Jim Cole / AP

Ron Hornaday Jr. celebrates after wining the New Hampshire 200 Truck Series race Saturday.

updated 6:27 p.m. ET Sept. 13, 2008

LOUDON, N.H. - Ron Hornaday Jr. put aside the questions and distractions from his admission of testosterone use, got in his No. 33 Chevrolet and did what he does best: go out and dominate a trucks race.

Hornaday took the lead on a restart with 42 laps to go and was out front most of the way en route to a victory Saturday in the Craftsman Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“I’ve got to thank all the race fans. They are so unbelievable (with) the support they’ve given me this week,” Hornaday said.

Hornaday raced to his series-high fifth victory of the season, holding off a late charge by points leader Johnny Benson to win his second straight race. Hornaday had the truck to beat all day in the 200-lap race, never faltered on his restarts and cruised to victory even as the race was marred late by cautions.

“The yellow flags played into our hands,” Hornaday said. “It worked out perfect.”

Hornaday, who has a record 38 career truck victories, told ESPN The Magazine earlier this week that he used a testosterone cream during 2004 and 2005 to treat a medical issue. NASCAR met with the reigning series champion on Friday and found no reason to punish Hornaday for the admission.

Hornaday also revealed he has Grave’s disease, a condition he is treating with Synthroid, which replaces a hormone normally produced by the thyroid gland to regulate the body’s energy and metabolism.

“It’s been a long week, but I have to thank everyone that has supported me on this deal,” he said.

A win sure helped. Benson was tight on Hornaday’s bumper over the final few laps, but couldn’t get his No. 23 Toyota past the winner’s Chevrolet. Benson’s points lead dropped to 74 over Hornaday.

“It’s definitely going to come down to Homestead,” Hornaday said.

Once the race ended, the real fun started, thanks to David Starr spinning out Todd Bodine with seven laps left. Bodine tapped Starr from behind after the race, then pulled next to him and tempers flared on pit road.

Bodine’s crew quickly went after Starr, and members of both crews started tussling and had to be separated by NASCAR officials. The situation seemed to simmer down, only to quickly restart and a throng of officials tried to restrain the furious crews.

Bodine stepped away and watched while the crews battled. He finished 19th.

“He just doesn’t know when to choke down the reins and slow down a bit,” Bodine said.

Starr, who was 11th, was called to the NASCAR hauler.

“I don’t have a problem with a driver coming over and wanting to come over and talk to me,” Starr said. “But a crew member coming over and putting a finger in my face? That’s a totally different deal. I don’t play that way.

“To have a crew member come and put my window net down and put a finger in my face, I don’t play that game.”

Travis Kvapil was third and Erik Darnell and Rick Crawford rounded out the top five.

Donny Lia, who made his first start for Randy Moss Motorsports, brought out a caution with 49 laps left when his No. 81 Chevrolet spun and crashed into the wall. That all but erased Kvapil’s 4.8-second lead over Hornaday.

Timothy Peters tried to pass Kvapil off the restart, but his No. 17 spun in front of the leader and immediately brought the fifth caution flag. Hornaday grabbed the lead on the restart pulled away for the win.

“I was concerned when that caution came out with Ron behind me,” Kvapil said. “I think the No. 17 truck got down inside of me and got in there too hot and got loose and up into me.”

The start of the race was briefly delayed because of an accident earlier in the modified race that severely damaged a guard rail. After a lengthy delay, the modified cars were sent back to the garage with 60 of 100 laps completed. The last 40 laps were run after the trucks race and Ted Christopher won the race.

The rail was still being repaired when NASCAR started driver introductions.