Texas Race
The No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra team
knew a strong finish at Texas Motor Speedway would keep
its championship hopes alive. This was a challenge in
itself, but the team was faced with the additional
challenge of an absent crew chief. Crew chief Rick Ren
missed the Texas race due to back surgery.
Nevertheless, the team was poised to continue its battle
for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
Johnny Benson and the Toyota
Certified Used Vehicles crew were confident in their
Tundra, and it showed in both practice sessions Thursday
afternoon. Benson said his truck was really good in
both corners and had good speed down the straightaways.
The team made a couple of minor adjustments to the truck
to see how it would react during the event. At the end
of the “happy hour” final practice session, the team
believed its truck would contend for the victory.
The race
started on a perfect fall night in Texas. Benson had
his red Tundra lined up in the 11th spot and knew what
he had to do to get it to the front of the 36-truck
field. It only took two laps for Benson to break into
the top 10. Eighteen laps into the race, he explained
to his crew that the truck wanted to pivot on the left
front. He requested that adjustments be made to help
the truck turn.
Benson’s
truck received an air pressure adjustment, along with
four tires and fuel, under caution on lap 44. The team
did a great job on pit road and returned Benson to the
track in the fourth position.
Benson and
the rest of the front-runners began pulling away from
the rest of the field. Benson told his team his Tundra
needed a small wedge adjustment, but he felt like they
were going to be in good shape.
The team
made its final pit stop of the night under caution on
lap 94. After quickly administering four tires, fuel,
air pressure and wedge adjustment to the truck, the team
returned Benson to the track in the top five.
It appeared
Benson would finally pick up some ground in the
championship hunt, but all hope was lost on lap 115 when
Benson told his team the engine was going sour. Benson
began falling through the field and finally took his
machine to the garage on lap 138. After retiring 10
laps early, Benson was credited with a 31st-place
finish.
Benson and
the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra team
now sit 137 points behind points leader Todd Bodine.
The NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series heads to Phoenix International
Raceway for the Phoenix 150 Nov. 10. The 150-lap event
will begin at 8:15 p.m. ET and will broadcast on Speed
(TV) and MRN (radio).
Texas Race Notes
By: Toyota Motorsports
Mike Skinner's third-place finish tonight clinched
the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) manufacturer's
championship for Toyota, Toyota's first manufacturer's
NCTS title. This is Toyota's third season, and 73rd
race, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS).
Toyota Tundras have won 24 NCTS races since the
beginning of the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season.
Johnny Benson, No. 23 NAPA Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing
Are you out of the championship hunt?
"Probably. Now, we have to fight for second. We had a
great race truck. We did a little bit of tuning at the
end, and we probably could have made it up to third.
Something broke, not really sure what it was yet. We had
a chance to capitalize, and we didn't."
"He (Todd Bodine) tried to give it to us, but we
can't take it. Everyone at the team has done a
tremendous job all year long. This is the first failure
we've had all year. It's not meant to be I guess. We had
a good truck, I think we really could have got a few
more spots there, and we couldn't do it."
Texas Race Review
By: Chip Wile
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This week’s race truck for
Texas Motor Speedway is Chassis No. 23-73. This is the
same truck the team took to Atlanta Motor Speedway last
week, where it finished 29th after suffering a broken
drive shaft.
-
Certified in Texas… Toyota
Certified will serve as the primary sponsor of Johnny
Benson and the No. 23 Toyota Tundra team this weekend in
Texas. It will mark the 10th time this season TCUV has
partnered with Benson and his No. 23 team.
-
I Like Texas… Benson has
collected three top-five finishes in his four starts at
the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway. His worst finish
(13th) came in last fall’s event.
-
Seeing New Things… Benson will
join some of his fellow Toyota Tundra drivers on a tour of
the new Toyota Tundra plant in San Antonio, Texas,
Wednesday, Nov. 1. The state-of-the-art plant will open
in November. The drivers will see how the new generation
Tundra will be built and meet the newest members of the
Toyota family.
-
Making New Friends… Benson
will have a third teammate for the second consecutive
week, as driver Justin Labonte will join the BDR fleet at
Texas. Benson teamed up with A.J. Allmendinger in last
week’s event at Atlanta. Allmendinger started on the
outside of the front row but was caught in an early wreck
that put him out of the event.
-
Championship Battle… Benson
sits second in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship
standings with only three events remaining in the 2006
season. The No. 23 team sits 86 points behind fellow
Toyota Tundra driver Todd Bodine.
-
Listen and Watch… The
Silverado 350K is scheduled to start at 9:05 p.m. EST
Friday, Nov. 3. It will broadcast live on Speed (TV), MRN
(radio) and XM Radio channel 144.
Johnny Benson on racing at
Texas Motor Speedway:
“We are looking forward to Texas because we always seem to
run well there in the trucks. I would like to go there and
win the race. If we can run as competitive as we have in
the past, we definitely have a shot. If we can have a good
qualifying run, we’ll be alright. Texas is notorious for
being a place where it is hard to pass, so starting up front
will give us an advantage.
“You have to be smooth and
respect the racetrack. It is a fast place, but you have to
be disciplined to make sure you can stay in the fast groove
of the track, which is on the bottom. In the last three
races at Texas, our pit strategy has been good and our
Tundras have been great, but our timing was off. We have to
have perfect timing in order to get our TCUV Tundra to
victory lane.”