Johnny Benson - Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Racing
Post Race Report
Race: San Bernardino
County 200 (Race 2 of 25)
Track: California
Speedway
Date: Saturday, Feb. 23,
2008
Started: Third
Finish:
Third
Laps Completed: 100
Total Laps: 100
NCTS Points: Third
With the 2008 season off to a great start in Daytona,
Johnny Benson and his No. 23 Toyota Certified Used
Vehicles team headed to the two-mile California Speedway
with high hopes.
By: Phil Cavali
The California truck was same truck that carried Benson
to victory in the 2007 season-finale Homestead Miami
Speedway. Benson knew he would be a force to be
reckoned with on the West Coast track, and he proved
that right off the bat. Benson ran strong during both
practice sessions Thursday. He and his team were
excited and ready to get qualifying underway on Friday.
Mother Nature had other plans, though, and qualifying
was cancelled due to rain. Benson would line up in the
third position for Saturday’s 100-lap race, as the
starting grid was based on last year’s NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series points standings.
Before the green flag waved over the field Saturday
afternoon, the No. 23 team realized the truck’s fuel
pump was broken. The team replaced the fuel pump before
the race began, and Benson was relegated to the rear of
the field for the start of the race.
Benson didn’t stay there long. By lap five, Benson and
his Tundra were already in the top-20 and kept picking
off positions one by one each lap. The caution flag
waved on lap 14 for debris, and Benson joined the rest
of the field on pit road for four tires and fuel.
Benson’s truck was handling well, and he once again
charged through the field. He reached the eighth
position by lap 30.
Benson reported to crew chief Trip Bruce that his truck
felt good, but it was lacking a bit. Benson was glad to
see the caution flag wave again on lap 44. Benson
stopped for four tires, fuel and an air pressure
adjustment, then returned to the track in second place
for the lap 48 restart.
The truck’s handling tightened again a few laps later,
but Benson maintained his position well. He gave up
second place only to take the lead on lap 81. Benson
maintained the lead for the next three laps before he
dove down pit road for a green flag pit stop. A fast
two-tire stop left Benson only 15 laps to fight for the
lead.
Benson battled hard to catch the two trucks in front of
him, but he came up a bit short for the victory. His
third-place finish was his highest finish at California
Speedway.
Benson and the rest of the Craftsman Truck Series will
have a week off before they head to Atlanta Motor
Speedway in two weeks. The race will be televised live
Friday, March 7 on SPEED Channel.
Toyota Notes - California
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used
Vehicles Tundra, Bill Davis Racing Finished: 3rd
How were you able to get your Tundra
to the front of the pack today?:
“To tell you the truth, we didn’t do a whole lot. We did a
little bit of air pressure and everything was so tight from
where we started we couldn’t afford to take too much time on
pit road making adjustments. The guys did a heck of a job
on the Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra. It was a
great day for us to start at the back and I thought we might
have had something for them when we got up there. Todd
(Bodine) was getting me pretty loose and then I was just
hanging on for a little while. We got just two tires there
at the end and probably picked up a spot doing that. It was
a good day for us.”
Do you prefer running this race during the day or night?:
“The night racing here is definitely different than the
day. Although, today was similar to a night race with the
clouds and it was cold. I don’t think it was a huge swing
of difference, but it is typically different. I think with
this week how the weather was it wasn’t a huge difference.”
Kyle Busch Wins - JB Finishes 3rd
Last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch
scored top-five finishes in all three of NASCAR's top
series, but never once reached victory lane. He rectified
that situation in short order Saturday afternoon at the Auto
Club Speedway of Southern California, where he scored a
dominating triumph in the San Bernardino 200 NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Race.
Busch led 51 of 100 laps in his Billy
Ballew-owned San Bernardino County Toyota Tundra to cruise
to victory ahead of the Lumber Liquidators Toyota of Todd
Bodine and Johnny Benson, who charged from the back of the
35-truck field to score an impressive third place in his
Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra. Rounding out the top
five were Terry Cook's Wyler.com Toyota and defending series
champion Ron Hornaday, Jr. in the Camping World Chevrolet.
