Harvick dominant in Martinsville truck race

Martinsville, VA – Kevin Harvick was untouchable in Saturday's Kroger 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

Harvick, a Sprint Cup Series regular, started on the pole and ran in front for 248 of 250 laps, which set a series record for most laps led in a race. He held off his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Ty Dillon, after two late-race restarts and then beat Dillon to the finish line by just under one second for his 14th career truck win.

"These guys [No. 2 team] did a great job preparing for this race," Harvick said. "The truck was good right off the trailer. What else can you say?"

Harvick claimed his third truck win at Martinsville, which placed him in a tie with Dennis Setzer and Mike Skinner for most victories at this historic racetrack.

Earlier in the day, Harvick placed second in qualifying for Sunday's 500-lap Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. He will make his 400th career start in NASCAR's premier series.

Dillon, a rookie in trucks this year, was the only other driver to lead laps in this race, running in front for the fourth and fifth lap.

"It was an awesome day, and I'm so excited to get this year going," he said. "I think we've got a championship team."

Dillon replaced his elder brother, Austin, in RCR's No. 3 truck after Austin won the series championship in 2011. He is now a rookie in the Nationwide Series.

James Buescher finished third, while Justin Lofton and Timothy Peters, a Virginia native, rounded out the top-five.

Nelson Piquet Jr., Ross Chastain, Jason Leffler, John King, who won last month's season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, and Jason White finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Jeb Burton, the 19-year-old son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, finished 13th in his series debut. Burton was involved in an accident on lap 235, which forced the seventh and final caution. It also set up a six-lap shootout to the finish.

With two races now completed, King remains atop the point standings, as he holds only a one-point advantage over Peters, who is his teammate at Red Horse Racing, and Lofton. Ty Dillon is just four markers behind King.