Location:
Martinsville Speedway
Date:
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
Martinsville Race Review
The No. 23 Toyota Tundra team was 60 miles north of
Bill Davis Racing’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
shop Saturday, as the Series traveled to
Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team was looking
for revenge: Johnny Benson and the No. 23 team were
running second at the half-mile track in the spring
before Benson was spun coming to the checkered
flag. The incident relegated the team to a
25th-place finish, certainly not indicative of the
team’s effort, and Benson entered the fall event
hoping to finally finish what he started in the
spring.
The No. 23 Toyota
Tundra team saw its first on-track activity Saturday
after inclement weather cancelled all activities
Friday. As soon as Benson hit the track for
practice, he knew he had a strong machine. He told
his team the truck was very stable in the corners,
but he could use a little more forward bite coming
off the corners. The team made minor changes to its
machine, hoping to find a little extra speed. By
the end of the 45-minute practice, the No. 23 team
was confident it had a machine capable of running in
the front pack and was looking forward to the
200-lap event.
Benson started the
race from the fifth spot, but he did not stay there
long. By lap 10, the NASCAR veteran was in the
third spot and knocking on the door for the lead.
On lap 14, he explained to his team that the truck
was chattering the front tires in turns one and two,
but the truck was really hooked up well. Benson was
consistently running lap times as good as those of
the leader and was gaining ground every lap.
It seemed only a
caution flag could slow Benson, and he used the
caution on lap 34 to head to the pits for service.
During the lap 36 stop, the team changed four tires,
filled the truck with fuel and made an air pressure
adjustment. Fast work by the No. 23 crew put Benson
in the sixth position for the restart.
By lap 80, Benson
had maneuvered through traffic and made it back into
the runner-up position behind Championship contender
Ron Hornaday. The two staged an epic side-by-side
battle lap after lap. Benson’s Tundra would really
rotate on the bottom, but Hornaday could keep his
truck in the outside lane, which helped him down the
straightaway. Benson finally took the lead off turn
two on lap 154 and never looked back. Benson went
on to lead the final 46 laps en route to his fifth
victory of the season. With the victory, the No. 23
Toyota Tundra team regained the Craftsman Truck
Series Championship point lead and now leads
Hornaday’s crew by 65 points.
Benson and the No.
23 Toyota Tundra team will head to Atlanta Motor
Speedway for the Craftsman Truck Series race
Saturday, Oct. 25. The race is scheduled to start
at 1:30 p.m. EST. Live television coverage begins
at 1 p.m. EST on Speed Channel.
Johnny Benson on Racing at
Martinsville Speedway:
“I am looking forward to going back
to Martinsville. We had a great run going there in
the spring, but we were caught up in an incident
coming to the checkered flag.
“We are bringing the same truck
back this weekend and hope to get the finish we
deserve. Martinsville Speedway is a tough track.
You have to be really aggressive and be on your toes
all day. It is a lot like Talladega where you can
get caught up in someone else’s mistake. We have to
get out of Martinsville with a strong finish and
move on to the last four races of the 2008 season.
We have had a great year. [Crew chief] Trip Bruce
and all the guys on this No. 23 Toyota Tundra team
have done a tremendous job preparing these trucks.
It is fun to get to the track every week and race in
the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.”
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