Bill Davis Racing Event Preview
Race/Date:
Casino Arizona 150 – Nov. 9, 2007
Location:
Phoenix International Raceway – Phoenix, A.Z.
Johnny Benson headed to the one-mile Phoenix
International Raceway as the defending race winner, and
he expected to defend his victory.
Benson’s No. 23 TCUV team got off to a great start
during the Thursday afternoon practice sessions. The
team made numerous adjustments to the truck during the
final practice session, just to see how the No. 23
Tundra would handle. Benson and team were quite
satisfied by the end of the day.
With a pretty decent qualifying draw on Friday
afternoon, Benson ran a great lap of 27.555 seconds,
which placed him seventh for the start of the race that
night.
After the green flag waved over the 36-truck field
Friday night, Benson
immediately reported to his No. 23 TCUV
crew that his Tundra was lacking a bit of sidebite.
Benson drove his truck as well as he could during the
caution-filled opening 30 laps. On lap 36, he joined
the rest of the field on pit road.
The handling of the truck was just a touch tight, so
Benson’s crew made air pressure and trackbar adjustments
during the four-tire stop. Benson restarted in the
eighth position on lap 40 and soon began his charge to
the front.
Benson fought off trucks one by one and tried his best
to get his Tundra to go on the restarts. His
perseverance paid off, as he emerged in the top five by
lap 55.
The caution flag waved again on lap 71, and Benson
pitted for adjustments to his now loose handling truck.
After a stop similar to the one earlier in the race,
Benson was forced to again work his way forward on the
restart.
Benson gained track position little by little each lap
and soon wheeled his No. 23 TCUV Tundra to a seventh
place finish, despite a crazy ending of the 150 lap
race. The finish propelled him back into the top five
of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship
standings.
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Homestead-Miami
Speedway this weekend as the 2007 season comes to an
end. The race will be televised live on SPEED Friday,
Nov. 16.
NOTES:
-
This week’s race truck for
Phoenix International Raceway is Chassis No. 23-104.
This is the same truck Benson ran in Vegas en route to
his second place finish in September.
-
Phoenix Stats… Johnny
Benson, the defending champion of this race, is
another driver to watch this weekend. He has a Driver
Rating of 127.9, an Average Running Position of 5.4
and has spent 263 of the 300 laps over the past two
years in the top 15. He also leads all drivers in
Fastest Laps Run with 51.
·
An Unbelievable Weekend… Benson is
your Phoenix pole winner and race winner from last
year. His unbelievable comeback at last year’s race was
one that will never be forgotten and with the roll his
No. 23 team has been on here lately he looks like a good
contender to make take his Tundra to victory lane two
years in a row.
-
Double Duty… This weekend,
Benson will attempt to qualify for the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series race as well as drive in the Truck race on
Friday night. Benson will drive the No. 36 Toyota
Camry in the NEXTEL Cup Series this weekend.
-
Sponsor Alert... The No. 23
Tundra will sport the red colors of TCUV for the last
time this year this weekend in Phoenix. TCUV sold its
2,000,000th vehicle this past month, marking the first
time a manufacturer has made such an achievement.
-
On a Roll… Benson and his
No. 23 team have had two wins, five top-five finishes
and seven top-10 finishes in the last seven races.
-
Listen and watch… The
Casino Arizona 150 is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
ET Friday, Nov. 9. It will broadcast on the Speed
Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio
(Ch. 128).
Johnny Benson on racing at Phoenix International
Raceway:
“We have been running well here lately, except for the
motor glitch last weekend and we normally run real good
here in Phoenix so hopefully we can make something
happen again this year here. We got the pole and the
race win here last year and would love nothing more than
to do it again. Between running the truck and trying to
qualify the Cup car this weekend, I should be more than
ready for the race on Friday night.”
Phoenix Race Report
Veteran driver Johnny Benson drove his 360 OTC Racing
Toyota Camry to a 36th-place finish in his first NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series start in a Bill Davis Racing machine
this season.
Benson
was the 33rd of 49 competitors to take to the track for
his qualifying run Friday afternoon. His speed of
130.757 mph around the one-mile oval earned the team the
30th spot on the starting lineup for Sunday’s event.
Benson was set to join his BDR teammates Dave Blaney and
Jacques Villeneuve in the field for Sunday’s Checker
Auto Parts 500, as all three Bill Davis Racing entries
qualified solidly for the race.
The green
flag waved for the start of the 312-lap event Sunday, and
Benson immediately communicated to crew chief Trip Bruce
that the handling of his Toyota Camry was loose. Bruce
called for four tires and handling adjustments during the
first pit stop of the day on lap 27. Benson returned to
the track for the lap 29 restart in the 39th place.
Benson
went one lap down to the leader early in the race. The
team continued to work diligently on the handling of the
car throughout the event but could never quite hit on just
the right change to correct the Camry’s loose condition.
Benson eventually took the checkered flag in the 36th
place.
With just
one race left on the schedule, the NEXTEL Cup Series heads
to Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend for the Ford
400. Qualifying for the event will be held Friday
afternoon, and Sunday afternoon’s race is scheduled for a
3:45 p.m. ET start. The race will be broadcast on ABC
television, MRN Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.
