Auto racing: Big day for Hornaday
Ron Hornaday Jr. got a victory and a little breathing room Saturday in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship duel with Mike Skinner.
It was no contest on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Speedway oval in Loudon, N.H., as the two-time series champion led 174 of the 200 laps in the New Hampshire 200 on the way to his fourth victory of the season and the 33rd of his career.
Rain washed out qualifying earlier Saturday and the field was set by points, with Hornaday and Skinner starting from the front row.
Hornaday dominated early and then turned it into a runaway late in the race as runner-up Erik Darnell, Skinner and reigning series champion Todd Bodine battled for position behind him.
Skinner, who wound up third, came into the race trailing Hornaday by four points and left 29 behind with seven events remaining. Bodine finished fourth, followed by Mike Bliss, Rick Crawford, Ted Musgrave and Johnny Benson, who came into this race with two straight victories.
In 18 races this season, Hornaday has finished as low as 11th once. In the last five races, he now has two wins, two seconds and a sixth.
“We’ve got to do it,” he said. “If we don’t, Skinner will.
“This is the same truck we finished second with three times and we finally got a win,” added Hornaday, who drives a Chevrolet for Kevin and DeLana Harvick. “It was just unbelievable today.”
Skinner agreed.
“We just flat out got our butts whipped today,” Skinner said. “Ronnie put on a clinic today. It was a good race – a little boring. That No. 33 (Hornaday) led too much.”
Formula One
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, edging teammate Felipe Massa for the first Ferrari front row of the season.
No appeal for McLaren
The head of McLaren wants to accept the record $100 million fine and suspension from the team championships if it means ending the Formula One spy scandal.
McLaren chief Ron Dennis also said he won’t take action against team driver Fernando Alonso. An outburst and threat from the world champion led to the widening of the scandal and the biggest penalty in the history of the sport.
NHRA
Todd Hoerner finished 23rd Friday and failed to advance in the Pro Stock division at the NHRA-O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals in Millington, Tenn.