DARLINGTON, S.C. – Four years ago, Ted Musgrave found himself behind the leader late in a race at the treacherous Darlington Raceway. That day, he ended up second to Dale Jarrett.
Friday, Musgrave was in a similar position, trailing leader Robert Pressley in the Craftsman Anniversary 200. This time, though, Musgrave went to victory lane, making an aggressive move on Pressley with 12 laps to go to get the lead.
“That’s the only thing you can do,” Musgrave said. “If you’re going to follow, you’re never going to win. You’ve got to make it happen. I’ve seen a lot of great race-car drivers. That’s what they’ve got to do. They’ve got to make it happen when it’s not there for them.”
Pressley recovered to finish second, with Mike Bliss third, Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick fourth and Rick Crawford fifth. David Starr was sixth, followed by Travis Kvapil, Brian Rose, Jon Wood and Ken Schrader.
Nine cautions made for a disjointed race, as drivers could get in a long green-flag run to sort out their trucks. Once Musgrave got the lead, all that seemed to slow him down was yellow flags. He led five times for 97 laps, the most of any driver.
Under a yellow on Lap 103, Pressley got the lead with a fast pit stop, with Musgrave restarting second after attempting to make some repairs to the truck’s body. Musgrave could close on Pressley but his truck was a handful whenever he tried to take the lead.
The race restarted for the final time with 27 laps to go. Musgrave moved in again but bounced off the wall in Turn 4 when Pressley blocked a pass attempt.
With darkness descending on the track, four trucks battled for the victory. Pressley was chased by Musgrave, Harvick and Bliss, all of whom were within a few truck lengths of each other.
Finally, with 12 laps to go, Musgrave made his move. Pressley went underneath the lapped truck of Steve Portenga in Turn 3, but Musgrave somehow found room on the outside. Musgrave scraped the wall, sliding off Turn 4 to pin Pressley to the low side and grab the lead at the finish line.
“We tore the left-front fender up in lapped traffic there leading the race,” Musgrave said. “I had a very, very bad aero push behind Robert there. I said, ‘Well, OK, my truck’s not as good as his. We’re just going to have to make it three-wide, bounce it off the wall.’ I don’t care if I had to jump over people, I was going to get to the front.”
The pass sure impressed Musgrave’s owner.
“That was the greatest pass I’ve ever seen,” Jim Smith said. “They were three abreast, and this poor old truck had the front end torn up. … I knew if the opportunity was right, Ted’s desire is bigger than anything.”
Musgrave slipped a few truck lengths ahead, but Pressley got close, especially coming to the white flag. As two trucks tangled in Turn 3, Pressley tried to make an inside move. But Musgrave made it through to claim his eighth career NCTS victory.
“The Bobby Hamilton crew got us out first there,” Pressley said. “Track position was everything. I got up there and was kind if sitting there. We knew if we won it or lost it, it was going to be in traffic. I went off in 3, made the won move, and Ted went by me on the outside. When I got behind him, I was as bad behind him as he was behind me.”
NASCAR’s new pit-road rules were in effect for the first time, with Bill Lester the first driver caught speeding exiting pit road. Lester, who was coming back to the track after spending time in the garage area because of accident, had to make a pass-through of the pits at the slow pit-road speed.
Lester then was hit with a stop-and-go penalty for going too fast on his pass-through.
Jonathon Price was taken to Carolinas Hospital System in nearby Florence, S.C., for X-rays after complaining of pain in his left ankle after a crash during the race.
The next NCTS race is April 13 at Martinsville Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts 250.
