Atlanta
Preview and Post Race Report

Johnny Benson – BDR Post Race Report

Johnny Benson and his No. 23 Toyota Racing team put on a great show at Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday, wrapping up the day with an 11th-place finish and an eighth-place position in the overall NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings.  

Benson and crew packed a lot of speed all day at Atlanta, as did his Bill Davis Racing teammates Mike Skinner and Bill Lester.  All three BDR drivers were at the top of the speed charts during the morning practice sessions, then followed suit during the evening qualifying session.  Skinner, Benson and Lester were at the top of the scoring tower—third, fourth and fifth, respectively—when qualifying ended.  

Shortly after the late-night race got underway, Benson told his crew the truck handled loose and was losing more grip. He was still able to hold onto a top-10 run. The team pitted during the first caution of the night on lap 40 for four tires and fuel, along with  track bar and air pressure adjustments to try to tighten up the truck. When racing resumed, Benson was in eighth. He commended his crew on the changes made, telling them the truck was definitely better.  

Benson posted laps as fast as or faster than the leader’s laps.  By lap 65, the halfway point of the race, he was back to where he started the race: in fourth place and working to get to the front.   

The most disappointing moment of the night happened on the team’s third and final pit stop of the race.  Benson pulled into the pits for four tires and fuel.  He came down pit road in ninth but returned to the track in sixth, gaining three positions on pit road.  NASCAR then ordered him to go to the end of the longest line for speeding on pit road.  The driver and crew were bewildered by the call because they, along with two other teams, were caught for speeding, but the truck that passed Benson on pit road was not penalized.  Still, Benson followed NASCAR’s command and fell to the back.  Racing resumed green on lap 111 of the 130-lap event with Benson in 24th.  

Amazing as it may seem, with as little as 20 laps remaining, the No. 23 Toyota driver managed to work his way up to 11th by the green-white-checkered finish on lap 133.   

 Benson Quote:

“My guys did everything right tonight. I am a little surprised we got passed on pit road and penalized for speeding, but not everyone who passed us got penalized.  It just doesn’t make sense, but I guess some things never do. I just feel bad for the guys on my No. 23 Toyota Racing team.  They worked really hard today and gave me such a strong truck.  We practiced well, qualified well and ran well.  I just wish our finish showed all of that.  Things were loose there for a bit.  It felt like the track had oil all over it, but it was a good truck and an overall good day, just wish it would’ve ended a little differently.”

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Johnny Benson - Bill Davis Racing
Atlanta Preview

• This week’s race truck for California Speedway is Chassis No. 23-46.  The No. 23 Bill Davis Racing team used this truck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2004.  The truck also competed at California Speedway two weeks ago.  The truck has two top-five finishes and two top-10 finishes to its credit.  Benson matched his best finish of the year (second) at Texas in this truck in 2004.
• Tested and Approved…The No.23 team tested at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Wednesday, March 9.
• Listen and watch … The World Financial Group 200 is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. EST Friday, March 18. It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio.

Johnny Benson on racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway
“I am looking forward to going to Atlanta.  We have had some success there in the NASCAR Cup car, and I have won a race there in the NASCAR Busch Series.  Greg [Ely] and the boys have been giving me great equipment and are taking my favorite truck to the fastest track on the circuit.  

“I love night racing.  It really is exciting for the competitors as well as the fans.  I remember a couple of years ago we ran the NASCAR Cup race there at night because of a rain delay, and it really was a treat. 

“The 2005 campaign is going pretty well.  We have had some really good runs both at Daytona and California.  Unfortunately, we have brought back two wrecked Toyota Tundras to the shop.  In Daytona, we had a top-five run going and got caught up in a last-lap incident but still managed to finish 10th.  In California, I thought that we had top-five Tundra but David [Starr] got loose and clipped us in the right rear.  I think to be seventh in the points is pretty good considering our luck so far this season.” 

Crew Chief Greg Ely on racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway
“I like Atlanta a lot.  High speeds and plenty of room to race really make this track one of the best.  We ran well in Texas in this truck, and if there is a sister track to Texas, this one is it.  I am looking forward to a good finish.  It is one of those tracks where all the hard work that TRD has done with motors and aero will really pay off.  They have done their homework, and I am looking forward to seeing what our Tundra can do come Friday night.

“The season has been OK.  We have been running well, and at the end of both races we have gotten caught up in someone else’s mess.  We have been in contention to win both times, so I know that we are bringing good trucks to the race track each week.” 

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Toyota Notes & Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway – March 18, 2005

THIS RACE: The World Financial Group 200 will be the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. There will be nine Toyota Tundras in the field.

LAST RACE: In the most recent NCTS race at California Speedway, Robert Huffman and Johnny Benson were the first Tundra drivers to cross the finish line. Huffman, started fourth and finished ninth in the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Tundra. Benson, driver of the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, started eighth and led one lap en route to a 12th-place finish. In qualifying at California, Mike Skinner earned his third NCTS pole driving a Toyota and Toyota’s sixth Craftsman Truck Series pole, as well as his 18th career NCTS pole position.

