Milwaukee
06/24/05

 

Johnny Benson – Toyota Racing

Post Race Report 

Race:                       Toyota Tundra Milwaukee Mile 200 (Race 11 of 25)

Track:                      The Milwaukee Mile

Date:                        Friday, June 24, 2005

Started:                    28th

Finished:                   35th

Laps Completed/Laps Completed:            140/200

Points Position:                   14th (lost three positions from last week)

It was a trying weekend for the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra team.  The team entered The Milwaukee Mile with plenty of optimism. It brought a truck with a history of strong finishes, and driver Johnny Benson had finished a strong seventh in his only NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at the Wisconsin track. After a tough week in Michigan, the team was looking for a rebound.

During the first practice session, the TCUV Tundra team struggled to find a balance that was comfortable for Benson.  The truck handled tight entering the corner, which hindered Benson from getting to the gas and slowed his times on the scoring monitor.  The team worked feverishly to make the correct changes, but nothing seemed to remedy the tight condition.  

After the second and final practice session, Benson asked his teammates, Mike Skinner and the No. 5 team for help.  The two teams shared information on set-ups, trying to find some speed for the No. 23 TCUV Tundra.  The discussion led crew chief Greg Ely to devise a plan that required a change to just about every element of the truck.  

Benson qualified his Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra in the 28th position with a time of 30.393 seconds.  It was a half-second gain from practice, but Benson told his crew his truck was still extremely tight in the corners.   

The No. 23 team’s handling woes continued into the race.  On lap 10, Benson told Ely his truck had too much forward bite going into the corners, which was causing him to have to wait on the truck to settle before getting back to the gas.  After 50 laps, Benson had managed to pick up four positions on the track. 

Benson brought his truck down pit road for a rare green flag pit stop on lap 86.  The team gave the truck four tires, fuel and a handful of changes. The crew’s fast work put Benson in the 15th position when he returned to the track. 

A ray of hope shined on the No. 23 team when Benson began posting lap times consistent with those of the top five trucks. That ray unfortunately dimmed when his truck spun entering the corner, relegating Benson to a 35th-place finish.  The team dropped three more spots to 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series point standings. 

The No. 23 team will try to rebound this Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.  Catch all the action live on the Speed Channel.

 

SETZER CAPTURES TOYOTA TUNDRA MILWAUKEE 200
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (June 24, 2005) -- The Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at the Milwaukee Mile Friday evening featured a battle among series veterans that featured Dennis Setzer coming out on top and capturing the checkered flag.

Setzer crossed the finish line almost four seconds ahead of veterans Jack Sprague, Ted Musgrave and Ron Hornaday, Jr. on the way to his second consecutive series win and the 14th NCTS victory of his career.  Setzer started third and led 152 of the 200 laps in the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 en route to ‘Victory Lane.’

Toyota driver Brandon Whitt was the top-finishing Tundra with a 13th-place finish -- his best result of the 2005 campaign.  Toyota drivers Bill Lester (15th), Mike Skinner (16th), Chad Chaffin (17th), and David Reutimann (23rd) followed Whitt across the finish line.  Other Toyota drivers in the field included Robert Huffman (31st), Todd Bodine (34th) and Johnny Benson (35th).

In the NCTS championship point standings following the first 11 races of the 2005 campaign, four Toyota drivers are among the top-15 in the standings.  Mike Skinner is 11th with 1,314 points, 300 points behind leader Dennis Setzer.  Following Skinner in the standings are Tundra racers David Reutimann (1,284 points) in 12th-place, Johnny Benson (1,282 points) in 14th-place, and Todd Bodine (1,219 points) in 15th-place.
 

BDR Preview

• This week’s race truck for The Milwaukee Mile is Chassis No. 23-35.  This truck raced at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in May.

• Top-10 Finish… Johnny Benson’s lone NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at The Milwaukee Mile resulted in a seventh-place finish.

• Falling Back… The No. 23 team is outside the top-10 in NCTS points for the first time of the 2005 season.  Benson fell from ninth to 11th after a 24th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway last week.  Benson is only 18 points behind the 10th-place driver, David Starr.

• Home Sweet Home… Benson has spent last week in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich.  He visited his family and friends and caught a couple of races at his home track, Berlin Speedway.

• On air with JB… Benson is going to have a busy weekend in Milwaukee.  Benson will race his Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra on Friday, then join Rick Allen Saturday in commentating on the NASCAR Busch Series race.

• Listen and Watch … The Toyota Tundra 200 is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET Friday, June 24.  It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio channel 144.

Johnny Benson on racing at The Milwaukee Mile:
“It is going to be great going back to Milwaukee.  I have had a lot of success there in my ASA cars, and I have run one truck race there and finished in the top 10.  Going back there is going to be cool.  I know the track is a little different than it was back in my ASA days with the new pavement in the corners and things of that nature.  I was there last year and was in the booth commentating the Truck Series and Busch Series races and had a great time.  I’m looking forward to being down on the track in my Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Tundra.”

Crew chief Greg Ely on racing at The Milwaukee Mile:
“We’re taking a truck that ran really well at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway to Milwaukee.  We are looking forward to building on our Gateway experience and building off the test that our two teammates had and coming up with a game plan that works for us.  I am looking forward to getting back on track after a rough weekend in Michigan.”

 

Toyota Preview

THIS RACE:  The Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 will be the 11th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at the Milwaukee Mile.  There will be eight Toyota Tundras in the field at the Milwaukee one-mile oval, the 11th NCTS race of the 2005 season.

