Hornaday leaves Las Vegas with a smaller lead in NASCAR Truck Series standings

Ron Hornaday Jr. saw his lead in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series trimmed a bit in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Hornaday finished sixth in the Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Matt Crafton, the second-place driver in the Truck Series standings, finished second at Las Vegas and closed the gap by 20 points for the lead.
“It was a really good run for the Copart Chevrolet,” said Hornaday after the race. “I felt like our truck was better than where we finished. It is just so tough to make the call in these races with this new pit (road) strategy. Our truck just ended up too tight on that last run to compete with those guys. I’m really happy for Johnny (Sauter) to get his first Truck Series win. It’s really cool to see all these young kids come into our series and make a name for themselves. We have a nice little break coming up here and then we will head to Martinsville (Speedway) and see what we can do with them there.”
Johnny Sauter, Crafton’s teammate at ThosSport Racing, won the first Truck Series race of his career. Sauter, considered a rookie in the Truck Series despite three wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, became the first rookie to win a Truck Series race since Scott Speed did it on May 30, 2008, at Dover International Speedway in Delaware.
“It’s unbelievable, man,” Sauter said. “This is a big deal for me. Last year at this time, all I was doing was start-and-parks in the Nationwide Series. We’ve had speed all year, but we haven’t been able to close the deal. Our truck has been phenomenal for the last two months.”
Hornaday, winner of a Truck Series best six races, has a 197-point lead over Crafton in the Truck Series standings. There are five races remaining in the Truck Series season. Hornaday is in search of his fourth Truck Series championship.
“It was a decent points day, but the thing that makes me happy is finishing 1-2 for Duke and Rhonda Thorson,” Crafton said. “It's the first time we've finished 1-2.”

Photo: Johnny Sauter celebrates his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images)