NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series News & Notes: Michigan Speedway
Jun 10, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
Benson Has Momentum On His Side In Return To Home Track
Grand Rapids, Mich., native Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota) rides a wave of momentum following his third-place finish in Friday’s Sam’s Town 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The past five races have produced a steady climb up the point chart from ninth to third.
Saturday’s Cool City Customs 200 may be the spark that carries the 44-year-old Benson to the No. 1 position in the standings.
Benson got his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory at Michigan International Speedway in 2006. He finished ninth last year — his third top-10 performance in four visits to the two-mile superspeedway.
“We are slowly moving up in the points and hopefully that will continue this weekend,” said Benson. “We started the season out strong and then got into a string of bad luck, but it looks like this Tundra is back on track now.”
Benson started the season with a pair of third-place finishes but slowly has been digging out of the hole created by a 30th in Atlanta and a 25th at Martinsville.
Historically speaking, Benson should be a solid favorite this week. Michigan has a pair of repeat winners. And, Benson is the only driver to get his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck win at MIS.
“I love going home to race at Michigan. It’s always fun to race in front of my family and friends,” he said. “Plus, MIS is just a great track to run on anyway.”
Michigan By The Numbers:
1 — Number of races won from the pole (2007)
3 — Roush Fenway Racing’s track-best win total
6 — Most top-10 finishes, by Dennis Setzer
13 — Most leaders (2005)
18 — Most lead changes (2004)
30 — Most finishers on the lead lap (2006)
154.004 — Fastest series race (July 26, 2003)
Hornaday Wins In Texas; Point Lead Changes Fourth Straight Time
Have a good race, the elevator goes up.
Have a bad one and it’s definitely a trip to the bargain basement.
And so it goes with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2008.
Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) won Friday’s Sam’s Town 400 in his 11th try and finally checked off Texas Motor Speedway from his “to-do” list.
Hornaday now has won on all but one of the schedule’s 1.5-mile speedways and can finish the job in September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was an express ride down for Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel Ford), who found the Lone Star state anything but hospitable.
Crawford, the point leader going in, fell all the way to sixth following a finish of 21st.
The race marked the fourth consecutive time the point lead has changed.
Kevin Harvick Inc., Ballew Motorsports Top Owners’ Points
With more than a third of the season complete, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owners’ championship standings continue to shift.
A week ago, Tom Mitchell’s No. 14 team held the top spot. Mitchell’s time in front, like that of his driver Rick Crawford, was short-lived.
Kevin Harvick Inc. and Billy Ballew Motorsports bypassed both Mitchell and the No. 88 ThorSport Racing team to rank one-two entering week 10 of the 2008 season.
Their lead, however, hardly is comfortable.
DeLana Harvick, with Hornaday in the seat, is 34 points ahead of Ballew’s multiple driver effort spearheaded by Busch, with Rhonda Thorson’s Menards Chevrolet, driven by Matt Crafton, 45 out.
Just 71 points separate KHI and Mitchell, who slipped all the way to seventh after Crawford’s potential top-five performance was doomed by an accident caused by a cut tire.
KHI (first and sixth) and Bill Davis Racing (fourth and eighth) are the only teams boasting two trucks in the current top 10.
Michigan Had Immediate Impact on Craftsman Trucks
It didn’t take long for drivers from the state of Michigan to make an impact on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — even though Michigan International Speedway didn’t become part of the schedule until 1999.
Two competitors — Butch Miller (No. 0 ASI Limited Chevrolet) and Jack Sprague (No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet) — were in the field for the Feb. 5, 1995 series debut at Phoenix International Raceway.
Sprague finished sixth in an unsponsored Chevrolet with Miller’s Jim Herrick-owned Ford seventh.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Later in the year, Miller edged Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) at Colorado National Speedway. His only series victory — confirmed by rerunning CBS’ videotape — remains closest in series history at .001 seconds.
“My first question,” said Miller, a partner in SS Green Light Racing, “was, ‘did I win?’”
Sprague, meanwhile, caught the eye of Rick Hendrick, who put him in a Budweiser-backed Chevrolet after the driver’s original owner folded his operation.
Sprague, of course, has gone on to win three championships and 28 races. He returns to his home track this week fifth in points.
“It would mean so much for me to win at Michigan International Speedway,” said Sprague. “I think it would bring things full circle; winning here locally when I first started and now being able to win at one of the highest levels of NASCAR competition would be pretty cool.”
Etc. And Quotable
•Case Of Déjà Vu — Sort Of… Texas fans got what they came for as Kyle Busch (No. 51 Miccosukee/NOS Toyota) charged from the rear to challenge Hornaday in Texas Motor Speedway’s fifth consecutive green-white-checker finish. It reversed March’s order in Atlanta where Busch prevailed over Hornaday in a similar shoot-out. “We finished second for Billy Ballew and that’s what matters most,” said Busch before jetting back to Pocono Raceway.
•First-Time Winner Hex Continues… Scott Speed (No. 22 Red Bull Toyota) became the third first-time winner to finish outside the top 10 in his next start. Speed, who flew from Pocono with Busch, was involved in a pair of accidents and finished 26th. Lowe’s winner Crafton was 12th at Mansfield while Mansfield victor Donny Lia (No. 71 NationRide.com/Zurich Chevrolet) ranked 17th at Dover.
•Texas And The Long And Short Of It… It took Ted Musgrave (No. 59 Team ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota) 14 attempts to finally get a win at Texas Motor Speedway — most by any driver at a series track. Hornaday’s 11 starts ranks No. 3 behind Musgrave and Sprague, who picked up a victory at Martinsville Speedway in his 13th attempt. Yet, drivers Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota), Kenny Irwin Jr. and Clint Bowyer won at TMS in their first appearances. So it goes.
•No Defense This Week… Defending winner Travis Kvapil, who also won in 2004, won’t be in the field at Michigan. Bobby East will drive the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford following an eighth-place finish in Texas. Previous winners Benson, Brendan Gaughan (No. 10 International MAXXFORCE Diesel Ford) and Dennis Setzer (No. 18 Dodge) will compete.
