Johnny Benson – Toyota Racing

Post Race Report

Race:                                                  O’Reilly 200 (Race 14 of 25)
Track:                                                  Memphis Motorsports Park
Date:                                                   Saturday, July 23, 2005
Started:                                               20th
Finished:                                             9th
Laps Completed/Laps Completed:     202/202
Points Position:                                  14th
                                                         (No change in position from last race)

Photo By:  Rhonda Greer Bobby Hamilton and Johnny  shared a laugh during the afternoon	Photo By:  Jim Weber This is just a glimpse of how hard Johnny and the entire #23 Bill Davis Racing team had to work  for their 9th place finish.

Johnny Benson was at a huge disadvantage compared to most of the field entering Saturday’s event at Memphis Motorsports Park because he had never seen the track.   Benson and the No. 23 team wanted to have a strong showing for all the Bill Davis Trucking employees and guests in attendance.  Bill Davis Trucking is located in Batesville, Ark., only 100 miles from Memphis Motorsports Park.  The Bill Davis Trucking logo was displayed prominently on the hood and decklid of the No. 23 Tundra. The last time the Bill Davis Trucking colors adorned a vehicle at Memphis Motorsports Park, Scott Wimmer took them to victory lane in 2003. Benson was hoping for the same result, but knew that it would be tough having never seen the track before.

Benson struggled on the .75-mile trioval during the first practice session.  He said the truck would slide the front end and did not want to turn. The team worked steadily to find a combination that agreed with its Tundra.  At the end of the first practice, the No. 23 truck was 28th fastest on the speed chart.  

The team did not give up and made up ground in the final practice session.  Benson said the changes made were positive, but the team was concerned it was chasing the race track.  Practicing in the sweltering heat and racing in the cool of the evening meant teams had to set up their trucks for the unknown. Benson and the team hoped they made the right changes to help their Bill Davis Trucking Toyota Tundra for the race.

Benson started the race in the 20th position after posting a qualifying time of 23.101 seconds.  It was a substantial gain from his practice times, and the team hoped for a strong result in the race.  On lap eight, Benson told his crew that the truck handled very tight off turns two and four.  He said he could get a run into the corner, but the truck just would not come off like he needed.

On lap 32, the No. 23 Bill Davis Trucking Tundra blew a right-front tire coming out of turn two.  Benson did a great job keeping his truck from hitting the outside retaining wall and brought it to pit road in one piece.  After multiple pit stops, the team determined that the right-front shock was broken, which caused the tire to blow. The team planned to change the shock during the next caution.

The team took advantage of the caution on lap 42 to fix their problem. It took multiple stops, but the team changed the shock and changed all four tires without losing a lap.

The race restarted on lap 46, and Benson was 32nd.  Benson moved steadily through the field and stood 23rd just 50 laps later.  He told his crew the truck had moved to the free side, but on a long run it would really hook up. 

By lap 150 of the 200-lap event, Benson had his Tundra in the 13th spot.  There were four cautions and a 10-minutes red flag period in the final 40 laps.  The cautions did not help the No. 23 truck because it ran better on the long runs.  Benson was ninth when the checkered flag waved, scoring the team’s second consecutive top-10 finish. 

The team has a week off before returning to action Aug. 5 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Bill Davis Racing - Memphis Preview

• This week’s race truck for Memphis Motorsports Park is Chassis No. 23-24.  Johnny Benson drove this truck at Dover International Speedway but was caught in a wreck on the first lap.

• Rookie Stripe… Benson will make his first start in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday.

• Trucking on… Bill Davis Trucking, located in Batesville, Ark., will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 23 Toyota Tundra this weekend at Memphis Motorsports Park.  Bill and Gail Davis, owners of Bill Davis Trucking, also field three trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  The company is celebrating 30 years in business in 2005.

• Welcome Home… The Memphis Motorsports Park is the home track to team owners Bill and Gail Davis and team manager Fletcher Lord, all of which grew up across the river in Arkansas.  Lord serves as the team manager for the Davis truck entries, managing more than 40 employees each day.  He was born and reared in Little Rock and attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

• Riding on Dirt… Benson will join some of his fellow NCTS drivers in dirt car race Friday night at the Memphis Motorsports Park dirt track, located behind the front grandstand.  The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with an autograph session.  The NCTS drivers’ feature is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m.

