Spin and Win in Phoenix for Benson
By:  Charles Krall

Johnny Benson got turned sideways on the opening lap, but that did not deter him from picking up his fifth win of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Benson started from the pole, but spun entering turn three on the opening lap. After dropping back to the tail of the field, Benson methodically worked his way back to the front and stormed to the checkered flag.

Benson started his No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota alongside his Bill Davis Racing teammate Mike Skinner, and since both are in heated points battles, they charged hard on the points battles, they charged hard on the first lap. Skinner nosed his own No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota ahead going into three just as Benson broke loose.

“I just got way loose going into turn three on the first lap,” Benson said. “I was just being dumb. I thought for sure it would stick. I just did my normal deal and I was thinking ‘man, this is going to be a long day!’ I tried to keep it off Mike Skinner. We brought it in and they made some adjustments and it was still way too loose. I felt we could get to the top ten, and then the top five. The pit stop gained us five spots and we just kept getting better and better.”

“I knew we were good but so was Mark Martin,” Benson said. “I didn’t think we were going to be able to get past him. We were both real loose and that usually works against the guy behind. If we would have raced into a turn side by side we both probably would have spun out.”

For his part, all Skinner was trying to do was score five points for leading a lap early to give him a leg up in his race for a top ten points position. “Johnny and I are both in our own points battle,” Skinner said. “I didn’t want to do anything stupid to hurt him on that first lap but it looked like he got loose down on the inside.” 

The spin left Benson last in the 35-truck field, and he was able to quickly make his way back through the pack. “I didn’t really have any close calls out there coming through,” he said. “I know there were a lot of cautions out there tonight so there must have been a lot of action out there tonight, but there weren’t any out there that were close to me.”

Benson hasn’t given up all hopes on taking the series championship, but he knows it will be a long shot. “All we’ve wanted to do all year long was come to the track and win races,” Benson said. “That was the plan when we unloaded in Daytona and that’s still the plan now. We’re going to Homestead with the same thing in mind. We’ll go to try to win the race and the points will take care of themselves. There isn’t anything about this 2006 season that has me upset. We’ve had a great year. And we’ve built a championship caliber team along the way.”

Mark Martin finished second in the No. 6 Scott’s Ford. He led 82 laps on the evening, but didn’t have enough to hold back Benson’s late charge. “Johnny earned it,” Martin said. “They showed they were really fast on new tires in qualifying by smoking everybody. He came from the back of the pack, and we had a great truck and he passed us. They deserve to win tonight. Our strong suit was green flag runs, and we had them early but not late.”

Bodine scored his twelfth top-five finish of the season with a fourth-place run in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota. Bodine now leads by 112 points heading into Homestead. “Leading by 112 points surely beats not leading by 112 points,” Bodine said. “I take my hat of to Johnny, Rick (Ren) and Bill and Gail Davis. They have had a great year and done everything they’ve needed to do. We’ve had a great year and we’re going to do all we can do to win the championship with a win next week in Homestead.”

Matt Crafton finished fifth in the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet. He passed David Starr for the position on the final lap, leaving Starr to fight with Jack Sprague, David Reutimann, and Kyle Busch for position. Sprague and Busch apparently made contact on the final lap, pushing Busch into the wall coming to take the checkered flag. Busch expressed his disappointment by scrubbing alongside Sprague’s truck on the cool-down lap. Starr was eventually credited with sixth, Sprague seventh, Reutimann eighth – after starting at the tail of the field due to an engine failure on his qualifying lap – Busch ninth, and Erik Darnell was the highest finishing Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in tenth.

There were a record 11 cautions for 43 laps, which slowed the average speed to just 86.221 miles per hour. Chase Miller was involed in a hard crash on lap six which saw him slam hard into the turn one retaining wall. He was uninjured in the crash, but his No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge was done for the night. Rick Crawford was also involved in a wall-banger after a right front tire deflated on the No. 14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford for the second week in a row. Crawford finished 33rd. Most other incidents on the track involved minor spins or debris on the track.
 

Benson Comes Back From Bad Beginning
By:  Toyota Motorsports

Pole-sitter Johnny Benson battled back from a first lap spin to win Friday evening’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Phoenix International Raceway -- and keep his slim championship hopes alive heading into the series season finale.

Benson, driver of the No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra, passed veteran Mark Martin for the lead with 30 laps remaining in the 150-lap event at the Arizona one-mile oval.  He was able to hold off several challenges from Martin -- along with several race restarts following caution periods -- and take his Bill Davis Racing Tundra to victory lane. The win was Benson’s fifth victory of the season.  Earlier this year, Benson captured the checkered flag at Michigan, Milwaukee, Nashville and New Hampshire.

The victory enabled Benson to remain mathematically alive to capture the Craftsman Truck Series championship next Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  The Grand Rapids, Mich.-native trails Bodine by 112 points in
the standings.  If Bodine finishes 28th or better at Miami, he will clinch the title.

“We had to work pretty hard for this one,” said Benson, following the race. “I really made a stupid move at the start.  My truck was a little loose in turns one and two -- and I thought it was going to be ok.  But, I lost it and we had to come in and make some adjustments.  I told Rick (Ren, crew chief) that we could get back up through the field if we had good pit stops.”

“The whole race was challenging,” added Benson.  “Any time you have a truck that starts on the pole and you spin out -- it’s going to make for a challenging day.  The first 15 to 20 laps were ok, then it kept getting harder and harder.  Guys were racing really hard, but that’s what this series is all about.  Guys race you tough -- which makes this win so sweet.”

Bodine, who finished fourth in his No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Tundra, was able to run among the leaders throughout the race, but was never able to lead the field.  “Johnny (Benson) and Rick (Ren, crew chief) are doing exactly what they need to do -- winning races,” said Bodine, following the race. “Unfortunately for them, our team is doing exactly what we need to do to continue to lead in the championship -- and that is to finish up front.  We have to keep the big picture in mind.  I didn’t want to put myself in a position to be taken out.  I wanted to keep my Tundra in one piece all night and finish in the top-five -- which is what we did.”

Following Benson to the Phoenix finish line were Mike Skinner (third), Bodine (fourth), David Starr (sixth), Jack Sprague (seventh), David Reutimann (eighth), Ted Musgrave (19th), Bill Lester (20th) and Chad Chaffin (23rd).

Johnny Benson picked up his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole in qualifying for the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday afternoon. Benson hammered the field with a lap of 27.137 seconds, or 132.660 miles per hour, setting a new track record and beating the second fast driver in time trials by nearly four tenths of a second.