Late in the race coming off turn two Benson heard a huge bang and figured it
meant serious trouble.   "I heard a big bang and thought it was a tire problem," he said. "At these speeds I didn't want to go down into turn three and wreck our car so I came to the pits."

Benson's Phoenix Racing crew told him the tires were fine.  "I couldn't believe that. I thought there were major problems."  It took until a post race inspection for Benson to learn that he indeed had run over something on the track.  "The crush panels were knocked out of the left rear," he said. "So, even though we don't know what it was, it was something pretty major."

The incident on the track combined with losing two laps earlier in the race
relegated him to a 31st-place finish.  "We just struggled from the time we unloaded. We only got six laps of practice and we were off a little bit in qualifying," Benson said. "We have some figuring out to do ."

Benson who has several top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile oval just north of
the famous Las Vegas strip struggled in the early going on Sunday.  Benson started 36th and held his position in the early going even benefiting from the "Lucky Dog" rule on lap 46 when he was in 33rd place. He gained another spot by lap 82 when Ryan Newman spun in turn four.

Benson fell down a second lap to leader Matt Kenseth who was setting a
blistering pace on lap 127.  On lap 183 Benson narrowly missed Kevin Lepage whose engine blew in front of Benson.  The good luck didn't hold too long. The debris incident brought him to the pits costing him several spots and he finished four laps behind winner Kenseth.

Benson's Nextel Cup season resumes April 4 in Texas.

Matt Kenseth won followed by Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin.