1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race #6 - Yellow Freight 200

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series made their sixth stop of 1998 at the I-70 Speedway, in Odessa, Missouri, for the Yellow Freight 200.

Tony Raines would lead the field to the Green Flag and he would quickly began to separate himself from the rest of the drivers as a cool day would lead to drivers keeping their minds focused on the track, giving each other room as only one caution would fly during the entire race. Despite leading up until the round of pit stops, Raines didn't really pull away from his challengers, as his lead would always maintain at two seconds, as Ron Hornaday Jr. would lead during the pit stops, but Raines would quickly take it back two laps later.

Back out in front, Raines set sail, lapping all but five drivers, using lap traffic to slow down a hard charging Jack Sprague, and would lead all but two laps on his way to his first career NASCAR win.

Other Noticeables:
Tony Raines won his 1st race of the year,
Raines led 2 times for 198 laps, including the final 28 laps,
It was the 1st win of his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in his 30th start,
Mike Garvey, who finished 12th, made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut,
Jack Sprague, who finished 2nd, became the new points leader, leading Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ron Barfield Jr. by 4 points

1.19-Tony Raines (198 laps led)
2.24-Jack Sprague
3.2-Mike Bliss
4.16-Ron Hornaday Jr. (2 laps led)
5.66-Bryan Reffner
6.31-Tony Roper
7.99-Joe Ruttman-1 lap
8.35-Ron Barfield Jr.-1 lap
9.86-Stacy Compton-1 lap
10.37-Scot Walters-1 lap
11.60-Andy Houston-1 lap
12.68-Mike Garvey-1 lap
13.18-Butch Miller-1 lap
14.52-Mike Wallace-1 lap
15.84-Wayne Anderson-1 lap
16.61-Randy Tolsma-1 lap
17.51-Tammy Jo Kirk-2 laps
18.57-Chuck Bown-2 laps
19.9-David Starr-2 laps
20.3-Jay Sauter-2 laps
21.43-Jimmy Hensley-2 laps
22.29-Bob Keselowski-2 laps
23.90-Lance Norick-2 laps
24.10-Lonnie Rush Jr.-2 laps
25.75-Kevin Harvick-3 laps
26.14-Rick Crawford-3 laps
27.50-Greg Biffle-3 laps
28.88-Terry Cook-3 laps
29.78-Dominic Dobson-3 laps
30.55-Dennis Setzer-4 laps
31.44-Boris Said-4 laps
32.6-Rick Carelli-5 laps

Tony Raines-1-120
Ron Hornaday Jr.-121-122
Tony Raines-123-200

2 Lead Changes among 2 drivers

Caution Flags: 1 for 5 laps
Lap 46 (Truck #55 Spin Turn 2)

Margin of Victory: 0.954 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes and 58 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 7th race of the season the Parts America 150 at Watkins Glen International.

Joe Ruttman won the pole, with a time of 90.551 seconds, beating Boris Said by 0.349 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Joe Ruttman won his 1st pole of the year,
Ruttman won the 7th pole of his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his first since 1996 at Las Vegas; 33 races ago,
Ron Fellows, the winner of this race one year ago, will be starting 33rd,
Jack Sprague, who will start 8th, has a 4 point lead over Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ron Barfield Jr.

1.99-Joe Ruttman
2.44-Boris Said
3.98-Rob Rizzo
4.16-Ron Hornaday Jr.
5.3-Jay Sauter
6.52-Mike Wallace
7.86-Stacy Compton
8.24-Jack Sprague
9.2-Mike Bliss
10.28-Mark Simo
11.06-Randy MacDonald
12.55-Dorsey Schroeder
13.50-Greg Biffle
14.90-Lance Norick
15.61-Randy Tolsma
16.66-Bryan Reffner
17.7-Barry Bodine
18.88-Terry Cook
19.35-Ron Barfield Jr.
20.6-Rick Carelli
21.43-Jimmy Hensley
22.57-Chuck Bown
23.84-Wayne Anderson
24.14-Rick Crawford
25.19-Tony Raines
26.37-Scot Walters
27.60-Andy Houston
28.75-Kevin Harvick
29.29-Bob Keselowski
30.18-Butch Miller
31.15-Rob Morgan
32.31-Tony Roper
33.48-Ron Fellows
34.78-Dominic Dobson

Did Not Qualify
35.00-Ryan McGlynn
36.10-Lonnie Rush Jr.
37.13-Mike Hope
38.26-Doug George
39.40-Mike Ewanitsko
40.82-Randy Nelson

Race #7 - Parts America 150

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series made their seventh stop of 1998 at Watkins Glen International, in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Parts America 150.

Joe Ruttman would lead the field to the Green Flag and he would quickly began to separate himself from the rest of the field as for the first time in 1998, drivers raced at a road course which resulted in many cautions and battling for position. Due to all the cautions, many drivers were on different pit strategies, splitting up the running order as Randy MacDonald, Mike Bliss and points leader Jack Sprague all led while moving up the field was Ron Hornaday Jr. Having been involved in a earlier caution Hornaday was able to make a pit stop early, get fresh tires and was able to take the lead with fourteen laps to go.

