Bill Davis Racing Event Preview
Race: Power Stroke
Diesel 200 (Race 14 of 25)
Track: O’Reilly Raceway
Park
Date: Friday, July 27,
2007
Started: Sixth
Finished: Second
Laps Completed: 201
Total Laps: 201
NCTS Points: Fifth
Hornaday Holds Off Determined Benson at
ORP
After dueling with Johnny Benson for
well over 30 laps racing for the second position, Ron
Hornaday chased down and passed leader Travis Kvapil on
lap 170 and led the rest of the way to take his 32nd
career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Power
Stroke Diesel 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park. With the win
Hornaday, driving Kevin and Delana Harvick's No. 33
Camping World Chevrolet, racked up his third win of the
season and his 17th career win on a short track.
In victory lane,
Hornaday credited runner-up finisher Benson and their
intense but clean battle for position as one of the main
reasons he was able to drive to victory. "I have to
hand it to Johnny here tonight," Hornaday said. "It felt
like we raced side by side for 40 laps, and he never got
into me. I race people the way they race me, and I have a
lot of respect for the way Johnny raced us here tonight.
That shows just what kind of drivers we have here in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series."
Once clear of Benson, Hornaday had to
deal with leader Travis Kvapil. He chopped off a nearly
one-second advantage in a matter of two laps and worked
his way inside of Kvapil's No. 6 K&N Engineering Ford to
take the lead. "With Travis I just got behind him
and move to the inside a little bit and it took just
enough air off his spoiler and got him loose," Hornaday
said. "Once we got past him I thought we could have driven
away but Johnny had a good truck and was able to get back
to us. He had a little bit better truck than we did but I
did all I could do to drive it as hard as I could and we
held him off."
For Benson, he had to work his No. 23
Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota hard once he cleared
Kvapil to get back to Hornaday. In fact, he said he
probably had to use it too hard and that hampered his
chances over the final quarter of the race.
"I was working on
Hornaday a little bit there with about 40 or 50 to go, but
could never quite get it done," Benson said. "I used up my
tires trying to get by him, and didn't really have
anything for him there at the end. It seemed like everyone
needed to run the high groove to be fast, so that made it
hard to pass anybody. I just couldn't quite get the truck
to cut in the corner they way it needed to. Overall, it
was a good night though
Behind Benson and Kvapil in fourth was
defending race winner Rick Crawford. Driving the No. 14
Power Stroke Diesel Ford, Crawford had extra incentive to
get to the front and pick up back to back wins with his
sponsor also sponsoring the race. But a skirmish at the
front when Hornaday and Willie Allen got together slowed
Crawford's progress and dropped him a couple of positions.
"What a great short track race here for
the fans at ORP," Crawford said. "We had a good truck and
were making some pretty bold moves out there in traffic.
We got to racing Todd (Bodine) pretty hard there. Between
us two racing that hard and Hornaday and Benson racing as
hard as they were in front of us, the fans had to be on
the edge of their seats all night long."
Johnny Benson has been charging through the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series Championship standings throughout
the last few races, and he and his No. 23 team saw no
reason to let up this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park
near Indianapolis.
Benson’s truck ran well during both practice sessions
Friday morning and emerged as the 12th-fastest truck of
the day. The No. 23 team looked forward to the
afternoon qualifying session, but qualifying was
cancelled because of rain. The starting grid was set on
series owners’ points, meaning Benson would start sixth
in that evening’s race.
The rain lingered longer than expected, and the 200-lap
race finally started after a two-hour delay. When the
race did begin, Benson charged forward. He passed
trucks on a track where passing is not easy. He
reported to his crew that the handling of the No. 23
TCUV truck was loose, but he held on until the first
caution of the evening on lap 79.
The team made trackbar and air pressure adjustments
during the four-tire stop. Benson lost a few positions
due to some issues on pit road, but he once again
charged to the front upon the restart.
He finally returned to the top 10 on lap 104 and
maintained his position well throughout the next 20
laps. The caution flag waved again on lap 123, but
Benson and his crew gambled and remained on the track
while the majority of the field came down pit road.
Benson restarted sixth on lap 128 and slowly began
picking off positions. He battled for the lead on lap
180, driving his heart out to get past the leader. He
dueled with leader Ron Hornaday Jr. for the final 20
laps before finishing second in a green-white-checkered
finish.
Benson jumped one spot to fifth in the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series Championship standings. He now heads to
Nashville Speedway to defend his victory at the
Tennessee track. The race will be televised on SPEED
Saturday, Aug. 11.
NOTES:
-
This week’s
race truck
for O’Reilly Raceway Park is
Chassis No.
23-73.
This is the same truck Benson ran earlier in the year
at California, Atlanta, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, and
Kentucky. With the highest finish (fourth) being at
Kansas.
-
Tested and Approved…
Benson along with his BDR
teammates Mike Skinner and Ryan Mathews tested this
past Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Benson truck
ran whether well and the No. 23 team is ready to race
this weekend.
-
Points Standings…
Benson is gaining ground
fast. He is in the sixth position in the NCTS
Championship point standings, only a mere 10 points
out of the top-five.
-
More Racing…
After racing at ORP Friday night, Benson will drive
over to Ohio’s Sandusky Speedway and compete Saturday
night in the 100-lap Super Modified race on the ½ mile
asphalt oval track.
-
Gail Davis’ ride with Petty and Friends…
Gail Davis took to the open road last week by
participating in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty
Charity Ride Across America. This was Gail’s 12th
trip with the Petty entourage, which embarked on its
13th- annual ride across the country in an
effort raise money and awareness for children’s
charities. To learn more, visit
www.kylepettycharityride.com
-
Listen and watch …
The POWER STROKE DIESEL
200 presented by Ford and International is scheduled
to start at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, July 27. It will
broadcast on the Speed Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and
Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128).
Johnny Benson on racing at
O’Reilly Raceway Park:
“ORP is a cool place. The groove has moved down so much
that is has become hard to pass there. It is important
to make sure you can run on the bottom, so that you can
get hooked up in order to pass.”
“Trip (Bruce) and the guys have been working real hard
to get things were they need to be. We tested at
Bristol this past Monday and ran pretty good. We are
looking to win races from here on out, so that we can
get back up there in points. We are gaining ground each
week and I would love to get a win this weekend in
Indy.”
