First Win For Benson At Martinsville
It took 11 attempts but Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota) can now mark Martinsville off the winless list after grabbing the checkered flag Saturday. Passing Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) on the 155th of 200 laps, Benson kept his truck in front and beat Martinsville’s most recent winner Dennis Setzer (No. 18 Dodge) by .785 seconds.
The victory tops his best previous finish of third back in 1995, the series’ inaugural season. It is Benson’s fifth of this season, all of his wins falling in the last 11 races.
With the hard fought race behind him, Benson said, “It wasn’t easy but it was nice not seeing anything in front of you.
“This track’s got such a rich history to it,” he added. “Very cool to be in Victory Lane here.”
With one more down and four races to go, Benson and team head to Atlanta this week, a track where in seven starts he has yet to visit Victory Lane. He was a forgettable 30th at AMS in March.
With five wins though under their belt for the year, the veteran driver feels they’re competitive and will keep his eye on his main goal: winning.
“We’re not going to do anything different these last four or five races,” he said. “My goal is to go out there and win the race. All I care about is winning.”
This Championship Battle Ain’t Over Yet
With his win Saturday Johnny Benson took the points lead once again from rival Ron Hornaday, Jr. Hornaday entered the race 39 points over Benson and led 154 laps before the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet ran out of fuel, relegating the reigning champion to a 29th-place finish.
This scenario is all too familiar to the three-time champion. Hornaday went into Martinsville a year ago with a 14-point lead over Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota). After an eighth-place finish he subsequently lost the points lead to Skinner, who won the race. Skinner headed to Atlanta with an 11-point lead over Hornaday.
This marks the ninth time in 2008 that the lead has swapped hands. Benson took the lead from Hornaday following his win at Kentucky in July. Hornaday was as far back as 119 points before regaining the advantage after Talladega on Oct. 4.
Benson’s now 65-point lead over Hornaday is the sixth-largest lead in series history after 21 races. Greg Biffle, who led Jack Sprague by 125 points after the 21st race in 1999, is the only driver with a lead larger than Benson’s failing to win the title. Sprague prevailed as the lead changed three times in the last four races.
Looking forward to the remaining four races, Hornaday and Benson have past victories stacked in their favor. Hornaday has wins at Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead-Miami. Benson has a win at Phoenix and is the defending winner at Homestead-Miami.
With the points lead in his grasp, Benson isn’t taking any comfort being on top. “Anything can happen,” he said.
“Every year in these truck races it comes down to the last lap at Homestead,” Benson added. “You’ve really got to pay attention to what’s going on, keep people in sight.”
Atlanta Homecoming For Rowdy & Ballew Motorsports
Kyle “Rowdy” Busch may not hail from the state of Georgia but racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for the driver and his Billy Ballew Motorsports team. Atlanta is a place where the young driver knows how to get things done. Busch hopes to take the No. 51 Miccosukee/NOS Energy Drink Toyota to Victory Lane for the third consecutive time, and for the fourth time in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career.
Busch, who has three wins, seven top fives, 12 top 10s and one Keystone Light pole so far for this season, knows a win Saturday would not only add to his impressive stats, but would be huge for his owner, Atlanta-area native Billy Ballew.
“It’s a big race for Billy (Ballew) and it would be big to win it,” he said. “I think we’ve got a good shot at it. Hopefully, things go our way,” said Busch.
He also has a good idea who his main competition will be. “(Ron) Hornaday has always been fast there so we know he’ll be strong and the guy to beat.” The pair finished one-two in March.
His team owner thinks it isn’t out of the realm of possibility either. “With the way Kyle Busch runs, it is possible to think that he can win three in a row and four wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway,” said Ballew.
And about being home he said, “Being in Atlanta is always nice with all the family and friends coming to the race, and it would be even more special if we could win again.”
A win this week would help the No. 51 team in the Owners’ Championship battle. The team currently stands third, 209 points behind Gail Davis and the No. 23 Toyota Tundra.
“It would help Billy to win that,” said Busch of the championship. “Hornaday had a bad finish at Martinsville so that sort of helped us out a bit. But Johnny (Benson) is still up there and doing really well, too,” he added.
Ballew recognizes the chances as well. “Being only 209 points out of the Owner’s Championship, it is still achievable with four races left to go,” said the owner. “Hopefully, we’ll have a good streak of luck and get the Championship. Either way, we’ve had a great season with Kyle driving for us.”
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