NASCAR TRUCKS Harvick, Musgrave are 1-2 to tighten points race

Ted Musgrave gained ground with his runner-up finish to Kevin Harvick.
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Kevin Harvick held off Ted Musgrave for a victory in the NASCAR truck event Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, and the close season points race got even tighter.
Musgrave's runner-up finish in the Silverado 150, combined with a 12th-place finish by Craftsman Truck series leader Brendan Gaughan and a third-place run by Travis Kvapil, moved Musgrave to second in the standings.
Gaughan's lead was cut from 45 points over Kvapil coming into Friday's race to just 26 over Musgrave with only the season-finale Nov. 14 in Homestead, Fla., remaining.
Kvapil fell to third and now trails by 34 points. He's just five points ahead of Dennis Setzer, who was third Friday.
Harvick's view
"I'm really happy to win and I'm really happy that I didn't do anything to mess up the points race," said Harvick, who led 80 of the 150 laps -- including the final 49 -- on the 1-mile oval, .
Losing to Harvick -- a Winston Cup regular -- by about two car-lengths cost Musgrave five points.
"Last year, Kevin won it and I was second, and this year, same result," Musgrave said. "But that was a lot of fun. We came across the finish line side-by-side a bunch of times.
"We talked before the race and I said, 'Let's race really, really hard and really clean.' That's what we did."
Gaughan ran as high as second before an engine problem slowed him down near the end, costing him several points.
"I was catching Kevin and we were going for it but, with nine laps to go, we ran over a big chunk of debris," Gaughan said. "I heard it. We hit it and it popped into the engine compartment and all of a sudden we lost a cylinder."
Can clinch title
Still, Gaughan can clinch the championship by finishing fourth or better in Homestead.
Harvick's only other victory in 81 truck starts came in this race last November.
He was happy to hang on for the win with Musgrave closing fast in the final laps.
"My tires had given up with about 10 laps to go, and it felt like the front tires fell off of it," Harvick said. "I probably drove it too hard to try to stretch it out. It's a good thing I had a pretty good lead.
"If he'd caught me, I think he'd have passed me pretty easily."
Harvick also will compete today in the Busch series, and his regular ride Sunday in the Checker Auto Parts 500 will give him three for the weekend.