NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Notes -- Sears DieHard 200
8 July 1997
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sears DieHard 200 Notes DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Wrapping up The Milwaukee Mile's Sears DieHard 200: - Ron Hornaday averaged a brisk, 105.665 mph to win the July 5 DieHard 200 at The Milwaukee Mile, setting a record for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series mile-track event. the previous fastest race, the April 20 Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic at Phoenix International Raceway, was won by Jack Sprague at 104.053. The race was the third-fastest run, to the June 6 Pronto Auto Pars 400 at Fort Worth (131.823) and Nov. 3, 1996 CarQuest Auto Parts 400 at Las Vegas (120.782). - The West Allis, Wis. event was virtually caution-free after the lap 101 break, with the next 91 serials run under the green flag. That's the longest stretch of uninterrupted competition since May 11, 1996, when the final 84 laps of the Jerr-Dan/Nelson Truck Equipment 200 ran green at Evergreen Speedway. - The 18 laps of caution matched the series superspeedway record (Phoenix, Feb. 5, 1995). Contrast that with the 1996 DieHard 200, which featured a then-superspeedway record 47 yellow flag laps. - The 10 lead changes at State Fair Park was a low for the event but still gives The Milwaukee Mile a three-race average of 13.0. The Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex is tops at 14.0 (two races). - Hornaday's winning pass of Sprague came with just under three laps of the 200 remaining. That was one lap earlier than the 1995 decider, when Mike Skinner passed Dennis Setzer. - Hornaday is the season's first three-time winner. The 39-year-old Palmdale, Calif. competitor's 13 career win total is just three off Skinner's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series record. "It if takes me 10 years to beat him, I'll do it," Hornaday told interviewers. - Wisconsin natives had a stellar day before Badger State fans. Jay Sauter, finished runnerup to Hornaday to enjoy his second-best finish of 1997, while Rich Bickle - who donned a "cheesehead" had during pre-race driver introductions - led 14 laps before claiming third place. "I've run a lot at Milwaukee and this is the third or fourth time we've finished second," noted Sauter,, whose GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet team won the race in 1995. "My dad (Jim) has won here and we were hoping to win here, but second's good for us." - Bickle, meanwhile, added five points to his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship lead over fourth-finishing Sprague, whose Quaker State Chevrolet won his fourth Busch Pole of the season at a record 119.178 mph and led 127 laps. The checkered flag couldn't have waved soon enough for Bickle's Sears DieHard Chevrolet, which ran on seven cylinders the final 60 laps. "We kept handling real good, but the engine starting popping and banging. I just wanted to finish the race," said Bickle. "This (finish under adversity) is what the championship's all about." - Mike Wallace's sixth-place finish in his debut in Ken Schrader Racing's Purolator PureOne Filters Chevrolet was the best since former driver Tobey Butler had the same placing Oct. 26, 1996 at Phoenix. The team's last top-five finish? Fifth, by Schrader, on Sept. 7, 1995 at Richmond. "We're just getting familiar with each other this weekend. This team will be able to get me in a position to win," said Wallace, who qualified fourth. - The DieHard 200 didn't affect placing of the top-three drivers in NCTS standings after 12 of 26 events. Bickle, Sprague and Joe Ruttman, but the remainder of the top-10 got a seismic jolt: Chuck Bown and Sauter stand fourth and fifth (from fifth and seventh); Mike Bliss and Kenny Irwin dipped to fifth and eighth (fourth and sixth); Hornaday advanced from 11th to seventh; Rick Carelli remains ninth; and Butch Miller slipped from eighth to 10th, replacing Dave Rezendes. - Ruttman's ninth-place finish upped his top-10 streak to seven, matching the 1997 season's longest run (by Sprague). By: NASCAR Public Relations
