LOUDON, N.H. — Kyle Busch held off Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Busch had just enough fuel to survive, running out of gas as he made his way to Victory Lane. The NASCAR star has now won a Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck race at the 1.058-mile oval.
The real intrigue came behind Busch, where series leader Hornaday spent the last 50 laps battling with Harvick, his boss.
Harvick appeared to be agitated that Hornaday would not let him pass, at one point bumping into the back of Hornaday under caution.
Hornaday finished second to extend his lead in the season points race to 217 over Matt Crafton.
Immediately after the race, Harvick, who owns Hornaday's No. 33 Chevrolet, stomped over to Hornaday's truck and exchanged a few words with his friend and employee.
"It was poor communication," Harvick said. "I felt like we had the two best trucks today."
Maybe, but Busch was able to stretch his fuel at the end of the race. Crew chief Richie Wauters estimated Busch would be five laps short,but Busch managed to save enough on the final stages to win his third consecutive truck start.
"They kept telling me we were five short, but we heldout," Busch said.
The gamble to try and make it on fuel paid off when Hornaday took too much fuel during his last pit stop, allowing Busch to grab the lead.
"I think we had a 5-second stop, and it was maybe half a second too many," Hornaday said.
The fuel might turn out to be the least of Hornaday's problems.
He and Harvick, making a rare truck appearance, were dominant for most of the 200-lap race. They raced side-byside for a stretch while Busch battled a wobbly right front tire.
When Busch took the lead following the final pit stops from Harvick and Hornaday, it appeared Harvick wanted Hornaday to let him slide by so he could go catch Busch.
It never happened.
Several times Harvick appeared to get a decent run on Hornaday and each time Hornaday refused to budge, leaving Harvick screaming into the radio about a lack of communication between the teammates.
"It was a good day until after the race," Hornaday said.
The fireworks between Hornaday and Crafton that highlighted last week's race at Gateway never materialized. Crafton finished fourth but never challenged for the lead, though he did have a brief run-in with Harvick, who gave Crafton a little tap early in the race.
Sports, Pages 27 on 09/20/2009