A “two fer” Saturday for NASCAR
With rain playing havoc with the weekend schedule in Darlington NASCAR held two events on Saturday.
First up was the Darlington 200 for the Craftsman Truck Series. NEXTEL Cup rookie Kasey Kahne won his first ever truck race, and Darlingtons first ever event run “under the lights.”
“It feels pretty awesome to win this race, especially at Darlington,” said Kahne, whose lone NASCAR win was in the Busch series last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “This is about the coolest track to go to.”
Hamilton, the Craftsman series points leader coming in, finished second and extended his lead to 70 points. Ted Musgrave was third, Edwards fourth and Steve Park fifth. That gave Dodge the top five places and the manufacturer’s title with only next week’s race at Homestead remaining.
The second event of the day saw Martin Truex Jr.’s fourth place finish earn him the Busch Grand National season championship. Jamie McMurray, who dominated the race, leading 72 of 147 laps, shared the spotlight with Truex, winning his second race in a row and giving the new Rusty Wallace Inc. team its first series victory.
Ashton Lewis Jr., whose family team will fold after the finale next Saturday in Homestead, finished second, matching his career-best. He was followed by Mike Bliss, Truex, Matt Kenseth and Casey Mears.
