Hornaday clinches fourth title; Harvick claims the win

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kevin Harvick held off Kyle Busch to take the checkered flag in Friday night's Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, but the big winner was Ron Hornaday, who secured his record fourth Truck Series championship with a fourth-place finish at the 1-mile track, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet owned by Harvick.

The 51-year-old Hornaday became the oldest champion in NASCAR history and celebrated with his owner by lining up side-by-side at the finish line for a simultaneous burnout.

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Truck Series

Standings

Pos.	Driver	Behind
1.	Ron Hornaday	--
2.	Matt Crafton	-215
3.	Mike Skinner	-365
4.	Todd Bodine	-540
5.	Johnny Sauter	-624

• Complete Standings

Lucas Oil 150

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
2.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
3.	Aric Almirola	Toyota
4.	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet
5.	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet

• Results | Photos

Race Video

• Hornaday, Ren on title
• Victory Lane: Harvick
• Post-Race Reactions
• Final Laps: KHI capper
• Hornaday has pit miscue
• Harvick spins out early

"To see Hornaday lock up the championship and to win the race, I don't know if you can script it much better," Harvick said.

Harvick won the race despite bringing out the first caution, on Lap 6, with a spin off Turn 4. Hornaday overcame an early penalty to claim the series title by finishing ahead of Matt Crafton, the only driver with an outside chance to overtake him. Crafton came home eighth and heads to the final event at Homestead-Miami Speedway locked into second in the series standings.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race one lap past its scheduled distance of 150 laps, Harvick won the race under caution after Tayler Malsam wrecked on the final lap. Aric Almirola was third, followed by Hornaday and pole-sitter Johnny Sauter.

Harvick hit a slick spot of oil on Lap 6, slid up the track into Almirola's Toyota and spun toward the infield, but neither truck lost a lap because of the accident.

In fact, Almirola passed Busch for the lead on Lap 44 and stretched his advantage to 3.3 seconds by Lap 65. Harvick was running third by then, having changed tires on Lap 35, under caution for Brad Sweet's spin in Turn 3.

Hornaday drew a penalty for improper fueling under caution on Lap 35, when the fuel filler can was inserted into the receptacle on the car before the catch can was in place. Faced with restarting from the rear of the field, Hornaday returned to pit road for tires and gradually worked his way through the field.

"I was sweating real bad," Hornaday admitted. "To come home in the top five, that's what we needed to do."

By Lap 81, Hornaday was 12th, seven positions behind Crafton, who had not stopped for tires. Hornaday passed Crafton in the pits on Lap 92 -- under caution called when Wheeler Boys slowed on the backstretch -- after Crafton was forced to retrieve a dropped lug nut.

Hornaday restarted seventh on Lap 96 and quickly gained two positions, while Crafton remained mired in ninth place until he slipped past David Starr for eighth on Lap 107.

The owners' title is still up for grabs as Kevin Harvick Inc. holds a 60-point lead over Billy Ballew.

"We're not done yet," Hornaday said as soon as he climbed from his truck. "We've got to get that owners' championship for Kevin and DeLana."

Busch, who had his streak of five wins in his past five starts come to an end, drives for free for Ballew as a favor to help the fledgling owner, who first entered Trucks in 1996, its second season.

"We're racing Kyle Busch for owners' points and that's truly the goal," said Hornaday, who won drivers' championships in 1996, '98 and 2007.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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