California

Track: California Speedway
Date: Friday, Feb. 24, 2006
Started: 26th
Finished: 6th
Laps Completed: 106
Total Laps: 106


Although Johnny Benson started towards the back of the pack in Friday
night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) at California Speedway, when
the green flag waved he managed to work his way through the field.  At the
checkered flag, Benson just missed a top-five finish by one spot - registering a sixth-place finish in the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra.

Benson began the weekend on Thursday by recording the 16th fastest time in
the first practice session and then improving ten spots in the second
practice session later that afternoon.  However, the No. 23 team wasn't able
to maintain that momentum from the second practice session in Friday
morning's qualifying.  Benson was only able to post the 26th fastest time in
qualifying.

Despite starting on row 13, Benson managed to work his way through the field
all night long.  After an early pit stop on lap 19 for a pair of tires and fuel, Benson had improved his position by 11 spots at lap 30.  By lap 40 he
had moved the No. 23 Tundra into the top-10 for the first time.

After a second pit stop just past the halfway point in the 100-lap event, the No. 23 team fell back to 23rd in the field.  However, Benson quickly began to again make up ground.  By lap 70, he improved 10 spots to 13th-place, and after another 10 laps he moved back into the top-10.

His charge through the field enabled Benson to cross the finish line sixth -
his best career NCTS finish at California in three starts at the track.

The race ended with a green-white-checker finish - just like Daytona - and
Mark Martin picked up his second straight Craftsman Truck Series win.  Six
additional laps were added onto to the scheduled 100-lap event following a
late race accident.

After two races, Benson sits ninth in the NCTS championship point standings
with 268 points, 112 points out of first-place. The next race on the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule will be at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Friday, March 17.