Nashville 

The No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles team went to Nashville Superspeedway with the goal of winning three consecutive races on its mind.  The team has been on fire of late and planned to continue its NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series domination in “Music City.”  

Johnny Benson was not happy with the way his truck handled during the two practice sessions Friday night.  He told his team that the truck was extremely tight in the corners, and he had to wait on the front end to set before he got back into the gas.  Crew chief Trip Bruce and the team made significant changes to both the front and the rear of the truck in an effort to free up their Tundra.  By the end of practice, the team believed it had made up some ground, but still uncertain if a win would be possible Saturday night.  

Benson had his red-and-black Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra lined up in the 16th spot for the start of Saturday night’s 150-lap event, and it did not take him long to make up ground on the leaders.  By lap 10, Benson had already climbed into the top 10.  On lap 21, he reported to his team that the truck was extremely loose going into the corners and tight in the center of the turns.  Bruce prepared to make changes to the truck during the first pit stop. 

Those changes included an air pressure adjustment during the four-tire stop that was performed under caution on lap 38.  When the race restarted three laps later, Benson immediately knew something was wrong.  He said the truck was so loose, he felt like he was going to wreck every lap.  It felt like the tires had no grip, and Benson was sliding all over the track.  Bruce advised his driver to hold on until the next caution period, when the crew would make another round of changes.  

For Benson, relief came in the form of a yellow flag on lap 73.  He pitted shortly thereafter for four tires, fuel and significant handling changes.  The changes certainly improved the truck, as Benson had the truck to beat in the final 50 laps of the race.  The No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra was consistently the fastest truck on the track and was picking up spots every lap.  

The team made its final pit stop under caution on lap 115.  The team changed two tires and filled the truck with enough fuel to finish the race.  Benson restarted fourth with 32 laps remaining.  

It took 29 of those 32 laps, but Benson finally captured the top spot and went on to take his fourth victory of the season.  It was the third consecutive victory for the No. 23 team, which catapulted Benson to a 45-point lead over second place Ron Hornaday in the Craftsman Truck Series Championship battle. 

The No. 23 Toyota Tundra team has a week off before returning to action at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Wednesday, Aug. 20.  The race can be viewed live on SPEED Channel.

Nashville Post Race Quotes
By:  Toyota Motorsports

• Johnny Benson picked up the win in Saturday night's Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.

• It was Benson's second win in the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville. He previously won the NCTS Nashville race in 2006.

• Benson has now won three of the past four NCTS races. Along with his Nashville victory, Benson earned wins at Milwaukee (June 20), Kentucky (July 19) and Indianapolis (July 25).

• Toyota drivers Todd Bodine (third), Ted Musgrave (eighth) and David Starr (ninth) also earned top-10 finishes tonight.

• Other Toyota drivers in the field included Terry Cook (12th), David Stremme (13th), Mike Skinner (17th), Justin Marks (20th), Shane Sieg (25th) and Michael Annett (33rd).

• Tundra drivers have now registered eight NCTS wins in 2008.

• Tundra drivers that have recorded multiple wins this season include Benson (Milwaukee, Kentucky, Indianapolis and Nashville) and Kyle Busch (California and Atlanta). Tundra racers Bodine (Daytona) and Scott Speed (Dover) each have one 2008 victory.

• Tundra drivers have won 46 races since the beginning of the 2004 NCTS season.

JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra, Bill Davis Racing  Finished: 1st

Did you think you had a chance to pass Erik Darnell?  "I didn't think it was possible with 10 (laps) to go -- to tell you the truth. Trip Bruce (crew chief) and the guys do a great job all the time. It just was real inconsistent. This was a new truck which I could never get a handle on it. Trip made a couple of adjustments. I kept telling him it was horrible until after about 30 laps on the tires -- then it got to where I felt I could do what I wanted. I had him calling the laps down. I knew (Erik) Darnell was going to be tough. I had a really hard time passing the 30 (Todd Bodine) -- he was running pretty strong, too. I thought he had a shot at him (Erik Darnell). Then I saw he (Todd Bodine) kept sliding around and I was able to get by him. I worked on (Erik) Darnell and was able to get to victory lane."

Can you believe you have won three of the past four NCTS races? "We're having a good year. The last couple of years have been real good. I've been proud of what the team has been able to do the last couple years. This year it seems like we are on a roll. I was really surprised with the stats -- that I was the only driver that was a previous winner at the track. To have another one of these (guitars) is pretty cool. My youngest daughter -- the last three wins she has rubbed on the truck before the race. Before the race I was like: Get over there and rub on the truck cause it's not that great.' Thanks to her that worked out great."

How important was the last pit stop after troubles in the pits earlier in the race?
"We did struggle in the pits today -- I don't know why. We just had a couple of issues. The truck was a little low on the left side and we couldn't get it up. The guys do a tremendous job -- I'm not going to complain about having a bad one every once in a while having bad luck. I've made a lot of mistakes on the race track in the past, too. It was fine. We had to do some strategy at the end. I think the first three guys did the same thing. Todd (Bodine) was awesome on new tires. Oh my gosh, he just flat out flew. It took us 30 laps to get going."

