Ricky Carmichael led a field that included championship contenders Johnny Sauter and James Buescher along with Cup invaders Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman, among others all racing to win the Atlanta 200 under the lights at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Bowyer jumped to the lead on lap one while Bodine was moving through the field on the bottom, Jason White doing the same on the top.
The first caution came out after Cole Whitt lost an engine on lap 20. He was running fourth at the time and was racing Matt Crafton. The field came down pit road during the yellow, with Bowyer and Busch retaining the top two stops. Timothy Peters had to switch ignitions boxes under the caution, while Ron Hornaday made several trips to pit road to repair damage to the No. 33 truck.
Contact between Bowyer and Busch has the No. 32 nudged the back of Bowyer's Bad Boy Motors Chevy, with the leader just barely saving his truck and holding the lead.
Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Johnny Sauter made contact as the pair went three wide with Brendan Gaughan, but all were able to continue.
Caution for the second time of the race came out on lap 37 for Johanna Long and B.J. McLeod. Under the yellow, NASCAR deemed Bowyer had committed to pit road but decided not too, so Busch moved to the lead and Bowyer fell to second.
The field restarted on lap 43 with Bowyer running side by side for the lead before Crafton joined them to make it three wide. Busch got passed the two of them and moved to the lead while polesitter Carmichael also moved up to challenge for position. The following lap Bowyer began a hard charge toward Busch and the lead.
Bowyer and Busch were once again side by side on lap 46, neither wanting to let up. Meanwhile by lap 50 Hornaday had worked his way back into the top ten.
On lap 52 points leader Sauter came down pit road for right side tires after he reported a tire going down and made contact with the wall. Up the front Bowyer completed the pass to regain the lead on lap 53 after another intense battle between himself and Rowdy.
Johnny Sauter brought out the third caution of the Atlanta 200 on lap 58. Along with Sauter the leaders elected to return to pit road for fuel, tires and adjustments. Once again it was Bowyer and Busch leading the field off of pit road.
The field took the green flag again on lap 64 with Bowyer getting a tremondous restart as Newman briefly challenged for second. A caution for debris came out after Blake Feese made contact with the wall and cut a tire.
It was another side by side battle with 77 to go between the battling Cup guys as Ryan Newman in third made his presence known. With Busch getting loose Bowyer and Newman moved passed for first and second. Timothy Peters further back in the pack was sent spinning after losing a tire and brought out yet another yellow flag.
With a hint of fuel strategy in the air and just 49 laps remaining Bowyer took the green flag. Crafton and Parker Kligerman had moth moved up to challenge for the lead with no success. Back in the pack Josh Richards was racing three wide and got sideways, amazingly saving his truck after contact with Hornaday. Lofton and White also made contact with the wall because of the incident but all were able to continue on.
Points leader Sauter came down pit road once again with a flat tire, and had to return to the pits under green for a speeding penalty.
With 19 laps to go Busch came to pit road for four tires and fuel; the top 16 were all close on fuel, with the leader coming in with Newman a lap later, handing the lead to Austin Dillon. After that it was a parade of cars on pit road, and with 16 to go Dillon and Bodine both came down for fuel, giving Hornaday the lead. Having pit on lap 75 and in conservation mode, would Hornaday be able to battle back from bad luck to steal the win?
With 11 to go Hornaday held the lead with Bowyer in fourth, the first car with fresh tires, but he was 22 seconds behind. With seven to go, Bowyer was just 15 seconds behind, with Hornaday losing two seconds a lap.
Bowyer took second from Feese with two laps to go, with Busch closing in after taking third. With Bowyer three seconds back as they took the white flag, Hornaday was fighting to hang on to the lead, and he did to win the Atlanta 200.
It was Hornaday's 49th Camping World Truck Series Victory, and his second of 2011.
"Everything's been going wrong, the whole year," Hornaday said in Victory Lane. "So something's got to go right at least once."
Coming second was Bowyer followed by Busch, Blake Feese and Newman. Dillon, Crafton, Carmichael, Bodine and Buescher round out the top ten.
James Buescher takes the points lead from Sauter, who now trails by 12 points after his trouble filled night. Hornaday enters the top five, up four spots from last week, behind Timothy Peters and Austin Dillon.
In two weeks the Camping World Truck Series will be at Chicagoland Speedway. Coverage of the race begins at 8 pm ET on September 16th only on SPEED.
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