• Autographs anyone? Benson will participate in the Craftsman Tools autograph session Saturday, July 23, from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. at the O’Reilly tent located in the Memphis Motorsports Park midway.

• Listen and Watch … The O’Reilly 200 is scheduled to start at 8:15 p.m. ET Saturday, July 23.  It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio channel 144.

Johnny Benson on racing at Memphis Motorsports Park:
“I am excited about going to Memphis for two reasons.  One is that I get to race the Bill Davis Trucking Toyota Tundra, but I also get to race a dirt car on Friday night.  I love racing on dirt.  It is such a different type of racing.  There are no points at stake, so I will just kick back and go for the win.

“It is an honor to carry the Bill Davis Trucking banner on board with me on the No. 23 this weekend.  Bill Davis Trucking is the foundation of the entire racing organization, and I think that is only appropriate that we recognize their 30 years in business.  Bill and Gail Davis are great owners, and I hope that we have another strong finish for them this weekend.

“I am excited about racing in Memphis, but I have never been there before so I am going to have to rely on my teammates for some pointers.  Going to a new track is such a challenge for me as a driver.  You have to figure out how to make your truck fast in a short period.  I am confident that [crew chief] Greg Ely and the boys will give me a setup that will be fast, and it will be up to me to make the most of it.”

Crew chief Greg Ely on racing at Memphis Motorsports Park:
”I am excited about Memphis.  We are taking our Dover piece that made less than a lap in the race.  The guys have done a great job putting it back together, and we will go to Memphis and see what we have for the rest of the field.

“A solid ninth-place finish at Kentucky gives us much-needed momentum going into this weekend’s race.  The guys have been really working hard in the shop to give JB the best trucks week in and week out.  Johnny Benson has done a great job every week behind the wheel.  Hopefully, this weekend we will have a solid run.

“It is great to have Bill Davis Trucking on board for this weekend.  The last time Bill Davis Trucking was on a vehicle it got a win.  I hope we get the same result this weekend.”   

Toyota Notes & Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Memphis Motorsports Park -- July 23, 2005

THIS RACE:  The O’Reilly 200 will be the eighth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Memphis Motorsports Park.  There will be eight Toyota Tundras in the field at the 3/4-mile Memphis oval -- the 14th NCTS race of the 2005 season.

LAST RACE:  In the most recent NCTS race at Kentucky Speedway, three Toyota Tundras finished among the top-five.  Todd Bodine guided the No. 30 Allman Brothers Band Tundra to a second-place finish and David Reutimann ended up third in the No. 17 NTN Bearings Tundra.  Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Tundra, crossed the finish line fourth.

TODD TERRIFIC AGAIN:  Todd Bodine’s second-place finish at Kentucky Speedway -- where he crossed the finish line .249 seconds behind race-winner Dennis Setzer -- was his fourth top-five of the year.  “I had a run on Dennis (Setzer) on the white flag lap heading into Turn Two and my truck broke loose on me,” said Bodine, after the race.  “After that, I had to fall back in line.  All night I could get off the corner really good, but I couldn’t get into the corner the way I needed.  But, a first (Kansas) and a second right in a row isn’t too bad -- we’ll take it.”

BRANDON’S BEST:  Brandon Whitt, driver of the No. 38 McMillin Homes/Cure Autism Now Tundra, registered the best result of his NCTS career at Kentucky when he crossed the finish line sixth.  “It was definitely a good feeling to get that first top-10,” said the 22-year-old driver.  “We’ve had some good runs, but we just haven’t been able to put together the good finish.  We’ve been looking for that momentum to kick us forward and into the top-10 -- and we finally found it at Kentucky.  We finished where we were running most of the race, which is what we needed.”

DÉJÀ’ VU FOR TWO:  At Kentucky, both Bill Lester and David Reutimann duplicated stellar accomplishments from the previous weekend’s NCTS race at Kansas.  Lester was the fastest qualifier at Kentucky, earning his third career NCTS pole position, after pulling off the same feat at Kansas.  Reutimann’s third-place result at Kentucky -- the same finishing position he had at Kansas -- equaled his best career NCTS finish.  Last year, the 2004 NCTS Rookie-of-the-Year also finished third at Atlanta and Texas.

