Chaffin gets first career Truck Series victory

Chad Chaffin, aided by an extra, mid-race pit stop to check for a possible flat front tire, wound up with the lead when the remainder of the field pitted under green then out-muscled Rick Crawford to win Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series MBNA America 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Chaffin, who was able to stretch his pit window until a timely caution flag flew on lap 152, inherited the lead from Bud Pole starter Carl Edwards, who wound up losing a lap on pit road when his No. 99 Superchips Ford ran out of gas and stalled.

That left Chaffin's No. 18 Dickies Dodge in the lead when racing resumed. He held a 1.9-second advantage over Crawford's No. 14 Sears Ford when the final yellow flew with 10 laps remaining for Ken Weaver's frontstretch accident.

There were four laps left when the 200-mile race resumed for the final time. Crawford got to within a few feet on the winner's rear bumper but trailed by a little more than a third of a second at the checkered flag.

The victory was the first in the series by Chaffin, who three times had finished second - most recently at Michigan International Speedway in 2003. He won $55,260, completing the 200-lap distance at an average speed of 98.996 mph.

Chaffin is the year's sixth consecutive different winner -- setting a record for the most different winners to start a season.

Hank Parker Jr., Mike Skinner and Ken Schrader completed the top five, followed by Dave Blaney, Andy Houston, David Starr, Jack Sprague and Jon Wood. Dennis Setzer, who finished 18th, retained the series points lead by 20 over Edwards while Crawford remains third.