Backstretch Motorsports

Johnny Benson celebrates winning the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (November 14, 2008) — Todd Bodine may have won Friday night’s Ford 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but a pair of calls in the pits earned Johnny Benson a seventh-place finish—exactly what he needed to secure the series championship.

After pitting for four tires under caution on Lap 126, Ron Hornaday Jr. chased Benson to the stripe during a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race three laps beyond its scheduled 134-lap distance. Hornaday came home eighth, one position behind Benson and one position short of his fourth series championship.

Benson’s team changed plans at the last second and kept the No. 23 Toyota on the track during that caution, and that decision proved to be the winning move.

Benson won the championship by seven points over his Chevy-driving rival and is the only driver other than Greg Biffle to win titles in both the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series. Benson restarted sixth and Hornaday 13th on Lap 130, and Hornaday gained four spots to ninth before Tayler Malsam and Jack Sprague wrecked on the backstretch to set up the two-lap sprint to the finish.

Bodine beat rookie Brian Scott to the finish line by .232 seconds, with Kevin Harvick running third, Kyle Busch fourth and Dennis Setzer fifth.

“It was only fun at the end — not at the beginning or the middle,” said a delighted Benson, who fought handling problems early in the race. “If those guys didn’t come in, I might have come in, but when they came in, I knew what he (crew chief Trip Bruce) wanted to do, so I stayed out. . .

“All these guys behind me that worked on this thing are great friends. We’ve worked very hard to make this happen. Tonight was about Trip Bruce making the right calls.

Hornaday had radio problems late in the race and couldn’t communicate to crew chief Rick Ren that he preferred not to pit under the caution on Lap 126.

“It was an awesome day for us until that last call,” Hornaday said. “We didn’t know all those guys (trucks that came out of the pits ahead of Hornaday) were going to take two tires and get out in front of us. But Johnny Benson and those guys had a great year, and we came up one position short.”

Benson’s two-tire call under caution on his final pit stop gave him the lead with 43 laps left and transformed the race from ho-hum to humdinger. Benson held the lead for a restart on Lap 95 with Hornaday in tow. Less than one lap later, Busch stormed into the mix from sixth position and kept Hornaday occupied until he took the lead for himself.

On old left-side tires, Benson began to fade and had dropped to seventh by Lap 117. Hornaday surrendered the second spot to Scott but appeared headed for the championship before polesitter Mike Skinner’s blown right front tire bought out the fourth caution of the race on Lap 124.
Notes: Bodine won his third race of the season and the 15th of his career and finished third in the final standings. He won the season opener in Daytona as well. … Though he won his first championship, Benson hasn’t secured a ride for next year, having announced that he will not return to Bill Davis Racing in 2009.

NASCAR Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the Ford 200 - Friday, November 14, 2008
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 137 Laps - 205.5 Miles - Purse: $663,361

Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 18 30 Todd Bodine Lumber Liquidators Toyota 137 190 5 $59,350 Running 1 8
2 15 16 Brian Scott # Albertsons Toyota 137 175 5 $34,650 Running 1 4
3 3 2 Kevin Harvick ACL Chevrolet 137 170 5 $22,245 Running 2 16
4 9 51 Kyle Busch Miccosukee Resorts/NOS Toyota 137 170 10 $20,035 Running 2 64
5 5 18 Dennis Setzer University Dodge Dodge 137 155 $17,810 Running
6 12 09 Travis Kvapil Zaxby’s Ford 137 150 $15,060 Running
7 8 23 Johnny Benson Exide Toyota 137 151 5 $16,310 Running 2 7
8 4 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Camping World Chevrolet 137 147 5 $20,810 Running 4 37
9 11 59 Terry Cook Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota 137 138 $15,910 Running
10 7 22 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 137 134 $17,160 Running
11 6 99 Erik Darnell Northern Tool + Equipment Ford 137 130 $16,210 Running
12 19 7 T J Bell Jr. SpongeTech/Home4theHolidays Chevrolet 137 127 $15,435 Running
13 16 8 Chad McCumbee Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet 137 124 $15,610 Running
14 2 6 Colin Braun # Con-way Freight Ford 137 121 $15,210 Running
15 13 17 Timothy Peters Hayes Iron & Metal/Strutmasters.com Toyota 137 118 $14,210 Running
16 25 81 Donny Lia # Nationrides Chevrolet 137 115 $14,985 Running
17 23 88 Matt Crafton Menards/McGuire-Nicholas Chevrolet 137 117 5 $14,885 Running 1 1
18 24 10 Brendan Gaughan International MAXXFORCE Diesel Ford 137 109 $14,785 Running
19 10 15 James Buescher Ergon Hyprene Toyota 137 106 $14,685 Running
20 14 60 Jack Sprague Wyler.com Toyota 137 103 $15,285 Running
21 22 24 Tayler Malsam Stocks For Tots Toyota 137 100 $12,135 Running
22 30 11 David Starr Zachry Toyota 136 97 $14,135 Running
23 31 08 Jason White GunBroker.com Dodge 136 94 $14,010 Running
24 32 12 Mario Gosselin James Carter/CrashedToys.com Chevrolet 136 91 $11,460 Running
25 21 13 Shelby Howard FarmPaint.com Chevrolet 136 88 $12,260 Running
26 1 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Tundra Toyota 136 85 $13,960 Running
27 27 07 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 135 82 $10,860 Running
28 29 40 Chad Chaffin Westerman Co./Pollo Tropical Chevrolet 134 79 $10,660 Running
29 28 21 Keven Wood Aquasun Motorsports Ford 134 76 $10,435 Running
30 34 85 Brent Raymer VehiCare Ford 133 73 $9,735 Running
31 33 9 Chrissy Wallace Germain.com Toyota 130 70 $9,685 Running
32 20 71 J R Fitzpatrick Mammoet Chevrolet 128 67 $9,660 Running
33 17 14 Rick Crawford Circle Bar/Powerstroke Diesel by Int’l Ford 64 64 $9,635 Engine
34 26 76 Ryan Hackett www.JandRSUPPLY.com Ford 27 61 $9,610 Engine
35 36 57 Norm Benning Benning Racing Chevrolet 15 58 $9,580 Oil Leak
36 35 0 Kevin Lepage ASI Limited Chevrolet 2 55 $9,518 Clutch
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 30,000 - Todd Bodine won the Ford 200, his 15th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following driver dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: #22 Speed, #81 Lia (unapproved impound adjustment).
Failed to Qualify: (1) 89 Mike Harmon.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 36 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 127.179 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.232 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 18 laps: Laps: 7-9 (#76 spun turn 4); 42-45 (Debris); 91-94 (Debris); 126-129 (Debris); 133-135 (#24,60 accident backstretch).
Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers: M. Skinner (Pole); K. Harvick 1-10; R. Hornaday Jr. 11-41; M. Crafton 42; R. Hornaday Jr. 43-46; K. Harvick 47-52; K. Busch 53-90; R. Hornaday Jr. 91; J. Benson 92-95; R. Hornaday Jr. 96; J. Benson 97-99; K. Busch 100-125; B. Scott # 126-129; T. Bodine 130-137.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) J. Benson 3,725;(2) R. Hornaday Jr. 3,718;(3) T. Bodine 3,621;(4) E. Darnell 3,412;(5) M. Crafton 3,392;(6) M. Skinner 3,363;(7) R. Crawford 3,315;(8) D. Setzer 3,197;(9) J. Sprague 3,125;(10) T. Cook 3,072.
Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 (17 Places) Keystone Light Pole Award : Mike Skinner, #5 (167.593 mph)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Kyle Busch, #51 Mobil1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Todd Bodine, #30
Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award : Brian Scott, #16 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Todd Bodine, #30
Wix Filters Lap Leader Award : Ron Hornaday, Jr., #33 (37 Laps)
Next Race: Feb. 13, 2009 - Daytona International Speedway