Musgrave

Musgrave, starting from the outside front row, led twice for 185 of the 200 laps around South Boston Speedway. He took the lead for the final time on the 165th lap, passing Terry Cook's Ford on the fourth turf of the 0.4-mile oval.

Dennis Setzer closed within less than a second -- about four truck lengths -- to finish second. The official margin of victory was 0.954 seconds.

The win was Musgrave's fifth of the season, matching teammate Scott Riggs total. Ultra Motorsports, which fielded the winning Dodge Ram, has won 10 of the season's 20 events.

Riggs finished third, followed by series point leader Jack Sprague in a Chevrolet. Joe Ruttman's Dodge finished fifth, trailed by rookie Ricky Hendrick, Terry Cook, Travis Kvapil, Mike Bliss and Matt Crafton.

Fifteen of the race's 25 finishers completed all 250 laps.

Musgrave, who won $42,385, averaged 53.796 mph for the 100 miles. Nine cautions, plus a red flag stoppage of eight minutes after lap 171, produced 77 laps of yellow -- two more than the series record set in October 1999 at Louisville, Ky.

The lap 171 accident, which produced no injuries, eliminated all five drivers involved in the Turn 1 melee. The race was halted to remove debris and mop up fluids.

Seven drivers among 10 who failed to finish left following accidents.

"Strategy came into play for us," said Musgrave who inherited the lead from pole starter Sprague on lap eight -- after a wrecked truck rolled into the point leader during a caution period. "Qualifying was big key. We just stopped once to stay up front.

"It all came together for us."

Musgrave, one of six drivers involved in a tight championship battle with four races remaining in the season, advanced to fourth place with the victory. Sprague, with 3,075 points, holds a 37-point margin over Ruttman and is 57 ahead of Riggs. Musgrave is 132 behind, picking up 20 points at South Boston.

Sprague, who fell to 31st on the field after pitting to repair front end damage on lap 14. He steadily advanced despite stopping several times more for tires and fuel and reached the top 10 on lap 131.

Veteran Morgan Shepherd inherited the lead under caution on the 137th lap when Musgrave and most of the field pitted. Cook caught Shepherd on the 152nd lap but -- his Ford belching smoke -- began to slow.

Musgrave, who pitted for right-side tires and gas on lap 136, ran down Cook to make what turned out to be the winning pass with 64 laps remaining.

Shepherd was among the drivers involved in the lap 171 accident and failed to finish.