How did you get your truck to handle so well tonight when you said it was bad yesterday in practice?  "Trip Bruce (crew chief) changed a couple things. Then, in qualifying it was bad loose. So, it was fairly loose pretty much the whole night. We finally made a couple changes there at the end -- it didn't really wake it up -- but it definitely made it a lot better. It was just a tough run. We took two tires at the end and a lot of the guys didn't take any. I was for just taking gas and coming out (of the pits) out front. And that probably would have worked. So, we had to work a little bit for it. I still don't think the truck was quite right, but it looked like a lot of people had problems out there today just slipping and sliding. I was one of the few that was able to hold the bottom real tight."

How did you manage to make passes and work your way through the field after that bad second pit stop?   "Well, we definitely passed some. At the start of the race, we would definitely pass some people. We started 16th and drove up to fourth. Then we had a pit stop that didn't quite go the way we wanted it to and that put us a little bit behind. Then, that set of tires was pretty challenging -- that's the word to use. Then, that last set that we put on there -- we changed them a little bit, we changed some air pressure -- we did some adjustments on the truck and doing the adjustments is why we were at the back. The tire rolling away -- they got that back in time. We were making some adjustments and at the end we did two tires and gas, and that put us in the top-four or five. I just had a great race with the 88 (Matt Crafton), the 59 (Ted Musgrave), the 30 (Todd Bodine) and the 99 (Erik Darnell). Hopefully, it was a great race for the fans. Obviously, it's easy for me to say it was a great race because we ended up on top. (Erik) Darnell races you clean and the 30 (Todd Bodine) has been pretty clean. We just had great racing. It was a lot of fun."

Was it nerve-wracking out on the track tonight?  "No, it wasn't -- early on it was when the truck wasn't quite right. I was starting to get a little irritated. It was just like practice, everything we did wasn't doing anything. We made a pretty big swing at it at the end and that felt like it made a difference and it was good enough to get us up there. Now, if Todd (Bodine) had been in the lead or somebody else -- it felt like they were a little bit quicker -- it would have been tough. But, (Erik) Darnell did a pretty good job. He held off Todd (Bodine), he held whoever else was up there -- the 33 (Ron Hornaday, Jr.). I really needed it to go green all the way because that's the only time our truck was good -- on really long runs once we got some laps on."

Johnny Benson

Bill Davis Racing Event Preview

• Race/Date: Toyota Tundra 200 – Aug. 9, 2008

• Location:    Nashville Superspeedway – Lebanon, Tenn.

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• NOTES:

• ·         This week’s race truck for Nashville Superspeedway is Chassis No. 23-123.  Chassis No. 23-123 is a brand-new truck to the Bill Davis Racing fleet.

• ·         Certified Leader… Toyota Certified Used Vehicles will be the primary sponsor for the Toyota Tundra 200.  The used car leader is the first in the automotive industry to surpass two million certified used vehicles sold.

• ·         Autographs Anyone?  Johnny Benson will join his two Bill Davis Racing teammates, Michael Annett and Mike Skinner, Saturday, Aug. 9, in an autograph session at Nashville Superspeedway.  The trio will greet fans from noon to 1 p.m. at the Craftsman Mobile Marketing Unit, located in the display area on the frontstretch. 

• ·         1,400th Start…  When Dave Blaney took the green flag last weekend in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono (Pa.) Speedway, it marked Bill Davis Racing’s 1,400th NASCAR start.  The High Point, N.C., operation has accumulated 37 wins, 172 top-five finishes, 363 top-10 finishes and 66 pole positions in NASCAR’s three premier divisions.

• ·         Going for Three…  The No.23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Tundra team is looking for its third consecutive win this weekend.  Benson and the No. 23 team have won the last two events on the NCTS schedule.  Benson has won back-to-back races three times in his career.  Skinner has won back-to-back races six times in his NCTS career, the best of all other drivers in the series.

• ·         Listen and Watch … The Toyota Tundra 200 is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 9.  It will broadcast on SPEED (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128).  
   

• Johnny Benson on racing at Nashville Superspeedway:

• “I love going to Nashville.  It is a great place to race and has one of the most coveted trophies in NASCAR.  We won the race two years ago and got one of those Gibson guitars, which was pretty cool.  I need another to add to my trophy case.   The track is pretty neat, although it’s tough place to pass.  It’s a finesse-type of race track, where you have to really concentrate to hold it down at the bottom of the track.  It also requires a lot of discipline to make sure you don’t go into the corner too hard. 
   

• “It is also a special place for Toyota, being they are the title sponsor, so that give all their drivers more incentive to win.  I would love nothing more than to bring our Toyota Certified Used Vehicle’s Tundra to victory lane on Saturday night.”