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Kansas Race
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Toyota Motorsports
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 15 Red Top Collector Car
Auction Toyota Tundra, Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race?
We kind of stayed off pit road with old tires
thinking that we'd get a caution at the end and
have tires on everybody, but it went green so I
really have to thank Cowboy (Kevin Starland,
crew chief) and everybody at Billy Ballew
Motorsports. It was a great truck and I have to
thank Red Top Auto Auctions and their May 22 and
23 big auction there in Georgia.¨
Are you happy with your
finish?
Yeah, for what we had and
from where we started off. We seemed to
struggle. For some reason our Tundra wasn't
drafting as good as it needed to be. I was
stalling out, I'm not sure why that was doing
that. That made it tough, but those guys made a
great call staying out on tires. That wasn't our
plan, but after I saw no one else was coming, we
decided to finish it off. I was starting to get
slow there at the end but I'm sure that everyone
else was, too.¨
Benson
Weathers Storm, Finishes 5th
Kansas City, Kan. (May
2, 2010) – Johnny Benson is two-for-two when
driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports. After
scoring a top-five finish in his first start for
BMM at Martinsville, Benson followed up his
performance with another fifth-place run in the
O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway.
Benson started
the race from 13th-place. His No. 15
Red Top Auto Auction Toyota was too tight when
the race began, but he hung strong in the top-15
while waiting for an opportunity for his crew to
make adjustments to his Tundra. The team’s
chance came on lap 27, when the caution flag
waved. Benson drove down pit lane, where his
crew changed the tires, topped off the fuel cell
and made an air pressure adjustment.
The race went
back to green on lap 32, with Benson holding
down 18th-place. He worked his way
into 12th-place before making a green
flag pit stop on lap 92. The crew gave him some
fresh Goodyear Wranglers and filled the truck
full of fuel. His Toyota was still too tight for
his liking, so the crew made a wedge adjustment
to help the handling, before sending him back on
the track in 11th-place.
On lap 112, a
severe rain and thunderstorm passed over the
Kansas Speedway. The race was red flagged for
an hour-and-a-half while the speedway dried out.
When the race resumed, Benson made a trip down
pit lane on the ensuing yellow flag. Cowboy
Starland made the call for “fuel only” so the
No. 15 Tundra could pick up some valuable track
position. Benson’s truck was still a little too
tight, so the team made another wedge adjustment
to loosen it up. Benson assumed the lead when he
returned to the track.
The race went
green on lap 120 with Benson leading the parade.
Benson showed the way until lap 123, when the
trucks with four fresh tires finally got by
him. Still, Benson fought to keep his track
position over the remaining 44 laps. Despite
being on older rubber, Benson used his veteran
poise to capture fifth-place.
“We restarted
with older tires hoping that another caution
would come out and we could give those guys a
good run,” Benson said. “The caution came out
so we had some older tires. They held up well.
We were slower at the end, but it was good
enough to stay in the top-five. That’s a good
finish for the Red Top Auto Auction guys today.
“We weren’t
that strong at the start. We’ll have to go back
and look at it. It was a great call by ‘Cowboy’
to stay out. We gave those guys a good run at
the end and coming home with a fifth is a good
day for us today.”
Sauter Wins in Kansas - Johnny 5th!
Following an amazing
save with thirteen laps remaining, race leader
#13-Johnny Sauter went on to take the checkered
flag to pick up the win in the O'Reilly Auto
Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. It was Sauter's
second series career win. #33-Ron Hornaday
finished second. While running side-by-side,
Hornaday got loose, got sideways and up into
Sauter, both got sideways at about a 45 degree
angle with Sauter grazing the wall, both drivers
managed to get straightened out to continue on
to finish 1-2 - great piece of driving by both
drivers.
Rounding out the top ten were; #30-Todd Bodine,
#18-Brian Ickler, #15-Johnny Benson,
#3-Austin Dillon, #51-Aric Almirola, #5-Mike
Skinner, #2-Kenny Schrader, #81-David Starr.