LAST RACE:  In the most recent NCTS race at Michigan International Speedway (June 18), four Toyota Tundras finished in the top-10.  Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, crossed the finish line fifth and Chad Chaffin guided his No. 30 Germain Toyota/Arnold Development Tundra to a seventh-place result.  David Reutimann (eighth) and Todd Bodine (ninth) were the two other Tundra drivers in the top-10 at Michigan.

REMARKABLE RECOVERY:  At Michigan, Mike Skinner turned in a stellar performance considering he was forced to race a ‘back-up’ Tundra after damaging his primary vehicle in an accident during Friday’s first practice session.  After switching to his ‘back-up’ truck -- one that he raced at the Mansfield and Martinsville short tracks earlier this year -- Skinner demonstrated he still had a handle on the Michigan track.  The veteran racer had the fastest truck in Friday’s final practice session and then qualified on the outside of row one on race morning.  During the race, Skinner consistently ran among the leaders and led six laps en route to his fifth-place -- his third top-five finish of the season.

STREAKING SKINNER:  In his last four NCTS races, Mike Skinner has recorded three top-10 finishes and led a total of 162 laps in the four races.  Along with his fifth-place finish at Michigan, Skinner has finished fourth (Texas) and 10th (Dover).  In addition, Skinner was leading the race at Charlotte before getting involved in an accident while running ahead of the pack.  The Daytona Beach, Fla.-resident has also started on the front row three times in the last four events -- earning pole positions at Charlotte and Texas, and starting on the outside of row one at Michigan.

POINTS PACE:  After the first ten races of the 2005 season, several Toyota drivers are among the top-15 in the NCTS championship point standings.  Johnny Benson is 11th in the standings 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 and David Reutimann (1,185 points) in 13th-place.

LAST YEAR HERE:  A year ago in Milwaukee, Travis Kvapil was the lone Toyota driver to finish among the
top-10 at the Wisconsin-oval when he crossed the finish line fifth.

MIKE IN MILWAUKEE:  During the 1995 debut season of the NCTS, Mike Skinner won the inaugural event at the Milwaukee Mile.  Skinner captured the pole position and led 56 laps en route to capturing the Milwaukee checkered flag.  The following year (1996), Skinner started on the outside of row one at Milwaukee and led 92 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish.

BODINE BACK WHERE HE WAS BEFORE:  At Milwaukee, Todd Bodine will return to the driver’s seat of the No. 30 Germain/Arnold Racing Tundra.  In 2004, Bodine recorded two NCTS wins in eight starts for Germain/Arnold Racing.  This season, Bodine ran the first 10 races of the year with the No. 66 Fiddle Back Racing entry.  Bodine, who takes over for Chad Chaffin, will pilot the No. 30 Tundra for the remainder of the 2005 season.

REUTIMANN READY:  “I enjoy going back to Milwaukee because it’s a place where I finished fifth in a Busch car,” says Reutimann, who finished 32nd in last year’s NCTS race at the Wisconsin track.  “We were involved in an accident last year that abruptly ended our night.  This year, I really want to do well in Milwaukee for a couple of reasons.  First of all, my sponsor NTN Bearings will be bringing about 150 employees out to the race from headquarters (outside Chicago) to cheer us on.  Secondly, Toyota is the race sponsor and I can’t think of a better place to get our first win.  We’ve been leading races and running in the top-five and top-10.  It’s obvious what the next step is -- to get a win.”

QUALIFYING QUITE WELL:  In the two most recent races on the NCTS schedule -- at Texas (June 10) and Michigan (June 18) -- the Bill Davis Racing team placed three Tundras among the top-five during qualifying at both tracks.  In Texas, Mike Skinner captured the pole position, Johnny Benson was fourth fastest and Bill Lester started fifth.  In Michigan, Skinner started on the outside of row one while Benson (fourth) and Lester (fifth) duplicated their qualifying efforts from Texas.

BACK ON TRACK AT MILWAUKEE:  “I’m looking forward to going to Milwaukee,” says Benson, driver of the No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Tundra.  “I watched the truck race there last year and did some TV work during the race.  It looks like a pretty neat place to race.  Of course, I raced there a few times in my ASA (American Speed Association) car and was fortunate to win some of the races there.  I know the track is a little bit different now -- they repaved some areas -- but all in all, it’s pretty much the same.”

TEAMMATES TALK:  Both of Johnny Benson’s Bill Davis Racing teammates, Bill Lester and Mike Skinner, tested at the Milwaukee Mile earlier this year (May 26-27).  Will Benson ask his teammates for set-up suggestions for Milwaukee?  “We’ve talked with Mike (Skinner) and Jeff Hensley (Skinner’s crew chief) to see what they thought they did during the Milwaukee test that was different from what they use at Loudon (NH), or other tracks similar to Milwaukee,” explains Benson.  “They made very few changes for Milwaukee.  Our plan is to go there with the set-up that we thing works best for us and we’ll adapt to it from there.”

TEST TALK:  Robert Huffman is one of several Toyota drivers who tested at the Milwaukee Mile earlier this year (May 26-27).  “The test went pretty good,” says Huffman, driver of the No. 12 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Tundra.  “We struggled the first day and the second day we got much better.  There’s no doubt in my mind that when we go back this week for the race we’ll be better than we were at the test.  The guys at Darrell Waltrip Motorsports are awful good about making the right adjustments.  We definitely learned a lot -- which is what a test is for -- and I think we will apply it this weekend at the race and make our Tundra better.”

WHITT ON WISCONSIN TRACK:  “Milwaukee is a tough place -- with it being flat like it is,” says Brandon Whitt, driver of the No. 38 McMillin Homes/Cure Autism Now Tundra.  “It’s always harder to get around a flatter track.  You don’t have the banking to hold you down like there is at other tracks.  It produces a lot of good racing -- just like a bigger Martinsville -- the way you have to get slowed down.”