Hornaday gets fourth truck victory of season

Ron Hornaday raced to his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck victory of the season and record 37th overall, holding off Dennis Setzer by 0.646 of a second Saturday in the Camping World 200 at Madison, Ill.

Hornaday, the defending series champion driving the No. 2 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc., led 113 of the 160 laps on the Gateway International oval.

Johnny Benson, the series leader and also a four-time winner this year, was third, followed by Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, Erik Darnell, Mike Skinner, Rick Crawford, Colin Braun and Ted Musgrave.

Benson has a 94-point lead over Hornaday, also the 1996 and 1998 series champion, in the season standings.

------

He’s the most accomplished driver in the NASCAR garage, but changes in the Sprint Cup Series have not been very kind to Jeff Gordon.

The four-time champion hasn’t won a title since NASCAR went to the 10-race playoff format five years ago, and he hasn’t won a race since the Car of Tomorrow became the car of today.

To secure his spot in this year’s Chase for the Cup, Gordon needs to finish 24th or better today at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, where weather postponed the race that will set the 12-driver field for the playoffs. Gordon is 10th in the standings, 102 points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan, heading into the Chevrolet 400.

Gordon showed up at Richmond and had the fastest car in practice Friday, but qualifying was rained out when Tropical Storm Hanna arrived, relegating him to the No. 10 starting spot.

“I was very happy with today because I feel like we’re really starting to get some things figured out,” Gordon said before Friday’s rainout.

------

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s championship leader, won the pole position for today’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.