Kansas
April 28, 2007

After posting their third top-10 finish of the season in the most recent event, Johnny Benson and his 360 OTC Toyota Tundra expected more at Kansas Speedway.

For the second time this season, Benson’s truck carried the same 360 OTC logos as that of his BDR teammate Tyler Walker.  Benson’s team struggled early in Friday’s practice session and finished the first session as the 10th-fastest team.  After finding some crucial information about what was slowing down their truck, Benson and crew chief Trip Bruce were looking forward to the final practice session.  However, rain cancelled that session, and the team had to test its new knowledge on Saturday.

Benson qualified late in Saturday’s time trials.  His lap time of 32.351 seconds placed Benson in the 20th position on the starting grid.

When the green flag waved for the start of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, Benson and his crew were on a mission.  Benson picked off positions one by one and leapt into the top 10 by lap 25.  Despite the advance, Benson reported to his crew that the truck’s handling needed to be adjusted.  Benson soon pitted under green flag conditions for a round of wedge, four tires and fuel.  After some problems on pit road, Benson was forced to fight his way forward once again.

Benson’s truck got loose and spun around on lap 70.  He took the 360 OTC Tundra to the pits to allow the crew to assess the damage.  The crew repaired the damage on the right side fender, changed four tires and fueled the truck.  The team’s fast work placed Benson 15th for the lap 79 restart.  Benson did not remain there long and re-entered the top 10 just 11 laps later.  He held that position until the caution flag waved on lap 111.  The team took advantage of the caution to pit for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.  Benson restarted ninth on lap 115.

With no grip in his Tundra, Benson had his hands full throughout the rest of the race.  As a testament to his driving ability, Benson finished fourth despite the battle with his truck.

Benson’s truck will display the Exide colors the next time the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competes May 18 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.  The race will be televised live on SPEED.

NOTES:

• This week’s race truck for the Kansas Speedway is Chassis No. 23-73.  This is the same truck that Benson ran at the California Speedway and the Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this year.

• Career Stat… This will be Benson’s 80^th career start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  His first start was at Phoenix International Raceway on February 5, 1995 where he qualified fourth and ended up with a 10^th place finish.

• Welcome Back 360 OTC as the primary sponsor of Benson’s No. 23 Toyota Tundra for the second race in a row this weekend in Kansas.  Benson will join BDR teammate Tyler Walker in representing 360 OTC on the side of his truck.  This will be the second of 10 races this season with 360 OTC as the primary sponsor on Benson’s truck.

• Autographs Anyone?  Benson will be appearing along with BDR teammate Tyler Walker as well as numerous other NCTS drivers for pictures and autographs at the Nebraska Furniture Market, which is directly across from the Speedway on Friday, April 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

• Listen and watch … The O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday, April 28.  It will broadcast live on Speed Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128).

Johnny Benson on racing at Kansas Speedway:

“Kansas is one of the tracks I really like to race on during the year.  Kansas is a very smooth and fast track.  You carry a lot of speed into the corners and have the ability to run on either the top or the bottom of the racetrack and still be fast.  I am really looking forward to this weekend and I hope we have the finish that this No. 23 team deserves.  We have struggled a little bit the first few races, but made great progress in Martinsville, so hopefully we can run well in Kansas this weekend.”

“Having three weeks off in between races is tough, because all you can think about is getting back out there and making improvements.  My guys have been working real hard the last few weeks in the shop and I think it will show this weekend on the track.  We also have 360 OTC back on board this weekend so hopefully we can give them a solid top-10 finish.”