Benson’s No. 27 Camry…The No. 27 Bill Davis Racing team plans to utilize chassis No. 40 for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is the same Camry the team ran last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
TCUV on Board…The No. 27 Toyota Camry will feature the decals of Toyota Certified Used Vehicles this weekend in Atlanta. TCUV is one of Benson’s primary sponsors on his No. 23 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series machine as well.
Benson’s Career Stats…Johnny Benson hopes to make his 275th career Sprint Cup Series start when the green flag waves for the 500-mile event Sunday afternoon. He made his first career Cup Series start in February 1996 at Daytona International Speedway and finished 38th in his first Cup Series start in Atlanta in 1996. Benson captured the pole position for that event.
Benson at Atlanta…Benson has made 16 Cup Series starts at the 1.54-mile speedway during his career and has scored four top-10 and six top-15 finishes in Cup Series competition. Benson has had a great deal of success on the Hampton-area track behind the wheel of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck. In six starts, the veteran driver has scored three third-place efforts. In addition, Benson has competed in four NASCAR Nationwide Series events at the track and was victorious in 1995.
BDR at AMS…Competitors driving Bill Davis Racing-owned cars have been racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway since 1993 and have made 44 starts. Those drivers have posted three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes at the Hampton, Ga. track.
Atlanta Broadcast
Schedule…Qualifying for the Kobalt Tools 500 is
scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m. ET Friday, March 7.
The 325-lap event is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET
Sunday, March 9, and will broadcast LIVE on FOX (TV),
PRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio.
This week’s race truck for the Atlanta Motor Speedway is Chassis No. 23-73. This is the same truck that the No. 23 TCUV team ran in numerous races last year, including the spring and fall events at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Double Duty…Not only will Johnny Benson race his Toyota Tundra Friday night, but he will also attempt to qualify Bill Davis Racing’s second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car this weekend.
Numbers, Numbers, Numbers… Benson leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with 109 green flag passes so far this season. The veteran driver also has an average running position of 7.6 (third best in series), a driver rating of 101.8 (third), and he has run 85 percent of the laps completed in the top-15.
On Board… TCUV will once again be on board Benson’s truck during Friday night’s race.
Fast Facts… In 1996, Benson’s first season of NASCAR Cup Series competition, he won the pole at Atlanta in just his fourth start in Chuck Rider’s No. 30 Pennzoil Pontiac. Benson also won the 1995 Busch Light 300 NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series event at the Georgia track. He drove Bill Baumgardner’s Lipton Tea Chevrolet to victory in that race and captured the series championship later that year.
Charity Event… Benson and Bill Davis Racing teammate Phillip McGilton will participate in the Inaugural Clay Shoot and Barbecue for the Atlanta Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities Thursday afternoon at the track. The event kicks off at 11:30 a.m.
Listen and watch … The American Commercial Lines 200 is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET Friday, March 7. It will broadcast live on Speed Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128).
Johnny Benson on racing at
Atlanta Motor Speedway:
“We are very excited about how the season has gone so far. Atlanta is a great track to run on, and it is always exciting for the fans. I will be pulling double duty this weekend, so I will have plenty of seat time on the track in order to prepare for Friday night’s truck race. We are going to do everything we can to keep our hot streak going this year and hopefully we can get into victory lane soon.”
