Late pass propels Bliss to victory in truck race

? Mike Bliss’ story Saturday isn’t as spectacular as Sarava’s.

The odds weren’t quite as stacked against Bliss, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver, as they were against the horse that ended War Emblem’s bid for the Triple Crown last month.

But with just six laps remaining in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 Saturday at Kansas Speedway and two cars blocking Bliss’ path to victory lane, the red No. 16 Chevy needed all the help Lady Luck could provide.

She did her part, because the two drivers in front of Bliss took each other out of the race, and he completed his goal by coasting around the 11/2-mile oval track three more times to take his first checkered flag at the Speedway in front of 60,000 spectators on an overcast yet extremely humid day.

“I was almost content with third,” said Bliss, who smoked his slicks in front of the grandstands after completing the mythical “Kansas City Area Triple Crown” Saturday. Bliss added his NCTS’s Speedway win to past victories at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., and Heartland Park in Topeka.

“I was hoping they would get side by side and I could shoot three abreast.”

Bliss didn’t have to.

Race leader Rick Crawford, who was poised to pick up his first win in nearly four years on the circuit, had a filter break in the rear-end of his Ford F-150 on the 164th lap which left him stalled on the track’s apron.

The 37-year-old Bliss, who had been in a nose-to-nose battle with Crawford, blasted past him for the lead and didn’t have to look back because pole-sitter Jason Leffler slipped out of his groove when he slid in fluid flowing from Crawford’s car.

“The (No.) 14 looked like the rear end broke or something, and Leffler was right in the groove and he slid up,” said Bliss, who moved into second place in the NCTS’s championship points standings Saturday with 1,477 points, trailing Ted Musgrave who leads with 1,538. “We must have happened to be on the bottom. Sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes you’re not.”

And as has been the case lately, both Crawford and Leffler found luck against them once again.

“We had the truck to beat today,” said Crawford, who led 127 laps of the 167-lap race. “I was able to keep the (No.) 2 truck in my mirror all race long. I don’t know what we need to change our luck, because the Circle Bar Motel and RV Park Ford was unbeatable today.”

Out of the gates it was Leffler  last year’s top qualifier in the Speedway’s inaugural Winston Cup race  who looked as if he might pick up his first truck series win.

But his lead didn’t hold long when Ultra Motorsports teammate, Musgrave, passed him.

On the 13th lap, Bliss, who lives in Mooresville, N.C., pushed his IWX Motor Freight/Knight Inn Chevrolet Silverado to the front. But he would also only hold the lead one lap before Crawford again took over.

The lead would flop between those three drivers the rest of the afternoon, besides one brief bolt to the front by Robert Pressley.

Crawford conquered a congregation of cars on the 113th lap and would lead the next 50 times around.

After four laps of caution because of another spin out, the title looked to come down to a trophy race to the checkered flag.

But that didn’t happen since Crawford’s car suffered damage and took out Leffler’s ride. Second place finisher Dennis Setzer and Coy Gibbs were too far behind Bliss to offer a serious challenge.

“Mike Bliss was very good,” said Setzer. He sits in seventh place in the points standings. “I didn’t have much for him. Rick had been good all weekend and in a bunch of races lately, but this has been his luck all year. Seems like he should have won a few races by now.”

That’s probably true since Crawford has raced 107 times without a victory, but the Sunflower state shined favorably on Bliss Saturday afternoon.

“Kansas, this area’s great,” Bliss said from atop his perch in victory lane. “Maybe I should move here?”

Only if he feels lucky.

“I’d rather have luck than anything else,” Bliss said with a smile.