Toyotas have now swept the top four finishing positions in
the first two events on the 25-race NCTS schedule.
The top three finishers in
Southern California Saturday also finished in the top three
at Daytona a week earlier, when Bodine beat Busch and
Benson. This time, though, it was all Busch, who scored the
seventh NCTS victory of his career and made it look easy.
"Here's the start, hopefully, to a three-peat this weekend,"
said Busch, who will race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series
race Saturday night and the Sprint Cup event Sunday.
At the start of the 100-lap event,
Hornaday began from the pole and took the lead as Skinner
radioed in with what he suspected was a dropped cylinder in
his Bill Davis Racing No. 5 Toyota Tundra.
Benson, who would
have started third, was sent to the back at the start for
unapproved modifications, specifically a fuel pump
replacement on his Toyota. He worked his way up to 22nd by
Lap 5.
One lap later, Justin Marks went around
at the exit of Turn 2, his Crocs Toyota pulled around by the
side draft of Busch. That brought out the first caution of
the race. Under caution, Skinner pitted and found he had a
loose plug wire. He restarted 33rd. Hornaday restarted
in the lead ahead of Bodine, Rick Crawford, Matt Crafton and
Colin Braun. Charging hard on the restart was Busch, who was
all the way up to third by Lap 10.
The second caution flew on Lap 17 for
debris at the entrance to Turn 3. The lead-lap trucks pitted
a lap later. Bodine took gas only, while Hornaday pitted too
close to the wall and had a lengthy stop, emerging 13th. The
order out of the pits was Bodine over Ted Musgrave, Philip
McGilton and Busch. By Lap 21, Busch was up to second
and challenging Bodine for the lead. Two circuits later,
Busch had the lead for the first time, and he opened up a
full 3-second margin on the field by Lap 35, just past the
one-third distance.
Caution No. 3, the final one of the
event, flew for debris on Lap 46. Busch maintained the point
following the ensuing pit stops, ahead of Benson, Bodine,
Hornaday and Skinner as the
track went green one lap before the
midway point.
Shortly thereafter, though, it was Bodine
back up front, as he dove under Busch to take the lead on
Lap 58. But then Busch returned the favor on Lap
76 and reassumed the point. He and Bodine made their final
pit stops on Lap 81, and although Busch surrendered the lead
briefly as the green-flag stops cycled through, he was in
control.
He took the lead for the final time on
Lap 90 and cruised to victory by 1.415 seconds. In terms of
points, Busch now leads Bodine by 20 points and Benson by
25.
Johnny Benson
Bill Davis Racing Event Preview
Race/Date:
San Bernardino County 200 – Feb. 23, 2008
Location:
California Speedway – Fontana, Calif.
NOTES:
-
This
week’s race truck
for the California Speedway is
Chassis No. 23-60.
This is the same truck Benson won with at last year’s
season ending race at the Homestead Miami Speedway.
-
On Board… TCUV will once
again be onboard Benson’s truck during the Friday
night race.
-
Close Call… Benson finished
third at last weekend’s season opener at Daytona
International Speedway after narrowly avoiding
numerous wrecks. Benson also led at least one lap in
the 100 lap race, therefore he received an extra five
bonus points and is tied for second in the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series points standings heading into
California.
-
Autographs anyone? Benson
will participate in a Toyota Motorsports autograph
session Wednesday, Feb. 20 at Toyota’s National
Headquarters in Torrance, Calif. The event is
scheduled to last from 11:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. This
event gives Toyota employees a chance to get up close
and personal with the Toyota Tundra family.
-
Listen and watch … The San
Bernardino County 200 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
ET Saturday, Feb. 23. It will broadcast live on Speed
Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio
(Ch. 128).
Johnny Benson on racing at
California Speedway:
“We are taking the same truck we won Homestead with last
year and we seem to always run pretty decent at
California anyway, so it should be a great weekend for
this No. 23 TCUV team. We are pumped about the way
things have started off this season and hope to continue
making headway this weekend in California.”
“Toyota’s headquarters are near Los Angeles, so we
always want to put on a good show for them. Mike won
this thing last year, so I hope to see one of us win it
again this year for Bill Davis Racing and Toyota.”
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