MIS Race
06-18-05
BDR Race
Report
The No. 23 Toyota Certified
Used Vehicles team and Johnny Benson took off like a
rocket at the start of their racing weekend at Michigan
International Speedway. They grabbed a top-five
starting position early Saturday morning and were
predicted to be one of the stronger contenders in the 10th
NASCAR Craftsman truck race of the season, but
unfortunately, a lack of grip and a loose right-front
tire forced them to accept a top-25 finish instead.
Benson
and team started both days of truck racing at Michigan
on an upswing. First, their qualifying effort landed
them fourth for the start of the Paramount Health
Insurance 200. Then, later that same day, they went on
to set themselves a good bit apart from the rest of the
field in the first 50 miles of the 200-mile
competition. The front-runners were untouchable, which
included both Bill Davis Racing teammates—Mike Skinner
in second and Benson in third.
The No.
23 Toyota driver radioed his crew he couldn’t run up
high on the track like the leaders could ahead of him,
but he was determined to hold on to his top-five run.
Benson’s Toyota team called him to pit road during the
first caution of the race on lap 17. To try to subdue
the loose handling, the team lowered the track bar and
then topped him off with fuel. Trying to conserve its
tires, the team opted to wait a little longer before
putting on new tires. Racing was back to green on lap
23 and the quick stop landed Benson in the lead.
Benson
worked to hold on to his truck, but he slowly fell from
the front of the field to 20th place. He was
getting more and more loose as the race progressed.
Then, on lap 33, his right-rear tire started going down
and his grip was gone. The No. 23 Tundra went spinning
off the track. Luckily, Benson got the truck back under
control and kept it off the wall.
He
retreated to pit road for four tires and fuel. More
chassis adjustments were made to the truck to try to
tighten up its handling. Still, after spinning and
pitting, Benson and team were able to hold on to their
lead lap run. Racing returned to green on lap 37, with
the No. 23 running in 29th place.
Again,
Benson started cautiously and patiently working his way
back up inside the top 20. Soon, he was a top-five
contender again. He told his team the track was eating
up his tires, but he still managed to get his No. 23
Toyota Tundra all the way up to second place by lap 56
of the 100-lap event.
The
team took advantage of another caution flag and made its
third stop of the day on lap 66 for fresh tires and
fuel. It was shortly after racing resumed on lap 69
that the bad news soon followed. Benson said there was
a loose front tire. Again, he tried to keep the No. 23
Toyota Tundra on track, but soon fell to 34th
place by lap 74.
The
crew members called their driver to pit road under green
to put another set of tires on the truck and then sent
Benson back on track so they could look over the tires
they had just taken off the truck. The culprit was a
loose right-front tire.
With
a little less than 20 laps remaining, Benson started
working his way forward again. He was running in 29th
place, but managed to pick up a few more positions,
landing in 24th place, by the time the
checkered flag waved.
~~~~~
BDR Race
Preview
-
This
week’s race truck for Michigan International Speedway
is Chassis No. 23-60. Johnny Benson drove this truck
to a strong fourth-place finish at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway in May.
-
Nice
Finish… Benson posted his best finish of the 2005
season at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend when he
finished second. It was his second consecutive
runner-up finish at TMS.
-
Welcome
Home… Benson returns to his stomping grounds this
weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Benson
was born and reared in Grand Rapids, Mich.
-
Not so
Late…On Wednesday, June 15, Benson will race his late
model stock car at Berlin Raceway in Grand Rapids. It
will be JB’s second late model start in 2005.
-
Happy
Anniversary…The race at Michigan International
Speedway marks the one-year anniversary of Benson
piloting the No. 23 Toyota Tundra. Benson started
31st and finished fourth in his first race behind the
wheel of the No. 23 Tundra at MIS last year.
-
Nine
races strong … Benson has been in the top 10 in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship standings
for the entire 2005 season. He gained one spot in the
points race after his second-place run at Texas.
-
Listen
and Watch … The Paramount Health Insurance 200 is
scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, June 18. It
will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM
Radio channel 144.
Johnny Benson on racing at Michigan
International Speedway:
“I am really looking forward
to going back to MIS. They have finished all the new
renovations, and I am looking forward to seeing the
finished product. It is our second race in a Toyota at
Michigan. This was the first race last year that I ran
for Bill Davis Racing, and Greg Ely and all the guys at
Bill Davis Racing have given me such great equipment. I
am looking forward to getting back and hopefully giving
this Tundra another solid finish.
“It is
always neat to race at your home track. I am going to
that on Wednesday night with some old-fashioned racing
at Berlin Speedway. It is kind of cool that MIS is my
home track on the NASCAR circuit. We always have a lot
of support when we race there, and I hope they will be
there screaming for me on Saturday.”
Crew
chief Greg Ely on racing at Michigan International
Speedway:
“We
went to Michigan last year, which was Johnny Benson’s
first race behind the wheel of our Toyota Tundra. We
had a strong run and have been building momentum from
there through Texas Motor Speedway last Friday night. I
hope the home track advantage works in our favor. There
is plenty of racing room which allows veteran drivers to
find a groove that makes their truck work.”
