Musgrave gets third straight Fontana victory

Major changes to truck on pit road lead to win

Ted Musgrave, his truck rejuvenated by a major suspension change at mid-race, ran down Bud Pole starter Brendan Gaughan with nine laps remaining to win Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway.

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Musgrave, who also won the race in 2001 and 2002, became the third driver in series history to win three consecutive times at the same track. The driver of the Mopar Performance Dodge, winless since June 21 at Memphis Motorsports Park, recorded his third victory of the season and 13th of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career.

The winning average speed, 145.926 mph, was a California Speedway race record, bettering the 144.260 posted in 2000 by Kurt Busch. The speed also was second fastest in series history.

Musgrave, who qualified 10th, went to the rear of the field at the start. His Gene Nead-headed crew made a major suspension adjustment -- moving the rear end assembly -- under the race's second caution at Lap 65.

The move turned out to be the race winner.

"He (Nead) knew by the tone of my voice that if I was demanding something big, he knew we were in trouble," said Musgrave.

	Musgrave gets the better of Brendan Gaughan to get the lead for the final time. Credit: Michelle Mecha/HSP

Musgrave came from 11th place on Lap 69 and took over second place on the 85th lap, 1.6 seconds behind Gaughan. The winning pass came at the start finish stripe on Lap 92.

Musgrave, who led 18 laps, failed to gain ground in the standings to Gaughan -- who got the 10 bonus points for heading 66 of 100 times around the 2.0-mile superspeedway.

Gaughan holds a 42 point lead over Travis Kvapil, who finished eighth, and 62 on Musgrave. There are six races remaining in the 2003 season.

Gaughan, who led three times, finished 2.158 seconds behind Musgrave. Dennis Setzer finished third. Outside polesitter Rick Crawford was fourth, followed by David Starr.

There were 10 lead changes among seven drivers. The race's two cautions consumed just eight laps.