Late-race mishaps cost Musgrave victory

LEBANON, Tenn. -- As Ted Musgrave widened the gap between himself and the rest of the field Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, licks from the gorgeous new guitar that served as the winner's trophy began to dance through his head.

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 200 • Bliss wins again • Results • Standings

With 124 of 150 laps on the board, Musgrave was some five seconds ahead of second-place Rick Crawford. On the following lap, he pitted under the green flag for two tires and fuel. Crawford followed suit, pushing Mike Bliss into the lead.

Moments later, Musgrave's Ultra Motorsports teammate, Jason Leffler, hit the Turn 1 wall to bring out the caution. Bliss pitted for four tires and fuel, cycling Musgrave -- who had only taken two tires and a splash of fuel during his stop -- back into the lead.

However, on the restart, Coy Gibbs cut a tire just ahead of Musgrave, forcing Musgrave to slam the brakes. Subsequently, Bliss and Crawford were able to slip past.

Once he got out front on new tires, Bliss was untouchable -- and Musgrave was relegated to a disappointing third-place finish after leading a race-high 66 laps.

	Ted Musgrave is now 61 points behind leader Mike Bliss in the Craftsman Truck Series title chase. Credit: Autostock

"The biggest thing that got us was the No. 20 truck ran me up in the third groove and Mike Bliss and the No. 14 truck got underneath me and passed me while I was up in the marbles, I guess you could say," Musgrave said. "From that point on, it was history."

For much of Saturday's race at the brand new 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway, Musgrave was in a class of his own. He'd lapped all but eight competitors and win number three was in the palm of his hand. In hindsight, he questions the decisions made on the final pit stop.

"We're trying to evaluate our final decision on taking two tires and gas at the end there," he said. "When you get in that position, do you pit? Do you not pit? Do you put on two or four tires? We've got to get our notes in order to make sure we're making the right decisions."

Although he didn't win, Musgrave is content with third place. He'd posted six top-fives in seven events prior to the past two races, when he finished a season-worst 32nd at Michigan and 16th at Indianapolis.

"We've just got to keep working on it," Musgrave said. "It was another good run for us. We needed that momentum to get us going again. Hopefully we can be strong for the rest of the year."