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Tracking the Trucks: 2009 Copart 200 at Milwaukee

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In a Nutshell: Ron Hornaday Jr. took the checkered flag 1.039 seconds ahead of Dennis Setzer to win the rain delayed Copart 200 Saturday afternoon (June 20) at the Milwaukee Mile. Hornaday held onto the lead on the final restart with just eight laps remaining to score his 41st career victory. Brian Scott, Todd Bodine and James Buescher rounded out the top five.

Who Should Have Won: Hornaday Jr. When the No. 33 team unloaded their truck, they struggled with their setup, but major changes made Friday (June 19) turned the Copart Chevrolet into the strongest truck on the track. In a field set by owner points, Hornaday Jr. started third but wasted little time getting to the front of the field and pulling out to as much as a six-second lead at points during the race. Hornaday Jr. went on to lead 180 of 200 laps on the way to his second win on his birthday.

Questions You Should Be Asking After the Race

1. How did Terry Cook fare in his 300th series start?

The Copart 200 marked Terry Cook‘s 300th career Camping World Truck Series start Saturday afternoon. Cook started eighth because rain forced the field to be set by owner points.

For the majority of the race, he struggled with a truck setup that was all wrong for racing under the sun. Throughout the afternoon, the No. 25 team threw major changes at the truck and those changes seemed to finally pay off in the final run to the finish. But it was too late for Cook to take advantage of the improvements, and he ended up with a 10th-place finish.

All in all, a 10th-place finish with the truck in one piece is certainly not a bad day considering the condition the truck was in when the green flag flew. Cook most likely would have been much happier with a win, but his 109th career top-10 finish could have been much worse after the way his day started.

2. How did Brian Scott fare with a broken wrist?

Last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Scott was involved in an accident with Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Buescher inside the first 10 laps of racing. At the time, Scott remarked on his radio about how hard of a hit he took and the impact of that hit became apparent when the 21-year-old found out he had broken his wrist.

See also
Tracking the Trucks: 2009 Michigan 200

With a cast on his right arm, the No. 16 team made adjustments to the steering wheel and the shifter to allow him as much comfort behind the wheel as possible, but the 2005 series champion Ted Musgrave was on standby just in case Scott was unable to finish the race.

After starting 12th, he worked his way into the top 10 and managed to remain there for the majority of the day. By lap 67, the driver of the No. 16 Albertsons Toyota was complaining of a very sore wrist but managed to hang in the truck for the entire race on his way to a third-place finish.

Scott has a lot to be proud of after his performance in the Copart 200. Despite the pain in his wrist, he remained in the truck for the entire 200 miles and managed to score his fifth career top-five finish in the process.

Truck Rookie Report
2009 Rookie of the Year Candidates:
Chase Austin (No. 32 – on hold due to funding)
James Buescher (No. 10)
Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 – part-time shared ride)
JR Fitzpatrick (No. 4 – part-time shared ride)
Tayler Malsam (No. 81)
Johnny Sauter (No. 13)

No. of Rookies in the Race: 5
No. of Rookies to Finish in the Top 10: 2; Buescher, finished fifth; Malsam, finished seventh
Raybestos Rookie of the Race: Buescher, finished fifth

Worth Noting/Points Shuffle

The Copart 200 marked the 100th Camping World Truck Series start for Wyler Racing’s No. 60 Toyota. Stacy Compton scored the 38th top-10 finish for the team after finishing sixth Saturday afternoon.

Hornaday Jr. dedicated his 41st career win to his wife’s mother who has been in the hospital all week.

Hornaday Jr. moved up one spot and now leads the championship standings by 36 points over Matt Crafton who dropped one spot. Bodine’s third-place finish allowed him to move up one spot, dropping Mike Skinner back to fourth. David Starr moved up one spot and rounds out the top five.

Malsam’s fifth top-10 finish of the season moved him up two spots in the standings to sixth, and he currently finds himself just 14 points outside the top five in his rookie season. Scott, who sits just 10 points behind Malsam, moved up four spots to seventh. Cook, Rick Crawford and Setzer, who moved up four positions, round out the top 10.

Quotable

“I hate to tell you, but I don’t think the truck was that good. I think we were just that much better than everyone else. We had a little bit left if he (Dennis Setzer) got up there. We were terrible yesterday and made some major changes. I guess it paid off this time.” – Ron Hornaday Jr.

“We started 21st because of rained out qualifying. These guys just kept making adjustments all day. We got some great fuel mileage on this Chevrolet today.” – Dennis Setzer, finished second

Up Next: The Camping World Truck Series heads to Memphis Motorsports Park next Saturday (June 27) for the Memphis 200. In 2008, Hornaday took the checkered flag just ahead of Erik Darnell when a late-race red flag forced a green-white-checkered finish. Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. ET; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate.

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