Benson, who won the most races on the series two years ago (5) and the second-most last season (4), won his third straight race in a row after passing Erik Darnell for the lead with three laps to go, in the Toyota Tundra 200 on Saturday night.
With the victory, Benson joined an elite group of five drivers - Mike Skinner, Hornaday, Greg Biffle and Todd Bodine - as the only drivers to have won three races in a row in the series.
Darnell held on to finish second. Polesitter Bodine led the first 74 laps and finished third. Jack Sprague was fourth, followed by Hornaday.
After one early stop, Benson was sent to the end of the lead line after a tire rolled out of his pit stall. That, coupled with an unresponsive set of tires contributed to his troubles.
“It was a tough run,” said Benson, the only two-time Nashville winner in the Truck Series. “At the start of the race we were definitely passing people but we had a pit-stop that didn’t go quite the way we wanted it to. Those tires were pretty challenging.
“When the truck wasn’t quite right I started getting a little irritated. Everything we did wasn’t doing anything.
While never completely satisfied with his truck’s performance, Benson’s fortunes turned at the halfway mark of the 150-lap event as he picked up 10 positions during a yellow-flag pit stop.
“We only took gas and that’s what we had to do to get back in the race,” Benson said. “Then at the end we took two tires and the other guys didn’t take any. I don’t think the truck was right, but it looked like a lot of people had problems out there, slipping and sliding. I was one of the few who was able to hold the bottom real tight.”
That was evident in the final stages of the race. Benson rejoined the top five with 35 laps to go and was on Darnell’s bumper by Lap 143. Benson dove to the inside at the stripe on Lap 147 before drawing clear and winning by 0.889 seconds.
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