POINTS PACE: After the first two races of the 2005 season, four Toyota drivers are among the top-15 in the NCTS championship point standings. Johnny Benson is seventh in the standings with 271 points, 84 behind leader Bobby Hamilton. Tundra drivers behind Benson in the standings are eighth-place David Reutimann (256 points), 11th-place Robert Huffman (244 points) and 14th-place Todd Bodine (230 points).

LAST YEAR IN ATLANTA: One year ago, in the debut of the Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Toyota driver Mike Skinner crossed the finish line .330 seconds behind race-winner Bobby Hamilton. Along with Skinner’s second-place finish, other Tundra drivers in the top-10 were third-place David Reutimann and fourth-place Travis Kvapil.

POLE NO. 1: Last year in Atlanta, a Toyota Tundra captured the NCTS pole position for the very first time. Rookie David Reutimann, driver of the No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra, recorded a speed of 179.452 MPH (30.894 seconds) around the 1.5-mile oval to earn his first career NCTS pole position. 

RECORD RUN FOR REUTIMANN: In capturing the pole position at Atlanta, Reutimann established a NCTS record by winning a pole position in just his second career series start. It made the Zephyrhills, FL-native the fastest official NCTS rookie to ever be the quickest qualifier. The previous record was established by Greg Biffle in 1998 when he earned a pole in his third career NCTS start.

REUTIMANN REMEMBERS: “There were so many firsts for Toyota last year in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series,” says Reutimann. “Each Toyota driver set out to get the first pole, lead the first lap and get the first win. To be able to capture Toyota’s first pole in the Craftsman Truck Series was really special. It was a nice surprise because I don’t think anyone was expecting it to happen so soon.”

ALL-TUNDRA ROW ONE: Starting alongside Reutimann in Atlanta last season was Robert Huffman, who is now Reutimann’s teammate at Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. Huffman recorded a speed of 179.145 MPH (30.947 seconds) to start on the outside of row one, his best starting position in a NCTS race. It was the first-time in NCTS history that two rookies started on the front row.

REPEAT OF ROW ONE: “Now that we are teammates, I think we want to do the same thing again this year that we did last year in Atlanta,” says Robert Huffman. “Except this time I think the No. 12 Tundra will be on the pole and the No. 17 will be on the outside of row one.”

TOYOTA’S FIRST TITLE: Atlanta Motor Speedway is where Robert Huffman clinched the first stock car championship for Toyota in 2003 when he captured the NASCAR Dash Series title. It was Huffman’s fifth Dash Series championship (‘90, ‘98, ‘99, ’00 and ‘03). Huffman, who drove a Toyota Celica in the Dash Series for three years (2001-03) before moving to the NCTS last year, is second on the NASCAR Dash Series all-time win list with 42 victories. Eleven of those wins came while he was behind the wheel of a Toyota Celica.

TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST TITLE: “Winning the Dash Series championship for Toyota in 2003 was probably one of my greatest accomplishments,” says Huffman. “It was our third year together trying to win a championship and it was an overwhelming feeling to finally accomplish it. Knowing all the effort and time that everyone at Toyota and TRD put into the program, I was glad to be able to give something back.”

HOME RUN: Although he was born in California and attended college in Berkeley, Bill Lester now makes his home in Atlanta, and he is keeping busy with the upcoming NCTS race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It’s a very busy time for me, between family and friends needing race tickets, and the local media wanting to conduct interviews,” says Lester, driver of the No. 22 Waste Management Tundra. “I’m really looking forward to the race and think it represents another excellent chance to get a victory.”

FIRST FOR J.B.: Even though he has raced both Cup and Busch cars at Atlanta, this will be Johnny Benson’s first NCTS race at the track. “My team (Bill Davis Racing) raced in Atlanta last year and I think Greg (Ely, crew chief) has a good feel for the track, along with a pretty good set-up,” says Benson. “It’s probably more a matter of me having to adapt my driving style to the truck.”

TUNDRA NUMBERS: In 27 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, Toyota Tundras have recorded four victories, six pole positions and 26 top-five finishes. Along with the four wins -- two by Travis Kvapil and two by Todd Bodine --Toyota drivers have had finishes of second (4), third (6), fourth (7) and fifth (5). Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine have each had five top-five finishes driving Tundras.

