Setzer drives to victory

Dennis Setzer earned his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season and his 16th overall Friday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park at Clermont, Ind.

The 45-year-old Setzer dominated the Power Stroke Diesel 200, leading 177 of the 200 laps on the .068-mile oval. He finished 0.418 seconds ahead of rookie Todd Kluever’s Ford with an average speed of 84.910 mph.

Ron Hornaday Jr. was third, followed by Matt Crafton and Jimmy Spencer.

Rain washed out qualifying, and the starting positions were determined by owner points. Setzer, who came into the race leading second-place Ted Musgrave by 158 points, elected to start the race on the outside of the front row and immediately pulled away from Musgrave.

Early caution flags limited racing between the leaders and Setzer kept the lead until he went to the pits for the first time on the 134th lap, setting off a flurry of lead changes.

Brendan Gaughan held the lead for five laps before pitting. Chad Chaffin’s Toyota moved into first for seven laps before he had to pit, and Setzer regained the lead on the 148th lap.

The first caution came on the fourth lap when Brad Keselowski, Brad Whitt and Jack Bailey crashed on the backstretch, and the green flag didn’t come out until the 13th lap.

Local favorite John Andretti was in the top four before crashing on lap 25 and leaving the race. Racing resumed on the 29th lap, but the caution flag came out again five laps later when Bobby Hamilton’s Dodge crashed in the third turn.

After that, racing continued until lap 171, when Deborah Renshaw spun in the second turn. Setzer, who was leading by more than 9 seconds at the time, decided to pit again during the caution and Spencer became the race’s fourth leader.

Setzer regained the lead with eight laps to go and withstood challenges from Spencer and Kluever.

The victory extended Setzer’s lead in the points race to 227, the largest by a leader since 2000. Hamilton, the defending champion, finished 11th and is third in the point standings.

Only six cars were on the lead lap when the race ended, the fewest at the track. The previous low was nine in 1999.

Rain washes out track activity at Indianapolis

Rain washed out all track activity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, disrupting race preparations for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Today is a full day, with two early-morning practices followed by an afternoon qualifying session. NASCAR will then impound the cars and not allow them to be worked on before Sunday’s race.

Few drivers seemed bothered by the change.

“We’re going to get plenty of practice in tomorrow, so it’s fine,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “So all it does is give us plenty of rest.”

Asked what he did to pass his time all day, Earnhardt didn’t hesitate: “EA Sports came out with NCAA 2006,” he said, adding that he played the football video game all day.

But he and the 52 other drivers trying to make the field could have used the track time on the famed 2.5-mile oval. The track has been repaved since the last time NASCAR raced here, and many teams used one of their allotted test sessions here last month to feel out the surface.

McMurray, Kenseth still feud

The feud between Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth has still not been resolved three weeks after their accident in New Hampshire.

McMurray believes Kenseth intentionally wrecked him during the race July 17, and refused to call him back when Kenseth phoned the next day to discuss it. McMurray said he hoped to clear the air between the two of them this weekend.

“It’s gotten out of hand,” he said. “I need to go find Matt this weekend. Maybe tonight will be the night to go and discuss it with him and get it all worked out. It doesn’t do any good to let it go on.”