RADFORD, Va. — After leading 100 laps in the middle of the race, Brandon Ward looked like he may cruise to his first Hooters Pro Cup victory Saturday night. But it took a last-lap bump to get him there.
With eight laps remaining, leader Mark McFarland lost an engine, handing the lead to Ward and setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Jeff Agnew, who rallied from a lap down, slipped past Ward in turn two on the final lap, but the rookie bounced off Agnew in the final turn and nipped the veteran at the line to win the Kroger 250 at Motor Mile Speedway.
“We knew [Agnew] was going to be tough,” said Ward. “He had the better car. But when McFarland blew up, the track was slick down low, so we went below it in turn two and forced him to the high side. I hit the oil down in [turn] three and slid up into him. We banged together off turn four. It was just a hard race back to the checkered.”
Agnew, driver of the No. 73 Mark IV Suzuki/Team 7 Ford, came back from a lap down to challenge for the lead.
It didn’t look like he would get a chance to challenge for the victory after he was involved in a caution on Lap 63 that dropped him from the lead lap.
Lonnie Rush, Jr. also posted his best finish of the season by coming home third, also rallying from a lap down to do so. Benny Gordon took fourth, despite running out of fuel on lap 223, and Joey Lavender rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Brandon Ward, Ford, 253, $12,900; 2. Jeff Agnew, Ford, 253, $8,000; 3. Lonnie Rush, Jr., Chevrolet, 253, $5,400; 4. Benny Gordon, Ford, 253, $6,500; 5. Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 253, $3,400; 6. A.J. Frank, Chevrolet, 253, $2,800; 7. Carl Long, Ford, 253, $2,600; 8. Johnny Rumley, Chevrolet, 252, $3,000; 9. Jody Lavender, Ford, 251, $2,300; 10. Ben Stancill, Ford, 251, $2,200; 11. Caleb Hoffman, Chevrolet, 251, $2,100; 12. Tim Bainey, Jr., Ford, 245, $2,200; 13. Danny Jackson, Chevrolet, 245, $1,900; 14. Eric Sartin, Chevrolet, 244, $1,800; 15. Mark McFarland, Chevrolet, 242, $2,700; 16. Sam Fullone, Chevrolet, Chevrolet, 240, $1,900; 17. Matt Carter, Ford, 238, $1,600; 18. Michael Kidd, Chevrolet, 204, $1,600; 19. Woody Howard, Chevrolet, 188, $1,600; 20. Brian Scott, Ford, 177, $1,600; 21. Derek Kale, Chevrolet, 170, $1,700; 22. Jeff Fultz, Ford, 144, $1,400; 23. John Gibson, Ford, 141, $1,400; 24. Allen Purkhiser, Ford, 115, $1,400; 25. Shane Wallace, Ford, 110, $1,400; 26. Jay Fogleman, Ford, 81, $1,200; 27. Eric Corbett, Ford, 81, $1,700; 28. Richard Boswell, Chevrolet, 62, $1,200; 29. Mike Hampton, Ford, 55, $1,200; 30. Jack Bailey, Chevrolet, 36, $1,900; 31. Michael Ritch, Ford, 21, $1,200; 32. Jim Crabtree, Jr., Chevrolet, 4, $1,200.