No NASCAR Craftsman Truck competitor had been able to assemble back-to-back victories at The Milwaukee Mile – until Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) sped to the checkered flag in last weekend’s 13th Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200.
Benson is the eighth different winner in the season’s first 11 races, a testament to the argument that 2007 may be the most competitive season in series history.
Proving that the cream indeed rises to the top, the first four competitors in the point standings are former series champions – Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet), Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) and Travis Kvapil (No. 6 K&N Engineering Ford.
Most Bud Poles In A Season
Driver Poles Year
1. Mike Skinner 10 1995
2. Jason Leffler 8 2002
Joe Ruttman 8 2000
Mike Skinner 8 2006
5. Mike Skinner 7 2007
Jack Sprague 7 2001
NCTS Etc.
Five former winners – Hornaday, Sprague, Setzer, Kvapil and Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE Toyota) – are among entered drivers for this week’s O’Reilly 200.
No winning competitor at Memphis Motorsports Park has started worse than fifth in the nine previous runnings of the O’Reilly 200. The Bud Pole qualifier has won three times including the last two races. “There’s a premium placed on two qualifying laps because they directly affect the 200 laps of racing, ” said Bodine, who started 19th and finished 15th in last year’s race.
More on strategy: “This is a follow-the-leader race track, ” said Rick Ren, Hornaday’s crew chief. “It can be very difficult to pass and pit stops are crucial. Even pit selection plays an important role at Memphis. ”
Kraig Kinser (No. 47 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet) finished 36th in last year’s O’Reilly 200, liked what he saw of the track and is anxious to improve upon his rookie performance. “It is so unique, and there is really no other place like it, ” said the former sprint car star. “There are little bumps all over the track, and it makes for some fun, exciting racing for the drivers and the fans. ”
Skinner celebrates his 50th birthday on June 28 and obviously hopes to become the second 50-year-old to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race. He would join Joe Ruttman in that “senior” category. Also a year older this week is Benson, whose 44th birthday was observed on June 27.
There has not been a repeat owner winner at Memphis Motorsports Park, however, two – Teresa Earnhardt and Bill Davis – also have won NASCAR Busch Series races at the track. Earnhardt’s two drivers – Hornaday and Martin Truex Jr. – went on to win championships in the same seasons, 1998 and 2005, respectively.
Driver updates: Aric Almirola, whose first NASCAR Craftsman Truck start came at MMP in 2005, will be at the wheel of Billy Ballew’s No. 51 Chevrolet this week. Making his return to the series is Chad Chaffin, a two-time winner who will take the controls of the No. 40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet. Chaffin finished fourth in his first Memphis appearance in 2001.
Final word on Memphis’ degree of difficulty: 17 first-time drivers averaged a finish of 24.2 in 2006 – even with rookie Erik Darnell’s (No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) ranking of second.
Toyota Regains Winning Ways In Milwaukee
Johnny Benson’s victory in the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 was Toyota’s sixth of the season – the same number the truck maker had won through the first 11 races of 2006.
Bill Davis Racing counts four of the six victories, three by Mike Skinner and Benson’s latest score. Germain Racing’s Todd Bodine and Wyler Racing’s Jack Sprague account for the other two.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers’ Championship
Toyota 80
Chevrolet 67
Ford 61
Dodge
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