POTENT PAIR:  Driver Todd Bodine and team manager Mike Hillman make a potent combination at Germain Racing.  In 11 NCTS starts driving the No. 30 Tundra -- eight races in 2004 and three starts in 2005 -- Bodine has registered three wins, six top-fives and seven top-10 finishes.  In addition to his win at Kansas Speedway, Bodine picked up victories at California Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway a year ago.  “It’s great being back home with Germain Racing,” says Bodine.  “Mike Hillman and Mike Hillman, Jr., have done a great job with this race team, and my communication with the Hillmans has picked up right where we left off last year.  It definitely shows because in the past few races we’ve been running out front.”

POINTS PACE:  After the first 13 races of 2005, several Toyota Tundra drivers are among the top-15 in the NCTS championship point standings.  Mike Skinner is eighth in the standings with 1,644 points, 285 points behind leader Dennis Setzer.  Following Skinner in the standings are Tundra racers David Reutimann (1,624 points) in ninth-place, Todd Bodine (1,579 points) in 12th-place, and Johnny Benson (1,499 points) in 14th-place.

LAST YEAR HERE:  A year ago, Hank Parker, Jr. was the top finishing Toyota Tundra at Memphis Motorsports Park when he crossed the finish line in 12th-place.

MIKE IS MOVING UP:  In the past six races, Mike Skinner has recorded four top-five and five top-10 finishes, and now sits eighth in the championship standings, 285 points behind current leader Dennis Setzer.  The driver of the
No. 5 Bill Davis Racing Tundra has finished fourth (Kentucky, Kansas and Texas), fifth (Michigan) and 10th (Dover), and has led a total of 230 laps in the last six events.  In all six races, Skinner has qualified among the top-10, including a pole (Texas) and on the outside of row one (Kansas and Michigan).

SKINNER NOT STOPPING:  “We keep knocking on the door, and one of these days it will open up,” says Skinner, talking about returning to the winner’s circle.  “My guys at Bill Davis Racing have been doing an awesome job all year and I think my crew is the best on pit road.  We’ll just keep going after it.”

FIRST NASCAR POLE = NCTS RIDE:  David Reutimann earned his first NASCAR pole position at Memphis in 2003.  “That year, I had an opportunity to qualify the No. 7 Busch car for Greg Biffle at Memphis,” says Reutimann.  “We were fast off the trailer and practice went really well.  We ended up being in the top-five on the practice sheet, and then I went out and got the pole.  After getting that pole, I had a chance to say on national television that I was looking for a ride.  A couple of days after that I got a call from Darrell Waltrip.”

DAVID IN THE DIRT:  "There’s a 15-lap heat race at the 1/4-mile dirt track at Memphis on Friday night that I’m looking forward to running,” says Reutimann.  “Several Craftsman Truck Series drivers have signed up for the event.  You’ve got some drivers there that have a lot of dirt experience, and then some that don’t have any.  Dirt racing is where I got my start.  Actually, it’s all I did and all I wanted to do.  I had years of experience on dirt before I ever attempted to race anything on pavement.  That’s kind of what I am, just a ‘dirt guy.’"

CHAD HAS BEEN HERE:  Tennessee-native Chad Chaffin has the most experience among the Tundra drivers scheduled to race at Memphis.  Although Chaffin has four NCTS starts and three Busch Series starts at the track, this will mark his first race behind the wheel of a Toyota.  His best NCTS finish at Memphis was a fourth-place result in his first series start at the track in 2001.  He also started on the outside of row one in the 2003 NCTS race.

NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE:  Veteran drivers Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine, as well as rookie Shige Hattori, have never participated in an NCTS race at Memphis.  Benson and Hattori have never raced at the Memphis circuit, while Bodine has made two Busch Series starts at the track.

HALF-WAY OVERVIEW:  “Sometimes evaluations are pretty tough to make,” says Johnny Benson, about the first half of the season.  “We’ve had some really good runs, and we’ve also had some finishes that didn’t really show how good we’ve run.  Obviously, we wish we were further up in the point standings.  I think we’ve had a little bad luck that has kept us from gaining some points, but we’re moving in the right direction.”