Newman wins in truck debut

At least for now, Ryan Newman has a perfect record in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In his first series start, Newman drove past his Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ron Hornaday on the last lap to win Saturday’s E-Z-G0 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He becomes the fourth driver to win his first truck race, joining Mike Skinner, Robert Pressley and Kasey Kahne. And he becomes the 19th driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s top series —- Sprint Cup, Nationwide and trucks.

It also was Newman’s first victory at AMS, his first in a Chevrolet and the first win for crew chief Ernie Cope and many crew members of the No. 2 Chevrolet.

For most of the race, Hornaday was in control, leading all but 20 of 130 laps. Newman surged to the front with eight circuits remaining, only to lose the lead to Hornaday on the next-to-last lap. But Newman charged back on the outside and won by 0.0377 of a second.

Denny Hamlin was third, ahead of Todd Bodine and Scott Speed.

Hornaday said he simply slipped when Newman passed him for the win.

“I just missed the corner off of [Turn] 2, and he ran me down and got momentum,” Hornaday said.

Newman credited Hornaday with racing him cleanly. “He left me room,” Newman said. “He could have pinched me off, but he raced me like a gentleman. They say rubbing is racing, but we raced without rubbing.”

Points leader Johnny Benson languished near the back of the lead pack with an ill-handling truck for most of the race, but he battled back at the end, moving up to seventh place, which allowed him to take a 31-point lead into next week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The AMS results seem to show that it doesn’t take a Chase to make a tight points race in the truck series. With his second-place finish, Hornaday cut Benson’s lead by 34 points. Benson has had the lead for only two races. He took the top spot from Hornaday at Martinsville.

Edwards fastest in practice

Carl Edwards set the pace in Saturday’s final practice session for Sprint Cup drivers with a best lap at 181.776 mph before jetting off to win the Nationwide Series race in Millington, Tenn.

Paul Menard was second at AMS, followed by Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.

The three Georgians in today’s Pep Boys Auto 500 all ran competitive speeds. Bill Elliott, in the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford, was the best of the group. His speed of 179.290 mph was 11th. David Ragan was 13th, with Reed Sorenson 16th.

Ragan, a Unadilla native, told reporters before leaving for the Nationwide race that he would like nothing more than to get his first Cup win. “Winning at Atlanta would be equivalent to winning at a Daytona or an Indy almost to me,” he said. “We always thought that Atlanta was the No. 1 NASCAR track because it was the closest track.”

Harvick assists former driver Ard

Driver Kevin Harvick and his wife, DeLana, presented a 2007 Chevrolet van to Robert Ard, son of former Nationwide champion Sam Ard, on Saturday at AMS. Sam Ard is battling Alzheimer’s and facing financial woes.

The NASCAR Foundation and Motor Racing Outreach also are working with the Harvicks to assist the Ards. To participate in an online auction of racing memorabilia, visit www.nascar.com/foundation.