Kevin Harvick came into Martinsville as the defending winner of the race and would start the Kroger 200 starting fourth, while it was fellow Chaser Kyle Busch, competing for the owner’s championship, would lead the field to the green flag. Points leader Todd Bodine, who qualified 24th, raced with a heavy heart on Saturday after his mother passed away Friday night. There were also four women taking the green flag at Martinsville. Joining regular Jennifer Jo Cobb was Johanna Long in the No. 20 Toyota starting 17th, and Derrick Cope’s twin nieces Angela and Amber Cope, who started 32nd and 34th respectively. Kyle Busch and Matt Crafton led the field to the green and it was Kevin Harvick who went to the outside and challenged the No. 88 for second after his teammate Ron Hornaday failed to make the move on the inside. Harvick and Crafton were beating and banging before Harvick was able to clear him on lap four. Hornaday would follow his owner by Crafton for third, as would Crafton’s Thor Motorsports teammate Johnny Sauter, sending the No. 88 back to fifth. Harvick caught Busch for the lead on lap seven, diving into the inside to try and take the top spot, which he did the following lap. Caution for the first time of the race came out on lap nine for Dennis Setzer who spun after contact with Matt Lofton. Before the yellow flag Sauter was able to take third from Hornaday. The Tide Ride of Harvick started on the inside and led the field back to the green on lap 15. Hornaday jumped to the inside ahead of Sauter to take back third while Busch and Harvick were side by side for the lead. Stuck on the outside, Hornaday took advantage and moved into second, and on lap 18 Sauter was able to get by him for third. Further in the pack Mike Skinner was looking to make a move on the inside of James Buescher as they raced for 11th, which he did on lap 25. The second caution of the race came out that same life for a spin by Cody Cambensy, making his first ever Camping World Truck Series start. Several cars further in the pack came down pit road under the yellow. The field once again went to green on lap 28, with the KHI trucks once again leading the way and Busch falling . On lap 37 Austin Dillon was right on the bumper of Justin Lofton as he tried to move into seventh. Further back a three wide race between the 12, 46 and another truck. Caution again came out for the No. 24 of Cambensy, who spun again after contact with Angela Cope. On lap 42 Harvick led several trucks down pit road, but that didn’t include Sauter who stayed on track. Todd Bodine won the race of off pit road after taking fuel only, followed by Timothy Peters, Aric Almirola and Harvick. On the lap 47 restart the top nine, led by Sauter, led the field to the green flag. Sauter easily cleared second place Ryan Sieg. Angela Cope spun around on lap 48 but was able to continue and the race stayed under green. Peters and B.J. McCloud battled for 10th just ahead of Harvick. By lap 57 Harvick had made his way to eighth while Bodine ran in the top five. Caution came out on lap 59 for another spin by Angela Cope in the No. 01 Charter Dodge, after contact with Clay Greenfield. Sauter led the field to the green on lap 63 while Bodine powered his way up to second. Behind them Hornaday and Harvick were also battling their way back up to the front as they moved into fifth and sixth. On lap 68, they each passed Almirola as did Busch. Harvick ran fourth to Hornaday but was all over the back bumper of the No. 33. Harvick had gotten by Hornaday by lap 80, and along with Busch all got by Peters for third, fourth and fifth. Crafton and Skinner had a great battle for ninth going on lap 83, but the No. 88 was able to clear the veteran the follow lap. Jennifer Jo Cobb blew a right front tire and hit the turn four wall on lap 85. She was able to get to pit road and the race stayed green. Bodine was slowly closing the gap between he and Sauter, and the gap was erased on lap 91 when Matt Lofton spun, and under the yellow several trucks came down pit road, handing the lead to Bodine. Bodine easily cleared Crafton on the lap 99 restart as Busch battled back in the pack on the outside and with new tires. Hornaday got into the No. 92 truck as the pair raced for position- the No. 33 was the highest running truck of those who came down pit road. After racing with Hornaday the No. 15 of Jason Bowles, ripping off a piece of his fender. On lap 107 Hornaday was fourth after passing Lofton. Meanwhile Crafton ran on the bumper of the leader Bodine while that No. 33 moved ahead of Skinner to move into third. Hornaday moved past Crafton for second and ran on the bumper of Bodine on lap 126 while the leader was in the midst of lap traffic. Harvick had made his way to eighth, and Crafton ran side by side with Busch on lap 128 for position. Hornaday got Bodine loose on lap 129 but was unable to take advantage and sneak into the top spot. Busch battled Sauter for third on lap 136 as Hornaday continued to stalk the race leader. The race for third heated up as Busch drove by the No. 13 on the inside on lap 140. With 51 laps remaining the sixth caution of the race came out for debris. Crafton, Sauter and Skinner were among those who came down pit road. Bodine and Hornaday were side by side on the lap 154 restart, with a great restart by the No. 30 but because he was on the outside Busch was able to make a run for the second. Harvick made contact with the No. 17 of Peters after hard racing between the two, and then Harvick began dropping through the field with a left rear flat. He spun on lap 157, as did the No. 13 of Sauter, which brought out the caution. Sauter spun after contact with the No. 31 of Buescher. Despite just being lapped by Bodine Harvick was not the lucky dog; that went to Dennis Setzer, who brought out the first caution of the race. The race once again restart with 37 remaining and trouble once again further in the pack with Peters spinning and then slamming into the wall. Peters spun when Dillon and Stacy Compton were three wide and the No. 3 and No. 17 made contact, sending him around. Harvick ran 25th, a lap down to the leaders. While the race was under the red flag NASCAR warned Bodine and company about their slow restart, saying if it happened again Bodine could be black flagged. Bodine and Busch were side by side when the green flag came back out with 27 to go. Busch and Bodine made contact and Horn was right behind them for third, with White and Almirola right behind them! Busch cleared Bodine using that inside line with 24 to go and Hornaday muscled his way to the inside of Bodine, taking second. Busch and Hornaday had a bit of a gap on the field with 21 laps remaining as the No. 33 remained on the leader’s bumper. With 19 laps to go the No. 3 of Dillon brought out the ninth caution of the race when he spun while running 12th. Sauter was black flagged when the field restarted with 13 laps to go for debris hanging off his car while Hornaday ran on the bumper of Busch. The No. 7 of Lofton was brake checked by Sauter and ran into the back of him, sending him spinning. Behind them, Harvick and Johanna Long were also caught up in an incident. With five laps to go the field once again went back to green and on the outside Hornaday was ready for Busch and the pair ran side by side with Hornaday edging past Busch for the lead. He was able to clear him with four laps to go just as the caution came out once again for Cody Cambensy. The caution set up for a green white checkered. Hornaday and Busch led the field to the green for the first of a possible three GWC attempts. The No. 33 got a solid start and never looked back, winning his first ever race at Martinsville Speedway. Busch, Bodine, White and Almirola finished out the top five of the Kroger 200. “Butch and I worked together at RCR [Richard Childress Racing],” Hornaday said. “We worked together at KHI. He left for a little bit. He came back, and we’re just jelling. The truck unloaded just unbelievable.”
Thanks to Scene Daily and NASCAR on SPEED for the information and quote used in this piece.
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