Bill Davis Racing Event Preview
Race/Date:
Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 – Oct. 27, 2007
Location:
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Atlanta, Ga.
Johnny Benson headed to the Atlanta Motor Speedway with
high hopes of keeping his top-ten streak alive.
Finishing in the top-ten the last six races, including
winning two of those six, Benson and his No. 23 team
have been on a roll and saw no reason to let up at this
past weekend’s Atlanta race.
As practice got underway Friday afternoon, Benson and
his team experienced all sorts of problems with their
TCUV Tundra. Making numerous changes in between
sessions, the No. 23 team just couldn’t get their truck
up to par, finishing out the day in the 18th
position on the speed charts.
Before their qualifying attempt the next day the No. 23
TCUV team went to work under crew chief Trip Bruce’s
authority. Literally changing everything on the truck,
Benson and the team held their breath as their Tundra
ran its qualifying laps. Running a lap time of 30.754
seconds, Benson would qualify in the eighth position and
became very pleased with his guys and his truck.
As the 130 lap race got underway, Benson radioed over to
the crew during the first few laps that his TCUV truck
was tight off. With a competition caution flying on lap
30, Benson came to pit road with the rest of the
36-truck field. Taking four tires, fuel and making a
wedge bolt adjustment, Benson and his team would get off
pit road with ease, until the realized that got caught
for speeding. Having to come back down pit road for a
pass through penalty, Benson would be forced to start at
the tail end of the longest line.
Immediately however Benson would vault his way through
the field, passing trucks left and right on the 1.5 mile
Atlanta racetrack and making his way into the top-10 by
lap 60. With another caution flag waving on lap 80,
Benson along with the rest of the field would come to
pit road. Taking four tires and fuel only, Benson would
restart in the second position on lap 85.
Taking the lead on lap 96, Benson would radio over to
his crew that he felt a vibration in the left front.
Trying to put it out of his mind, Benson drove hard and
hung onto the lead for the next few laps.
With the fourth caution of the night coming out on lap
106, Benson would once again come to pit road for four
tires, fuel, a wedge and an air pressure adjustment,
restarting in the fourth position on lap 111.
Remaining calm throughout the last few crazy laps and
driving hard, Benson would cross the start/finish line
in the third position, and move himself into the fourth
position in the NCTS points.
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway
again this weekend. The race will be televised live on
SPEED Friday, Nov. 2.
Johnny Finishes 3rd in Atlanta
Kyle Busch was both lucky and
good Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch
benefited from two timely caution flags, including one
when we was about to be black flagged for a having a loose
window net, and then powered past leader Ron Hornaday Jr.
with seven laps to go to win the EasyCare Vehicle Service
Contracts 200.
Hornaday finished second, followed by Johnny Benson,
Mark Martin and Mike Skinner. Hornaday's runner-up
performance enabled him to sneak past Skinner and retake
the lead in the Truck Series standings by a mere four
points with three races remaining in the season. It is
the fifth time in the past six
races that the
series lead has changed hands between the two drivers.
NOTES:
-
This week’s race
truck for Atlanta Motor
Speedway is Chassis No. 23-73. Johnny Benson
has driven this truck in several races this season.
The truck’s most recent outing at Bristol (Tenn.)
Motor Speedway in August resulted in a victory for
Benson and the No. 23 team.
-
Sponsor Alert...
The No. 23 Tundra will once
again sport the red colors of TCUV this weekend at
Atlanta. TCUV sold its 2,000,000th vehicle this past
week, marking the first time a manufacturer has made
such an achievement.
-
Point Standings…
Benson has quickly climbed
the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship
standings. He now stands in the fifth position.
-
Fast Facts…
Benson won the pole in just
his fourth NASCAR Cup Series start in Chuck Rider’s
No. 30 Pennzoil Pontiac at Atlanta Motor Speedway in
1996. Benson also won the 1995 Busch Light 300 NASCAR
Busch Series event at Atlanta. He drove Bill
Baumgardner’s Lipton Tea Chevrolet to not only the
Atlanta victory, but also the series championship that
year.
-
Listen and
watch… The Easy Care
Vehicle Service Contracts 200 is scheduled to start at
1:00 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 27. It will broadcast on
the Speed Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius
Satellite Radio (Ch.
