornaday Wrecks Mark In Craftsmen Truck Race In California

For the second week in a row, NASCAR veteran Mark left a racetrack wishing that the race had ended just a few laps before the checkered flag actually fell.

The Daytona 500 runner-up, who lost to Kevin Harvick by two one-hundredths Mark Dominated Until Hornaday Wrecked Him

Mark Dominated Until Hornaday Wrecked Him

last week in NASCAR’s biggest race, was spun around on a restart by Ron Hornaday with five laps remaining in the San Bernardino County 200 and was again detoured from making a trip to victory lane.

The beneficiary of the mayhem between Mark and Hornaday was NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series veteran Mike Skinner, who took home the trophy on a cold, crisp night in southern California.

Skinner, who was ahead of Hornaday as the caution flag fell when Mark spun, held off Hornaday’s No. 33 AES HR Solutions Chevrolet for a green-white-checkered shootout over the final two laps. The win was the 20th of Skinner’s career and he is the first California native to win at the Los Angeles area track.

"You know, the thing just kinda lifted up, started spinning its wheels and I got behind on the steering," said Mark. "I just got behind on the steering."

Mark was relegated to a 23rd place finish.

For awhile it looked like the race would come down to a chess match between teams who would try to stretch it to the finish on fuel and those who came in to the pits to put on fresh tires and get plenty of gas to make it to end.

This battle of wills was set up with a spin by David Starr with 30 laps remaining. Ten cars decided to stay out, keep track position and try to make it the rest of the way on fuel. This turned out to be the smart decision as caution flags over the final 12 laps allowed all of the competitors to race to the checkered flag. The top finish by a driver who elected to pit was Carl Edwards’ in fourth.

Daytona NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner Jack Sprague came home third and Ted Musgrave rounded out the top five. Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Kevin Harvick, Rick Crawford and Mike Bliss completed the top 10.

The points battle has Skinner and Sprague tied for the lead, followed by Benson, Hornaday and Bodine to compete the top five.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a break for a few weeks and will resume its schedule with the American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 16.