#17-Timothy Peters had power troubles and wound
up finishing 23rd. Todd Bodine moved to second
in points, just 22 points out, with Aric
Almirola now in third, 30 points out. There were
16 lead changes among 9 drivers, with 7 cautions
for 37 laps.
Johnny Benson to Race Kansas and Dover
for Billy Ballew Motorsports
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (April 20, 2010) - Johnny Benson is
returning behind the wheel of the No. 15 Toyota Tundra
for two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)
events, Billy Ballew Motorsports (BBM) announced today.
The Grand Rapids, Mich., native will compete in the
O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on May 2 and
the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway on May 14.
Benson has one prior start with BBM, which netted a
fifth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway last March.
Benson has
three top-five finishes in five previous NCWTS starts at
Kansas. At Dover International Speedway, Benson has
accrued one top-five in five NCWTS starts. He has one
win at Dover in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition,
which came in September 1994. Benson's success with BBM,
combined with his results at the scheduled venues, has
him excited about the events ahead.
"It's great
to go racing with Billy Ballew Motorsports again," said
Benson. "I had a lot of fun last race. We worked really
well together. It didn't take long for us to get up to
speed. They have a great reputation at intermediate
tracks, so I think we're going to hit the ground running
at Kansas and Dover."
Team owner
Billy Ballew is anticipating another strong showing from
the 2008 NCWTS champ at the upcoming races.
"Johnny is a
tremendous driver and we're thrilled to be working with
him again," said Ballew. "He did a great job at
Martinsville. He's shown that he can get the job done
at Kansas and Dover. Everything is in place for us to
have two great races."
Happy Birthday, Dad!
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Happy Birthday to
John Benson Sr.!
73 years young |
A Look Back ... Martinsville
By: Barb Benson
When the news arrived
that Johnny would be driving at Martinsville - I had a
choice to make. It always rains in Martinsville during
the race weekend and it seems that drivers rather plow
through each other versus making a pass - not fun to
watch.
Since I missed out on
the Daytona race due the rain out and flight
commitments. I decided to monitor the weather channel
to see what the prospects of a dry race day would be.
I figured I could deal with a little bumping and banging
if the weather held up. Finally on Thursday night - the
window of opportunity for clear weather was on Saturday
during the truck race.
By waiting on the
weather - the opportunity to fly closed up. Good thing
I got that oil change earlier in the week! The Impala
was ready to roll. My mom decided to join me on the
adventure - which was a good thing, because I needed a
co-pilot. We left Grand Rapids early Friday morning
under sunny skies - I thought that was a good sign. We
made our way into Virginia before settling for the night
where I increased my Hilton points.
Click here for the rest of the story and photos.
Berlin Testing Photos
By:
Barb Benson
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Johnny and
Russ putting the
hood on the car
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Getting
ready to
make a few laps
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Johnny
discussing the layout of
Berlin Raceway with #84
supermodified driver, Mike Lichty.
Johnny put him behind the wheel for half of the testing schedule.
Pretty fast! |
Berlin
Raceway track announcer
Norm Jelsema giving
John Benson Sr. an
update on his modified project.
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Johnny Benson Jr. Returns to Berlin Raceway with
'No Hesitation' After Summer Crash
By: Steve
Kaminski
Johnny Benson Jr. had
no reservations about climbing back into his
Late Model stock car and tearing around Berlin
Raceway when the track hosted its first
preseason test-and-tune Saturday afternoon.
However, the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck
champion was a little curious.
Benson, of Grand Rapids, hadn’t been back to his
home track since June 13, when he was in a fiery
crash in Turn 4 during an International
Supermodified Association feature. He was taken
by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he
spent three days.
“I was looking over there for the burn mark on
the track, but I don’t see it,” Benson said. “I
was laughing about it today. I’m like, yes, this
is the first time back for me. It’s no big deal.
“There is no hesitation whatsoever. You just
hammer down and go. It was no different than
when I got back in the truck when I went to do
some testing. You get the brakes warm and you
go.
“There is no working your way up to it. Some
people will take the work-your-way-up-to-it
approach. But I just go.”
