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| | Saturday, February 26 | |||||
| Results
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Andy Houston overcame a pit-stop accident
to win the Florida Dodge Dealers 400 on Saturday, his first NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series victory since 1998.
Houston, who started third, had a near disastrous pit stop on
the 57th lap when miscommunication with crew chief Rick Ren led the
driver to believe the crew was changing two tires instead of four.
Houston drove away after the truck's right-side tires were
switched, brushing jack man Hugheston Caldwell to the ground.
Caldwell was not injured.
"I made some mistakes today and the pit stop was just my
fault," Houston said. "I hit my jack man and I'm sorry for that
and I apologize to him. I guess I just had to go on and win the
race.
"It worked out OK, but we sure didn't plan it that way. I knew
we had a good truck and the longer it went the better it go. I
started running those guys down before those last pit stops. We
just drove away."
Houston, whose last series win came Aug. 2, 1998, in New
Hampshire, took the lead for the final time on the 142nd lap around
the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway when the race leaders pitted.
The Chevrolet driver, who pitted for tires and fuel just eight
laps earlier, elected to remain on the track for the final 25 laps.
Four rivals gave chase, but Houston gradually pulled away, beating
Daytona 250 winner Mike Wallace's Ford by 4.505 seconds.
Houston's second career victory, worth $49,869, gave Chevrolet
its 75th win on the series. He averaged a record 129.755 mph for
the 250.5 miles in the race slowed by just two caution periods that
totaled 11 laps.
Defending series champion Jack Sprague, who finished among the
top five in three of the past four events at the speedway, was
third in a Chevy.
Pole starter Joe Ruttman, who led the first 23 laps in his
Dodge, settled for fourth. Greg Biffle, who surrendered the lead to
Houston during the final caution, finished fifth.
Randy Tolsma, Rick Crawford, Terry Cook, rookie Kurt Busch and
Marty Houston, the winner's older brother, completed the top 10.
| AUDIO/VIDEO   Andy Houston just wanted to get out in front and let his truck run.wav: 129 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6  | |||||