(Sports Network) - Ron Hornaday, Jr. gained ground in his NASCAR (web|news) Craftsman Truck Series title defense Saturday with a dominating performance at the Gateway International Raceway just outside St. Louis. The No.33 Chevrolet driver for Kevin Harvick, Inc. led 113 of 160 laps and held off pole-sitter Dennis Setzer at the finish. Hornaday scored his fourth victory of the season and extended his record in the series to 37 career wins.

"They just built a new victory lane here and it's beautiful...but we're finally here," Hornaday said after picking up his first win at Gateway. "This is cool. (Crew chief) Rick Ren and all the guys at Kevin Harvick, Inc., this is for them. I had a brand new truck, and I drove my guts out."

With the victory, Hornaday moved to within 94 points of leader Johnny Benson in the championship standings with eight races to go in the season. Benson finished third.

Setzer led the field to the green, but Hornaday quickly moved ahead of him on the first lap. Bobby East spun and hit the inside wall on the sixth lap, putting the race under caution for the first time. Setzer attempted to reclaim lead after the restart on Lap 10, but Hornaday held him off. Todd Bodine grabbed the second spot from Setzer the following lap.

Marc Mitchell spun on Lap 21 for the second caution. While the leaders came in for their stops, Skinner remained on the track and inherited the lead. After the restart, Hornaday, came charging through the field in pursuit of Skinner.

Hornaday caught Skinner and dove below him to recapture the lead heading into turn three on Lap 39. Skinner fell to fifth as Sprague, Setzer and Bodine passed him in the following laps.

The third caution, this one for debris, set up a round of stops with Sprague being the quickest out of the pits, followed by Hornaday. Sprague led the way for the restart on Lap 65, but Hornaday passed his teammate on the backstretch to take the top spot for the third time.

Setzer, meanwhile, had a mishap on his stop when his truck fell off the jack. He returned to field in 14th-place, but climbed back to the top-10 by Lap 83.

Hornaday gave up the lead on Lap 105 after the final of stops. Hornaday took on four new tires and exited the pits seventh, while Skinner and Benson made only a two-tire stop and came out first and second. However, Skinner had to come back onto pit road for a loose tire on his left side after an incident leaving the pits. While Benson claimed the lead, Skinner fell back to 23rd. He rallied for a seventh-place finish.

Hornaday, with four fresh tires, quickly moved through the field, while Setzer passed Benson for the lead on Lap 110. Robb Brent spun and made hard contact with the wall on the following lap for the fifth caution.

The race resumed on Lap 120, but as the field headed into turn three, Colin Braun got loose and spun, triggering a five-truck pileup.

Hornaday passed Matt Crafton for the third position after the restart on Lap 127 and then moved ahead of Benson for the second spot the following lap. He caught Setzer as the two ran side-by-side before Hornaday pulled ahead on Lap 130.

Hornaday held off Setzer in two more restarts and beat him to the finish line by 0.646 seconds.

"Ron just got by us there," Setzer said. "We were a little tight in the center of (turns) one and two."

Todd Bodine finished fourth and Jack Sprague came in fifth.

The next race is scheduled for Saturday, September 13th, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

























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