CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

• Hornaday looking for first win at Las Vegas

  
  

  Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Saturday, September 26. Race: Las Vegas 250. Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start Time: 9:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 146. Miles: 219 (350 kilometers). Defending Winner: Mike Skinner. Television: SpeedChannel. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

  Ron Hornaday Jr.'s quest for a record-fourth Camping World Truck Series championship got a boost last Saturday at New Hampshire. Hornaday finished second to Kyle Busch and padded his lead to 217 points over Matt Crafton with six races remaining in the season. Crafton finished fourth.

  While Busch went to Victory Lane, Hornaday and his team owner Kevin Harvick quarreled on pit road when Harvick felt poor team communication cost them a possible victory.

  During the final 50 laps, Harvick made numerous attempts to pass Hornaday for position, but Hornaday would not allow him to get around -- which apparently upset Harvick.

  Hornaday felt he didn't make any mistakes while racing his boss.

  Now that the dust has settled at Kevin Harvick Inc., Hornaday is looking forward to Saturday's race at Las Vegas. Hornaday holds the series record for career victories with 45, but has yet to win at 1.5-mile oval in the desert.

  "I have come really close to winning at Vegas," Hornaday said. "This year, we have a really good shot at it. We have run pretty well at the 1.5-mile tracks. I'm really excited to get back there.

  This has sort of been the year of marking tracks off my list. I was finally able to win at Kentucky and Nashville earlier this year." Three of the remaining six races this season are on intermediate (1.5-mile) tracks -- Las Vegas, Texas and Homestead.

  Hornaday has scored six top-10 finishes in eight races at Las Vegas, with a best finish of second coming there in 1998, the year he won his second series title. He finished fifth in last year's race.

  Mike Skinner is the defending race winner. Skinner, with three victories to his credit this year, is third in the championship standings, 246 points behind Hornaday, but only 26 in back of Crafton.

  Thirty-two teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Las Vegas 350, four short of a full field.

  Aric Almirola is scheduled to drive the No.51 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota this week. Busch has driven the No.51 truck into Victory Lane five times so far this year. Almirola finished a career-best second earlier this month at Iowa.

  09/25 14:38:07 ET