ROSTER REVISION: Toyota’s second season in the NCTS features an expanded line-up of nine drivers and five teams. Three teams that ran Tundras during Toyota’s inaugural NCTS season, will again field Tundras in 2005, along with two new teams. Bill Davis Racing (3), Darrell Waltrip Motorsports (2) and Germain/Arnold Racing (2) are back while Clean Line Motorsports (1) and Fiddle Back Racing (1) have joined the Toyota line-up for 2005. Six of the nine drivers also are returning for a second season piloting Toyota Tundras

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ATLANTA, Ga. (March 18, 2005) – In the third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race of the 2005 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway Friday evening, Toyota drivers Chad Chaffin and Robert Huffman recorded top-10 finishes, and Tundra pilot Mike Skinner led the second most laps.

Chaffin, who started 13th, led the field for 11 laps en route to a seventh-place finish in the No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra.  Huffman, driver of the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Tundra, crossed the finish line 10th.

Chaffin ran with the leaders throughout the race and took the lead for nine circuits just before the halfway mark.  On his final pit stop in the 130-lap event, Chaffin took on a new set of tires that didn’t work as well as he had hoped.  “We had an awesome truck all night long and were able to run up front throughout the race,” said Chaffin, following the event.  “On our last stop we took on a set of ‘scuffs’ (used tires) and after that stop I had some trouble getting enough speed through the corners -- which made it tough to get around some of those other trucks.  The worst we ran all night was at the end of the race after that final stop – and we still managed to stay in the top-10.  Other than that, we were ‘flying’ around the racetrack all night long -- and I don’t mean ‘flying’ like we did at Daytona.” (Chaffin’s Tundra flipped through the air several times at Daytona after contact.)

Huffman recorded his second straight top-10 finish in just his third race with Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, despite a slight problem early in the race.  “Right after the start, I got together with Shige (Hattori) and that damaged the right front of my truck -- leaving me with a hole in the front end,” said Huffman, after the race.  “We were able to make adjustments during the race, get my Tundra handling much better throughout the night, and come back for a top-10 finish.  This was only my third race with the team and we’re still getting used to working together, but we’ve had two good races in a row.  I think there are more good things for this team down the road.”

Following Chaffin and Huffman to the finish line were Tundra drivers Johnny Benson (11th), Todd Bodine (12th) and Brandon Whitt (15th).

Skinner, who started third, was really strong at the start of the race and moved into the lead on the ninth lap.  He kept his No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Tundra in front of the field for 29 laps, before he made contact with the Turn 4 wall and damaged his Tundra on lap 37.  “We were getting ready to pit when we had a problem with the right front tire and I hit the wall pretty good,” explained Skinner, who returned to the track after repairs and finished 34th.  “It’s unfortunate because we had a really, really good Tundra tonight.”

It was a busy Friday for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta, with a pair of practice sessions, as well as qualifying and the race all taking place.  Toyota Tundra drivers topped the speed charts in each of the practice sessions, with Chad Chaffin atop the charts in the first session and Mike Skinner leading the field in the second session.  In qualifying, all nine Tundras qualified among the top-16, with the three Bill Davis Racing teammates -- Skinner (third), Johnny Benson (fourth) and Bill Lester (fifth) – among the five fastest trucks.

In the NCTS championship point standings following the first three races of the 2005 campaign, four Toyota drivers are among the top-15.  Benson is eighth with 401 points and Huffman is 10th (378 points) in the standings.  Behind those two Tundra drivers are Todd Bodine in 13th-place (357 points) and David Reutimann in 15th-place (347 points) in the standings.

Toyota Finishing Positions @ Atlanta Motor Speedway

7th, CHAD CHAFFIN, Germain/Arnold Racing, No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra
10th, ROBERT HUFFMAN, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, No. 12 Toyota Tundra
11th, JOHNNY BENSON, Bill Davis Racing, No. 23 Toyota Tundra
12th, TODD BODINE, Fiddle Back Racing, No. 66 BowTech Archery Tundra
15th, BRANDON WHITT, Clean Line Motorsports, No. 38 McMillin Homes/Cure Autism Now Tundra
21st, BILL LESTER, Bill Davis Racing, No. 22 Waste Management Tundra
24th, DAVID REUTIMANN, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra
27th, SHIGE HATTORI, Germain/Arnold Racing, No. 9 AISIN/AISIN AW Tundra
34th, MIKE SKINNER, Bill Davis Racing, No. 5 Toyota Tundra


Toyota Drivers in the NCTS Point Standings – following Atlanta Motor Speedway **

8th, JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Tundra        401 points
10th, ROBERT HUFFMAN, No. 12 Toyota Tundra        378 points
13th, TODD BODINE, No. 66 BowTech Archery Tundra        357 points
15th, DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra        347 points
17th, CHAD CHAFFIN, No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra        330 points
21st, BILL LESTER, No. 22 Waste Management Tundra        296 points
22nd, BRANDON WHITT, No. 38 McMillin Homes/Cure Autism Now Tundra        291 points
30th, MIKE SKINNER, No.   5 Toyota Tundra        263 points
33rd, SHIGE HATTORI, No. 9 AISIN/AISIN AW Tundra        216 points

** Unofficial Point Standings