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.

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Qualifying Fast Facts
Homestead-Miami Speedway
FORD 400

Coors Light Pole Winner: David Reutimann
Age: 38
Team : No. 44 - UPS Toyota
Owner: Michael Waltrip
Crew Chief: Ryan Pemberton

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AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 8, 2008) — Carl Edwards got the win in Saturday’s Hefty Odor Block 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway — and championship leader Clint Bowyer got the save.

Second in the standings, Edwards trimmed Bowyer’s lead from 91 points to 56, on a day that could have been much worse for the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet.

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AVONDALE, Ariz. (November 7, 2008) — Kevin Harvick held off hard-charging Kyle Busch to win Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, as title contenders Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson struggled to wreck-plagued finishes that left them three points apart with one race left.

Benson takes a three-point lead to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the smallest margin with one race left in series history. The previous low margin was Hornaday’s 13-point advantage over Jack Sprague in 1998; when Hornaday went on to win the title.

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Qualifying Fast Facts
Phoenix International Raceway
Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil

Coors Light Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
Age: 33
Team : No. 48 - Lowe’s Chevrolet
Owner: Jeff Gordon
Crew Chief: Chad Knaus

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FORT WORTH, TX. — “It ain’t over til it’s over,” baseball legend Yogi Berra once said.

NASCAR driver Carl Edwards is a believer. First at last weekend’s Atlanta Motor Speedway battle and today at Ft. Worth.

The Missouri native, who cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks throughout the Midwest, dominated the field Sunday to win the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

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MARTINSVILLE, Va. — At the same track where he started his phenomenal run to the title last year, Jimmie Johnson distanced himself from his closest pursuers on Sunday, winning the Tums QuikPak 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

Johnson won in a cakewalk, leading 339 of 504 laps. His No. 48 Chevrolet was so good on short runs, and so strong off the corners, runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t mount a charge during the green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race four laps past its scheduled length.

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CONCORD, N.C.—Despite Jimmie Johnson’s fast start to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jeff Burton hasn’t been willing to concede the trophy to the two-time defending champion.

On Saturday night, Burton gave more than lip service to that notion, holding off Kasey Kahne to win the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The victory, Burton’s second of the season and the 21st of his career, vaulted the driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into second place in the standings, 69 points behind Johnson with five races left in the Chase.

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Kyle Busch’s staggering numbers just got better.

With a dominating performance in Friday night’s rain-interrupted Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race—the type of run that’s become commonplace—Busch drove his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory by .662 seconds over Jeff Burton.

Busch, who led 137 of 200 laps, pulled away after a restart with three laps left. The victory was his ninth in the series this year, the 20th of his career, and his 20th in NASCAR’s top three series combined this year.

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Neff, Connolly also earn provisional poles at fourth of six races in the Countdown to1

DINWIDDIE, Va. – Top Fuel points leader Tony Schumacher blistered the Virginia Motorsports Park track with a run of 3.771 seconds at 317.05 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to earn the provisional No. 1 qualifying position after the first of two days of qualifying Friday at the Virginia NHRA Nationals.

Mike Neff (Funny Car) and Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) rounded out the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 22nd of 24 races this season and the fourth race in the six-race NHRA Playoff, the Countdown to 1.

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