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Saturday, August 18
Riggs holds off upstart youngster
Associated Press

CICERO, Ill. -- Scott Riggs, who at best had a truck capable of finishing among the top five, outsmarted his rivals on pit road to win the Sears Craftsman 175 NASCAR truck series race Saturday at Chicago Motor Speedway.

Riggs, who eked out a 0.281-second victory over Dennis Setzer -- about a truck-length -- chose to take fuel only when he pitted his Dodge for the final time on the 147th of 175 laps. The move boosted Riggs from sixth to second behind leader Kyle Busch, who chose not to come down pit road.

"Tim Kohuth asked me if I needed tires and I told him no, just gas it and we'll go," Riggs said of the decision he made with his crew chief.

Busch, a 16-year-old Las Vegas high school junior bidding to become NASCAR's youngest national touring winner, ran out of gas on lap 163 as the field prepared to restart from the race's fifth caution.

That gave Riggs his season-leading fifth win of the season. The victory, worth $45,260, boosted him back into the series championship lead by a single point over previous leader and polesitter Joe Ruttman.

Ruttman, one of eight drivers to swap the lead 13 times, finished eighth. The points lead changed for the fourth time in as many races.

Riggs, who started 11th, became the first driver to win a race from a starting position outside the top 10 since Aug. 28, 1999, when Mike Bliss won from the 15th in Topeka, Kan. Riggs averaged a race record 92.511 mph.

Setzer had his Chevrolet right behind Riggs following the final restart with seven laps remaining. But the winner hung on.

"It was unfortunate, right there at the end we came in and put some tires on it and we needed a few laps to get them worked in," Setzer said.

Lance Norick finished a career-best third in his Chevy. Rookie Travis Kvapil was fourth in another Chevy, trailed by the Ford of Rick Crawford, who led a race high 60 laps.

Crawford took the position in photo finish over Terry Cook.

Ted Musgrave, Ruttman, Jack Sprague and Brendan Gaughan completed the top 10.

Ruttman, Sprague and Crawford exchanged the lead five times over the race's first 14 laps. Musgrave, who started fourth, took his Dodge to the front on the 15th circuit and held a lead of more than eight second leads when caution for Willy T. Ribbs' accident erased the advantage.

Sprague, whose Chevrolet also appeared strong, wrested the lead from Crawford on lap 85 but spun out moments later. His truck had rear-end damage after being tapped by Busch's Ford, and no longer was a factor.

Crawford and Setzer then engaged in a nose-to-tail battle, with Musgrave just behind, until lap 157, when Larry Gunselman hit the wall to bring out the fifth caution.

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	Sears Craftsman 175 results

	Sears Craftsman 175 16-year-old Kyle Busch runs out of fuel and loses the lead with 12 laps remaining. Real: 56.6 \| ISDN \| T1 Sears Craftsman 175 Scott Riggs takes the flag with ease as the rest of the pack battles for final position. Real: 56.6 \| ISDN \| T1 Two straight Scott Riggs talks with ESPN's Ray Dunalp following his victory at Chicago Motor Speedway. wav: 518 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6 Costly error Kyle Busch talks with ESPN's Amy East about the heartbreaking fuel miscalculation. wav: 432 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6