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Saturday, July 14 Riggs notches third victory of season Associated Press SPARTA, Ky. -- Scott Riggs knew he'd need a little luck to pick up his third victory of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway. He got the break he was looking for with nine laps remaining, shooting past Jack Sprague's wounded truck on the way to winning the Kroger 225 and retaining the series points lead. "I didn't know what happened to Jack when he slowed down so dramatically, but I was lucky enough to realize it and dart around him," said Riggs, who led 33 laps and earned $74,035. "This is a pretty special win for this team in its 150th start." The victory extended Riggs' lead in the standings to 59 points over second-place finisher Joe Ruttman and 105 points over Sprague, who finished third. Sprague, who traded the lead back-and-forth with Ted Musgrave for the first 110 laps, passed Riggs to regain the lead for the fifth time on lap 140 but fell back to second on the following lap when his truck dropped a cylinder. The result was similar to the previous week's race at Kansas Speedway, when Sprague had the dominant truck and led late but blew his engine to finish a disappointing 23rd. "I've been so disgusted lately, but there's no sense pointing fingers," the two-time series champion said. "At least we were able to finish. "When the bad luck stops, we'll get our share of wins. Mr. Riggs just got a Christmas present." With his third-place finish, Sprague earned $37,415 to become the first driver in series history to reach $4 million in earnings. Travis Kvapil, who started in 18th position, finished fourth. Dennis Setzer was fifth, and Ricky Hendrick, who started on the outside of the front row and last week became the youngest winner in series history, finished sixth. Sprague and Musgrave dominated the competition for the first two-thirds of the race, leaving the rest of the 36-truck field more than five seconds behind and struggling to catch up. "Early on, Teddy was giving me a run for my money," Sprague said. "He'd lead, then I'd lead. I'd lead, then he'd lead. It looked like it was going to be just the two of us." Following a handful of short caution periods and a series of pit stops, Musgrave retook the lead on lap 118 only to be bumped into the wall while trying to pass Matt Crafton on the outside. Riggs, in the No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge, took the lead at that point, followed by Sprague and Randy Tolsma. When Ruttman, who had been lurking several positions back, saw Sprague regain the lead and then falter, he knew he also had a chance at the checkered flag. "It's like a shark that smells blood," Ruttman said. "I sensed he was hurt and I attacked." Lance Norick made contact with the wall with six laps to go, forcing the seventh caution period of the night. The race went back to green with only three laps remaining, and Riggs held off Ruttman and Sprague following the restart. Musgrave, who came into the race with a series-leading four victories and the No. 4 position in the points standings, led 79 laps before hitting the wall. He finished 24th.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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