KANKE CLOSING IN ON LEADER.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park has the most wins of any active NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series driver at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield.

His third-place finish in last Saturday's race at Mesa Marin was good enough to put Kanke in position to challenge for his first Southwest Series championship.

Kanke is second in the championship race, 43 points behind leader Eddy McKean, with one race left on the Southwest Series schedule, the Nov. 7 Cruise America 125 at Phoenix International Raceway.

But championships are not much of a concern for the veteran Kanke.

``The point thing is not that important,'' Kanke said. ``I have every record but that. It's just not that important. I don't want to move on.''

Kanke's four wins at Mesa Marin is only one of several Southwest Series records he owns. This season, though, has been cause for little celebration. No driver has separated himself from the rest of the field.

``Anybody in the top five could be winning this deal,'' Kanke said. ``I don't think anybody has been stellar.''

And that includes himself.

Eric Holmes won his second race of the season at Mesa Marin. He was followed by David Gilliland. Ben Walker of Santa Clarita was fourth and Craig Raudman was fifth.

``Eric did an excellent job,'' Kanke said. ``He basically outdrove us. I was impressed by the way he ran.''

McKean ran into trouble in the first half of the race. He was involved in an accident and spent nearly 50 laps in the pits repairing his car. McKean ended up 25th in a field of 30.

Bob Lyon of Agua Dulce was 15th and Frank Maronski Jr. of Quartz Hill was 28th.

--NASCAR Busch Series: Former Saugus Speedway champion Ron Hornaday Jr. led for 27 laps in Sunday's Sam Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park, but fell short again of winning his first NASCAR Busch Grand National Division race in nearly two years. Hornaday, driving the No. 26 Carroll Racing Chevy, settled for a seventh-place finish. It was his eighth top-10 finish since he joined the Carroll Racing team at midseason.

Hornaday will be a busy driver this weekend. He will be entered in the NASCAR Busch Series and Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hornaday will be trying to qualify a BH Motor Sports entry in the Cup race Sunday. If he can get into the race, BH Motor Sports will be the only African-American-owned team in Winston Cup racing.

In addition to racing for Carroll Racing and BH Motor Sports, it was announced this month that Hornaday will be racing for Richard Childress Racing on the NASCAR Busch Series next season in the No. 2 AC Delco Chevy.

``This is a chance of a lifetime,'' Hornaday said in a release on his Web site. ``Richard's been such a help to me over the years, and got my relationship with Dale and Teresa Earnhardt off the ground when I was just starting in this business. His Busch program is second to none as far as I'm concerned, and I'm tickled to death to get the chance to work for him and a sponsor like AC Delco. I know their looking for results, and hopefully a gritty veteran like me can help this team get back to where they belong, on top.''

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(ran in AV edition only) RON HORNADAY JR.: The former Saugus Speedway racer earned his eighth top-10 NASCAR Busch Grand National Division race finish Sunday.