The four-hour test session attracted almost 80
cars. Drivers will have one more crack at
shaking down their cars at another Berlin
test-and-tune 1 to 5 p.m. April 17.
Berlin’s 60th season
will open April 24, with action getting under
way at 7 p.m.
Benson does not have a full-time truck ride this
season, although he has been able to find
part-time work and posted a top-10 finish at
Daytona and Martinsville. He said he expects to
run a handful of times this season at Berlin.
“I don’t have a set schedule because I’m still
trying to find something to do with the Truck
Series,” Benson said. “I’m going to try to run
four or five races out here for sure. But I
don’t have the dates yet. I was trying to come
up here for opening night, but I might be
running Kansas. I don’t know yet. I don’t know
my schedule yet, to be perfectly honest.”
“We are trying some stuff, like everybody does,”
Benson said about his homemade Late Model. “We
are trying some off-the-wall stuff, and then I
will make some adjustments and see if I can come
back.”
Saturday’s test also marked the
debut of Berlin’s Modified division. This will
be the first season since 1968 that Berlin has
offered a weekly open wheel class, and Ben Kleis
of Hamilton predicted it will be a hit with
drivers and fans.
Kleis, who raced 4-Cylinders last year, will
drive a Modified this season. “We ended up
fourth in points last year, and we figured we
would try something different,” Kleis said. “It
is something new out here, and we wanted to get
involved at the ground floor. We have a lot of
guys starting out. “It’s a lot different
than the 4-Cylinder, but it’s fun.”
Busch picks up first KBM win at Nashville
Just four
races into the season, Kyle Busch after starting
from the pole, went on to pick up his first win
as owner/driver for Kyle Busch Motorsports at
Nashville Superspeedway. Busch, driving the
#18-Dollar General Toyota also picked up his
first win at Nashville, and his first win in
2010. This was Busch's 17th victory in 72 NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series races.
#2-Kevin Harvick finished second, but was no
real challenge to the leader as the final laps
wound down. There were only 8 trucks that
finished on the lead lap. Rounding out the top
were; #33-Ron Hornaday Jr., #17-Timothy Peters,
#30-Todd Bodine, #88-Matt Crafton, #5-Mike
Skinner, #51-Aric Almirola, #60-Stacy Compton,
#14-Rick Crawford. There were 5 lead changes
among 3 drivers, with two cautions for 10 laps.
Busch wins
Nashville pole
#18-Kyle
Busch was the fastest qualifier with a top speed
of 157.809 mph to win the pole for the Nashville
200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Rounding out the
top ten were; #17-Timothy Peters, #88-Matt
Crafton, #5-Mike Skinner, #33-Ron Hornaday Jr.,
#14-Rick Crawford, #51-Aric Almirola, #13-Johnny
Sauter, #2-Kevin Harvick, #7-Justin Lofton. DNQ;
#95-Lance Fenton, #6-Brian Rose, #89-Mike
Harmon.
Director's Take:
Wayne's Words
"Nashville
always has been a great host for NASCAR racing
of all kinds, from weekly competition to the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. "The NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series came to the Music City for
the first time in 1996 at the old Fairgrounds
track. We had some terrific races there. And we
had the opportunity to race for one of America's
legendary promoters, the late Bob Harmon.
"Moving to Nashville Superspeedway in 2001 was a
big deal — and not just for us but for the
NASCAR Nationwide Series as well. The facilities
are incredible and the fans are literally on top
of the action.
"Racing on concrete is different than asphalt
but over the years the competitors have adapted,
especially since we also race at Dover
International Speedway and Bristol. "Still,
Nashville Superspeedway is one of those tracks
where the veterans excel. The list of winners
includes the late Bobby Hamilton, whose victory
in 2004 was especially popular in his hometown;
and fellow champions Johnny Benson, Mike
Bliss, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Travis Kvapil. "You
don't have to be a champion but it sure helps.
"Nashville continues to have a large group of
core NASCAR fans. This weekend's double-header
with the NASCAR Nationwide Series offers them a
great way to kick off the 2010 season." - Wayne
Auton, Series Director.
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