Power Stroke Diesel 200 - August 5, 2005
Indianapolis Raceway Park - Indianapolis, IN

IRP Photos - Part III:  By:  Barb Benson 

Bill Davis is talking to a Toyota  Engineer after the practice session.	Johnny and engine builder Chuck Day discuss the practice session.
Johnny and crew chief, Rick Ren review Rick's notes from the one  hour practice session to figure  out the way to go for the race set-up.	The #23 crew is preparing the Toyota Tundra for the final technical inspection.
The #23 crew patiently waits  for their turn in line to go through stages of the tech line.  Did you know that the majority of the crew members who work on the truck are the ones who go over the wall?	Finally!  I was able to capture of photo of Rocky Ryan.  He  spots for Johnny when the Craftsman Truck Series runs with the Nextel Cup Series.  Who does Rocky spot for  in the Cup series?  Jeff Burton.

 

The #23 team is getting their Toyota Tundra ready for Johnny to make some laps in the one hour practice they were allowed for the day.	Jamie (shock specialist) is talking to one of the Toyota engineers.
The team is glad their driver found his pit stall.  The trucks were parked on the outside  of the track.  The crew chief called Johnny when it was  finally time to practice.  Johnny changed into his  driving suit, signed in at  the NASCAR truck  and greeted his team.	IRP has tight quarters for pit stalls.  Add in the  rain element and it made for a muddy mess.  On the other side of the pit wall is dirt and grass, so you can just imagine what the teams had to deal with!
I tried to capture how stacked  up the trucks were during the practice session.  Qualifying was cancelled so the field was set by points.  The #23 team was lucky that they did not have to move  out of  their pit  stall for the race.	Pat Wall, Vice President of Toyota Motorsports spent time in Johnny's  pit area.  Pat  is looking at the computer to check out   the times for the Toyota Tundras during  the practice session.

 

The Bill Davis Racing teammates - Bill Lester, Mike Skinner and Johnny take time to talk before  the driver's introduction	Johnny making his way across the stage for driver's introduction.  There were a lot of JB fans clapping for him,  Johnny had a lot of hands  to shake on the way across the stage!
Johnny is all strapped in for the 200 lap event.  One note of interest:  I was surprised to hear Johnny tell a fan that he did not compete here during his ASA days.  He finally made it here during the BGN years.	Johnny did everything he could to gain positions during the night.   He is leading his teammate during this segment.
IRP was another Truck race with green flag pit stops which caused issues with many of the top runners  - including Johnny.	The #23 Toyota Tundra looked awesome under the lights at IRP.

The No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles team headed to Indianapolis Raceway Park under the guidance of new crew chief, Rick Ren.  The team unloaded their Tundra, but did not see track time for over six hours due to weather.   

The lack of time together on the track wasn’t what anyone needed, but especially the 23 team.  Communication is the most important part of a successful team and with a new leader the team needed time in order to get its truck dialed in for the race.  The No. 23 team finally rolled on to the track for a one-hour practice late in the afternoon.   

During practice, Benson told his crew his truck was loose going into the corner and tight coming off.  The team made a number of changes to the chassis trying to get the truck dialed in for the race.  Qualifying was cancelled due to weather so the team lined up according to owner points.  Benson started Friday night’s event from the 14^th position. 

When the green flag was waived over the field, Benson immediately told his new crew chief, Rick Ren, his truck was tight in the center.  Ren and the team worked up a plan for changes on the first stop.   

After that stop, more trouble came along.  On lap 15, Benson told his crew he was chattering the front tires, which was hurting his truck off the corner.  It was like one thing after another.  Then, on lap 51, Benson told his crew he had no grip left in his front tires. 

Still, Benson managed to move toward the front of the field.  By halfway, Benson had his No. 23 pointed was one of the fastest three trucks on the track.  He was picking off his competitors and by lap 100 he was knocking on the door of the top 10 in the 12^th spot.   

On lap 136, Benson brought his TCUV Tundra to pit road for a rare green flag pit stop.  The team put on four tires and filled their Tundra with fuel.  The team also made a wedge adjustment to try and help the loose condition he was feeling in the corners.  Benson’s team made a mistake as he left pit road leaving a wedge wrench in the bed of the truck.  Under NASCAR rules the team had to come back in and serve a penalty lap for taking equipment out of the pit box.  Benson brought his truck down pit road, which put the team a lap down to the leaders. 

Benson and the No. 23 team tried to work their way back to the front and when the checkered flag flew over the field, Benson was in the 16^th position, two laps down to race winner Dennis Setzer.   

The team dropped one position in the Championship standings, landing them in 15^th place.  The team will be back in action this Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway for the running of the Toyota Tundra 200.

NOTES:

• This week’s race truck for Indianapolis Raceway Park is Chassis No. 23-24.  Johnny Benson drove this truck to a hard-fought ninth-place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park.

• Knocking them down… Benson and the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles team have two consecutive top-10 finishes to their credit.  The team finished ninth at both Kentucky Speedway and Memphis Motorsports Park.  The team is 14th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, only 120 points out of 10th.

• Welcome to Indy… Benson will meet with a group of Toyota advisors in a group called the National Advisory Council at the Hall of Fame museum in Indianapolis.  They are the top 50 advisors to the Toyota Technical Education Network (T-TEN).  The purpose of the T-TEN is to provide an environment for the exchange of information between school members, Toyota/Scion and Lexus dealers, Toyota and Lexus field office personnel and TMS management regarding program needs and services.  As a member of the NAC, the group plays an important role in supporting the expansion and improvement of the Toyota Technical Education Network.

• Good Start… Benson started on the outside of the front row and finished second to his current teammate Mike Skinner in his first Craftsman Truck Series start 10 years ago at IRP.

• Gail Davis’ ride with Petty & Friends … Last weekend, Gail Davis took to the open road to join the 2005 Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America.  This was Gail’s 10th trip with the Petty entourage, which embarked on its 11th- annual ride across the country to help raise money and awareness for children’s charities.  The ride started in Lake Oswego, Ore., Saturday, July 23, and concluded at the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, N.C., July 31. To learn more, go to www.kylepettycharityride.com.

• Listen and Watch … The Power Stroke Diesel 200 is scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m. ET Friday, Aug. 5.  It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio channel 144.

Johnny Benson on racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park:
“I’ve run at IRP a couple of times.  I ran there back in 1995 with Kurt Roehrig in his truck and finished second, and we had a couple of good runs there in the Busch car.  We struggled a bit last year in the truck.  Hopefully, when we go back there, we’ve learned enough to be a positive, and we can have a good run.

“We’ve had some good runs this season, and we’ve had some finishes that didn’t really show how good we’ve run.  Obviously, we wish we were further up in the points.  We’ve had some bad luck that has kept us from gaining points, which is one of the things that makes it hard to evaluate the season to date.  The guys at Bill Davis Racing have been doing a tremendous job.  I’ve made some mistakes, and we’ve had some pit mistakes, but I feel we’re going in the right direction.”

Crew chief Greg Ely on racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park:
“Last year at IRP was our second race with Johnny Benson behind the wheel.  We had some difficulties, which limited our practice time.  We still had a top-10 truck until we cut a left-rear tire down, which ended any chances of a solid run.  I am hoping to learn from our 2004 IRP experience, along with our experience at Milwaukee and Memphis during the 2005 campaign, so we can put a solid truck under Benson this weekend.”