Benson was the second driver to make his qualifying lap.  Although it seemed to be a bad qualifying draw, Benson posted a lap of 34.045 seconds, which placed him fourth on the starting grid for Saturday night’s race.

After the green flag waved over the 36-truck field to begin Saturday night’s race, Benson immediately reported to the crew that all the side bite was gone, and the truck’s handling was loose in the center of the turns.  After a few long green flag runs, however, Benson’s Tundra improved, and by lap 39, he had taken the lead.

Benson remained in the lead until the caution flag waved on lap 58.  He pitted for four tires and fuel.  Unfortunately, a missed lug nut on the left front tire forced Benson to pit again and restart at the end of the longest line on lap 63.

Benson was a bit frustrated, but he remained calm and rocketed through the field.  Benson re-emerged in the top 10 within 10 laps.  With his truck getting faster the longer he ran, Benson charged straight to the front of the field and found himself fighting for the lead by lap 92.

The caution flag waved again on lap 105, and Benson again pitted for four tires and fuel.  He restarted fifth on lap 110.  With just 50 laps remaining in the race, Benson knew now was the time to make his move.  He passed trucks left and right and found himself battling for the lead with Ron Hornaday, Jr. on lap 140.  A good run off turn two propelled Benson into the lead on lap 148, and he never looked back.  Benson captured his second consecutive victory and his third win of the season.

Benson will join the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitors in two weeks at [Loudon] New Hampshire’s International Speedway.  The race will be televised live on SPEED Saturday, Sept. 15.
 

Johnny Wins at Gateway!
Johnny Benson rallied from a mistake on a mid-race pit stop to score his second consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway. Benson, who had been at or near the front leading all race prior to his first stop of the day, was forced to drop back to twentieth after a lug nut came loose as his crew changed left side tires. From there, Benson quickly knifed his way through the field and eventually slipped past leader Ron Hornaday on lap 147 en route to his third win of the 2007 season.

Tundra drivers Ted Musgrave (third), Todd Bodine (fourth) and Josh Wise (eighth) also scored top-10 finishes. For Wise, it was his best-career NCTS finish.  Other Tundra drivers in the field included Ryan Mathews (18th), David Green (20th), Mike Skinner (28th), Terry Cook (30th) and Jack Sprague (32nd).

Johnny Benson, No. 23 TCUV Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis Racing - Finished: 1st  How does it feel to win your second-consecutive race? “This was awesome. The Bill Davis Racing team gave me a great truck this weekend. We were fast from the time we unloaded, and it’s great to get back into victory lane. Last week, we got a little lucky at Bristol, but today, we had to work our tails off. We had a little mistake on pit road that put us back for a while, but fortunately, there was a long green flag run and we were able to make up some spots. I can’t thank Toyota enough for these engines. They are just awesome.”

Can you talk about coming from the back to the front? “We obviously dropped a lug nut and had to come back in, and that was something that we didn’t want to see. At that point in time, I believed it would’ve lost us the race. After I ran 10 laps, I thought that the truck was good enough to get back up there if it stayed green. I needed green flag because this thing got really good the longer it ran. Some of the guys struggled after they got a lot of heat in the tires and heat in the brakes. I abused the truck, though. It’s tired right now. It’s laying on the ground and it’s ready for a nap.”