Coming off their first win of the season last weekend in
Milwaukee, Johnny Benson and the No. 23 team wanted to keep
that momentum alive as they headed to Memphis Motorsports
Park for this weekend’s race.
The team struggled with its setup during the first
practice session Friday, and it had a lot of work to do
before the final practice session that night. The crew
made many adjustments to the 360 OTC Tundra as they
worked hard to get the truck up to speed. The truck
improved somewhat, but not to the team’s liking.
With an early draw for the qualifying session, Benson
and his crew tried to pick up the pace a bit on the hot
Memphis track. His lap of 23.409 seconds placed Benson
in the 24th position for the start of Saturday’s race.
Benson began picking off positions immediately after the
green flag waved Saturday night. The handling of his
truck was somewhat loose at the beginning of the race.
Benson’s truck received slight damage to the right side
on lap eight after bumping into Rick Crawford.
Benson continued to move forward after the altercation
and reported to his crew that his truck was a little
loose and a little tight, but not bad. He pitted under
caution on lap 72 for four tires, fuel and an air
pressure adjustment. A fast pit stop enabled Benson to
gain seven positions and restart ninth on lap 76.
Though he maintained his position on the track, Benson
battled a truck that was getting looser by the lap and
losing grip. Benson and crew were glad to see the
caution flag wave again on lap 114. During the
four-tire stop, the crew reverted to its original setup.
After running within the top-10 for the rest of the
night, Benson finished seventh, his best career finish
at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Benson and the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
teams will head to Kentucky in two weeks. The race will
be televised on SPEED Saturday, July 14.
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