(06-15-05)
~~~~~
TOYOTA HAS FOUR SCORE
IN TOP -TEN AT MICHIGAN
BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 18, 2005) -- Four Toyota Tundras,
led by Mike Skinner’s fifth-place, finished among the
top-10 in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series (NCTS) race at Michigan International Speedway.
Tundra drivers Chad Chaffin (7th), David Reutimann
(8th) and Todd Bodine (9th) followed Skinner to the
checkered flag at the Brooklyn, Michigan-track.
Skinner’s performance was remarkable considering he was
forced to use his ‘back-up’ No. 5 Bill Davis Racing
Tundra after damaging his primary truck in Friday’s
first practice session. After switching to his
‘back-up’ vehicle, Skinner was the fastest truck in
Friday’s final practice session and then qualified
Saturday morning on the outside of row one. Throughout
the race, Skinner ran among the leaders and he led six
laps during the race en route to his third top-five of
the year.
Skinner also avoided disaster near the conclusion of the
100-lap race. “I thought there was going to be some
excitement with two laps to go,” said Skinner, following
the race. “There was smoke in front of me, but I
really didn’t know if it was a blown engine -- or what
it was that happened. All of the sudden, my front
wheels hit some debris and I thought we were heading
into the fence. Somehow, all three of us that were
running together -- Kevin (Harvick), Bobby (Hamilton)
and I -- we were all able to catch the grip left there
near the fence, and not get into the wall.”
“Our back-up truck wasn’t to bad today,” added Skinner.
“This truck is the one we used at the Martinsville and
Mansfield short tracks earlier this year. It’s not as
good as the ‘primary’ truck we wanted to run, but it did
a pretty good job today.”
Chaffin guided his No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold
Development Tundra to his fourth top-10 result of the
season with his seventh-place finish. “This Germain/Arnold
team -- one of the hardest working groups I’ve ever been
around -- kept with it all day long,” explained Chaffin,
after the race. “We weren’t good this morning (in
qualifying) and when the race started we were just
‘junk.’ Early in the race we fell back and the guys
kept making adjustments. When there were about 20 laps
left, we really came to life. From then on out -- until
the end of the race -- it was just a matter of me
picking and choosing my passes.”
Reutimann, driver of the No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra,
recorded his third straight top-10 finish with his
eighth-place, and Bodine guided his No. 66 Fiddle Back
Racing Tundra to his fourth top-10 of the year.
The other Toyota Tundra drivers racing at Michigan were
Bill Lester (16th), Robert Huffman (19th), Johnny Benson
(24th), Shige Hattori (27th), Ken Schrader (29th) and
Brandon Whitt (38th).
In the NCTS championship point standings following the
first nine races of the 2005 campaign, four Toyota
drivers are among the top-15 in the standings. Johnny
Benson is 11th with 1,224 points, 205 points behind
leader Bobby Hamilton. Following Benson in the
standings are Tundra racers Mike Skinner (1,199 points)
in 12th-place, David Reutimann (1,185 points) in
13th-place, and Todd Bodine (1,158 points) in
14th-place.
The next race on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
schedule is the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 at the
Milwaukee Mile, June 24.
###
Toyota Finishing Positions @ Michigan
International Speedway
5th, MIKE SKINNER, Bill Davis Racing, No. 5
Toyota Tundra
7th, CHAD CHAFFIN, Germain/Arnold Racing, No. 30
Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra
8th, DAVID REUTIMANN, Darrell Waltrip
Motorsports, No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra
9th, TODD BODINE, No. 66 Fiddle Back Racing
Tundra
16th, BILL LESTER, Bill Davis Racing, No. 22
Waste Management Tundra
19th, ROBERT HUFFMAN, Darrell Waltrip
Motorsports, No. 12 Toyota Tundra
24th, JOHNNY BENSON, Bill Davis Racing, No. 23
XCO/Toyota Certified Tundra
27th, SHIGE HATTORI, Germain/Arnold Racing, No. 9
AISIN/AISIN AW Tundra
29th, KEN SCHRADER, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports,
No. 11 Federated Auto Parts Tundra, “
34th, BRANDON WHITT, Red Horse Racing, No. 38
McMillin Homes/Cure Austism Now Tundra
Toyota Drivers in the NCTS Point Standings --
following Michigan International Speedway**
11th, JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 1,224 points
12th, MIKE SKINNER, No. 5 1,199 points
13th, DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 17 1,185 points
14th, TODD BODINE, No. 66 1,158 points
16th, CHAD CHAFFIN, No. 30 1,107 points
18th, BILL LESTER, No. 22 1,052 points
22nd, ROBERT HUFFMAN, No. 12 949 points
26th, BRANDON WHITT, No. 38 844 points
31st, SHIGE HATTORI, No. 9 554 points
