Brendan Gaughan blocked Jason Leffler's final lap challenge to score a one-length victory in Saturday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway. The win was the third of the season for Gaughan and the Orleans Racing Dodge team, adding to previous victories at The Milwaukee Mile and Texas Motor Speedway. Gaughan broke out of tight duel with Ted Musgrave on the 50th of 160 laps, leading the rest of the way. Leffler, in the Team ASE Racing/Carquest Dodge, then took up the chase and tried to squeeze under the leader's truck entering Turn 3 of the final lap but found no racing room. The official margin of victory was .222-second as Gaughan became the track's sixth consecutive different winner at a race-low average speed of 99.489 mph. There were four lead changes among three drivers - although pole starter Travis Kvapil failed to lead a lap. Kvapil, who finished third in the IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet, retains a 34-point championship lead over Gaughan. Raybestos Rookie Carl Edwards backed up his Kentucky Speedway victory with a solid, fourth-place finish while Rick Crawford, the front end of his Circle Bar Ford damaged in a 30th lap accident on pit road, took fifth.
Results follow:
1. (4) Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 160, .
2. (8) Jason Leffler, Dodge, 160, .
3. (1) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 160, .
4. (11) Carl Edwards #, Ford, 160, .
5. (6) Rick Crawford, Ford, 160, .
6. (10) David Starr, Chevrolet, 160, .
7. (2) Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 160, .
8. (3) Dennis Setzer, Chevrolet, 160, .
9. (9) Terry Cook, Ford, 160, .
10. (12) Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 160, .
11. (7) Jon Wood, Ford, 160, .
12. (15) Mike Skinner, Dodge, 160, .
13. (13) Chad Chaffin, Dodge, 160, .
14. (5) Bobby Hamilton, Dodge, 159, .
15. (35) Shane Wallace, Ford, 159, .
16. (16) Jody Lavender #, Chevrolet, 158, .
17. (17) Randy MacDonald, Chevrolet, 155, .
18. (33) Aaron Daniel, Ford, 155, .
19. (34) Ken Weaver, Chevrolet, 150, .
20. (31) Ricky Sanders, Ford, 149, .
21. (25) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 141, accident, .
22. (14) Bill Lester, Dodge, 141, accident, .
23. (22) Ryan Hanson, Chevrolet, 140, accident, .
24. (21) Blake Mallory, Dodge, 136, water pump, .
25. (18) Randy Briggs #, Ford, 123, engine failure, .
26. (26) David Stover, Ford, 115, engine failure, .
27. (29) Doug Keller #, Chevrolet, 104, brakes, .
28. (19) T.J. Bell #, Chevrolet, 86, accident, .
29. (20) Jerry Hill, Dodge, 53, engine failure, .
30. (23) Phil Bonifield, Chevrolet, 50, driver fatigue, .
31. (30) Chris Horn, Chevrolet, 45, brakes, .
32. (24) Jon Lemke, Chevrolet, 26, accident, .
33. (32) Lance Hooper, Ford, 19, engine failure, .
34. (36) Michael Dokken, Dodge, 9, transmission, .
35. (28) Kenny Hendrick, Ford, 6, transmission, .
36. (27) Stan Boyd, Dodge, 3, handling, .
Average Speed of Race Winner: 99.489 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 0 minutes, 37 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.222.
Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Kvapil 0; T. Musgrave 1-47; B. Gaughan 48; T. Musgrave 49; B. Gaughan 50-160.
Top 10 in Points: T. Kvapil - 1,849; B. Gaughan - 1,815; T. Musgrave - 1,794; D. Setzer - 1,779; R. Crawford - 1,763; B. Hamilton - 1,734; J. Wood - 1,721; J. Leffler - 1,687; T. Cook - 1,616; C. Edwards # - 1,527.
