Las Vegas 350 - September 24, 2005
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV

Johnny Benson – Toyota Racing

Post Race Report

The No 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra team headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway trying to put the disappointing weekend at New Hampshire behind them.  The team was confident they were bringing a truck to the flat mile-and-a-half track that would compete for the win.  In Johnny Benson’s only start in Las Vegas he had a top-five result. 

In the practice sessions on Saturday morning, Benson told his crew the truck was good but needed to turn better through the center of the corner.  The team made a couple of small changes to the chassis trying to dial it in for Saturday night’s 150-lap event.  Benson told his team the changes helped, but needed a little something more if they were going to vie for the win. The team again went to work making small changes to the truck and by the end of the second and final practice session, Benson was happy with the way the truck was handling and was confident on his chances to get his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. 

The Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra went out 26^th in the qualifying session. Benson did not make a mock qualifying run during practice so the team did not know what to expect out of qualifying.  Benson went out and ran a time of 33.17 seconds at 162.76 miles per hour.  The time put him 13^th on the starting grid. 

When the race started Benson immediately knew he had a great truck.  It only took him 10 laps to break into the top-10 and was on his way to the front in a hurry.  On lap 16, Benson called to his crew saying the truck was a little loose getting in and through the middle of the corner, but felt it would tighten up as the race continued. 

By lap 40, the Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra was in the fifth position and was running times as fast as the leader.  Benson and his crew communicated on the radio the changes they wanted to make at the first pit stop.  On lap 56, Benson brought his truck down pit road for an unusual green flag pit stop.  His team went to work changing four tires and filling the truck up with fuel.  They also made a small track bar adjustment to try and tighten their Tundra up. 

On lap 66, the caution flag was displayed to the field.  Benson came over the radio saying the changes helped and the truck really felt good.  The team decided to pit again to put on four fresh tires and fill the truck with fuel on lap 68.  A problem occurred while one of the tire changers was trying to remove the lug nuts from the left-front tire.  The delay unfortunately cost the team five spots on pit road. 

When the race was restarted on lap 71, Benson found himself back in the 11^th position, but it only took nine laps for Benson to maneuver his Tundra back into the top-10.  On lap 100, Benson had moved up to the sixth position and was really on a move to the front.  Unfortunately, seven laps later the engine expired and ended the 23 team’s night. 

The team has three weeks off before returning to action at the Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 22^nd.

 

NOTES:

• This week’s race truck for Las Vegas Motor Speedway is Chassis No. 23-37.  Johnny Benson drove truck No. 37 to an eighth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in mid-August.

• Welcome Back… The Toyota Certified Used Vehicles logo will adorn the hood of the No. 23 Tundra this Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  This will be the second time during the 2005 season the leader in Used Vehicle sales will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 23 truck.  TCUV is the first company to sell 1.5 certified used vehicles, a mark it surpassed earlier this summer.

• Driving for Richard Petty… Benson will drive his Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra on Saturday night, then return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday to participate in a Richard Petty Driving Experience.  Benson will take a group of Toyota dealers on the ride of their life around the 1.5-mile oval in a two-seat stock car.

• Sad Goodbye… Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the last track at which Fletcher Lord is a part of the Bill Davis Racing family.  Lord, who has been the team manager of the three BDR truck teams for two years, is moving back to his hometown of Little Rock, Ark.  Lord has been with BDR since 1999 and has acted as the team manager for the Busch Series operation, which was intact until the beginning of the 2005 season.  Lord also acts as the front tire changer on Johnny Benson’s No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra.

• Listen and Watch … The Las Vegas 350 is scheduled to start 9 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 24.  It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN (radio) and XM Radio channel 144.

Johnny Benson on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
“Las Vegas is always a fun place to go and race.  Not only is the track one of the best on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit, but being in Las Vegas is always such an experience.  It is a totally different world out there.  There is so much to do.  I am not much of a gambler, but I love to people watch, and this is a great place to do that!

“In 2004, we had a really good truck and finished in the top five.  I hope we can improve our position by three spots and get to victory lane this weekend.  This is the last race for our team manager, Fletcher Lord, and I would like to send him off with a win.  I hope my TCUV Tundra will be the truck to do that.”

Crew chief Rick Ren on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
“I am looking forward to going to Vegas.  I have a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and had two good runs going, but we ran short on gas with a handful of laps and had to pit.  It is a track I like going to because I have had success there.  We are taking the truck we ran in the Toyota 200 in Nashville, which ran in the top five for most of the race.  I think we have a shot of having another strong run.”