Thanks to two more cautions coming out, Hornaday was able to keep his championship rival behind him for the remaining laps to score his first win of the 1998 season.

Other Noticeables:
Ron Hornaday Jr. won his 1st race of the year,
Hornaday Jr. led 1 time for 14 laps, which were the final 14 laps,
It was the 7th win of his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his first since 1997 at Flemington; 16 races ago,
Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished 1st, became the new points leader, leading Jack Sprague by 6 points

1.16-Ron Hornaday Jr. (14 laps led)
2.24-Jack Sprague (3 laps led)
3.61-Randy Tolsma
4.18-Butch Miller
5.99-Joe Ruttman (24 laps led)
6.06-Randy MacDonald (4 laps led)
7.2-Mike Bliss (13 laps led)
8.44-Boris Said
9.98-Rob Rizzo
10.90-Lance Norick
11.55-Dorsey Schroeder
12.15-Rob Morgan
13.66-Bryan Reffner
14.86-Stacy Compton
15.19-Tony Raines
16.14-Rick Crawford
17.35-Ron Barfield Jr.
18.88-Terry Cook
19.6-Rick Carelli
20.84-Wayne Anderson
21.78-Dominic Dobson
22.52-Mike Wallace-1 lap
23.60-Andy Houston-1 lap
24.37-Scot Walters-1 lap
25.29-Bob Keselowski-1 lap
26.48-Ron Fellows-2 laps
27.75-Kevin Harvick-2 laps
28.31-Tony Roper-2 laps
29.3-Jay Sauter-9 laps (Camshaft) (7 laps led)
30.28-Mark Simo-11 laps (Tire)
31.57-Chuck Bown-27 laps (Accident)
32.7-Barry Bodine-34 laps (Accident)
33.50-Greg Biffle-46 laps (Accident)
34.43-Jimmy Hensley-48 laps (Accident)

Joe Ruttman-1-24
Jay Sauter-25-31
Randy MacDonald-32-35
Mike Bliss-36-48
Jack Sprague-49-51
Ron Hornaday Jr.-52-65

5 Lead Changes among 6 drivers

Caution Flags: 10 for 20 laps
Lap 1 (Trucks #90, 88, 84, 57, 18 and 31 Accident Inner Loop),
Lap 12 (Truck #98 Spin Inner Loop),
Lap 16 (Trucks #18, 50, 35, 88, 43, 84, 6 and 15 Accident Inner Loop),
Lap 23 (Truck #14 Spin Inner Loop),
Lap 27 (Trucks #99, 6, 44, 06, 35, 29, 2, 37 and 31 Accident Inner Loop),
Lap 30 (Truck #7 Inner Loop),
Lap 38 (Trucks #16, 99, 28, 88, 57, 52 and 29 Accident Inner Loop),
Lap 46 (Trucks #84 and 15 Spin Inner Loop),
Lap 52 (Trucks #37 and 88 Spin Inner Loop),
Lap 55 (Truck #88 Spin Inner Loop)

Margin of Victory: 5.566 Seconds

Time of Race: 2 Hours, 42 Minutes and 16 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 8th race of the season the Pronto Auto Parts 400K at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Tony Raines won the pole, with a time of 34.969 seconds, beating Kevin Harvick by 0.037 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Tony Raines won his 2nd pole of the year,
Raines won the 4th pole of his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his first since I-70; 2 races ago,
Chuck Bown, the winner of this race one year ago, is not entered in this event,
Ron Hornaday Jr., who will start 33rd, has a 6 point lead over Jack Sprague

1.19-Tony Raines
2.75-Kevin Harvick
3.60-Andy Houston
4.43-Jimmy Hensley
5.61-Randy Tolsma
6.5-Dave Rezendes
7.99-Joe Ruttman
8.48-Ron Fellows
9.31-Tony Roper
10.88-Terry Cook
11.52-Mike Wallace
12.18-Butch Miller
13.24-Jack Sprague
14.14-Rick Crawford
15.6-Rick Carelli
16.55-Dennis Setzer
17.17-Toby Porter
18.86-Stacy Compton
19.3-Jay Sauter
20.84-Wayne Anderson
21.90-Lance Norick
22.51-Tammy Jo Kirk
23.78-Dominic Dobson
24.50-Greg Biffle
25.10-Lonnie Rush Jr.
26.29-Bob Keselowski
27.9-David Starr
28.37-Scot Walters
29.2-Mike Bliss
30.66-Bryan Reffner
31.26-Randy MacDonald
32.35-Ron Barfield Jr.
33.16-Ron Hornaday Jr.
34.82-Kenny Allen
35.44-Boris Said
36.57-Rob Morgan
37.85-B.A. Wilson
38.7-Barry Bodine

Did Not Qualify
39.33-Jay Stewart
40.58-Chris Horn
41.83-Joe Gaita
42.93-Doug George
43.98-Rob Rizzo