CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
There have been 12 different race winners thus far in the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, led by Ron Hornaday Jr. (six) and Johnny Benson (five). Benson holds a three-point lead over Hornaday, the second-closest margin with one race to go of any of NASCAR’s national series since the current points system was implemented in 1975.
2008 Season Highlights
• Todd Bodine’s victory at Daytona continued the streak of a different Daytona race winner for the ninth consecutive year.
• Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson all finished in the top three in the first two races of the season.
• Kyle Busch won at Auto Club Speedway to become the sixth different race winner in as many races at California.
• Kyle Busch won at Atlanta, becoming the first repeat winner in eight races at Atlanta.
• Dennis Setzer won at Martinsville, his third victory at the Virginia short track, making him the all-time win leader there.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Kansas – his 34th series victory. Hornaday has won in 11 of his 12 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series seasons.
• Matt Crafton won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – his career-first victory.
• Donny Lia won at Mansfield – his career-first victory in just eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
• Scott Speed won at Dover – his career-first victory in just six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Texas – becoming the second repeat winner of the season and ending a string of three straight first-time race winners.
• Erik Darnell continued truck owner Jack Roush’s prominence at Michigan, notching the 49th series victory for the organization.
• Johnny Benson won at Milwaukee, his first victory since the season finale at Homestead in 2007.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Memphis and became the first three-time winner of 2008. The victory, coupled with Johnny Benson’s 33rd-place finish, gave Hornaday the points lead.
• Johnny Benson won at Kentucky and moved back into the points lead.
• Johnny Benson won at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, posting back-to-back victories for the second time in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. Benson also won consecutive races with his first and second career victories (Michigan and Milwaukee 2006).
• Johnny Benson notched three consecutive wins with his victory at Nashville Superspeedway. It was the fifth time in series history that a driver had won three in a row.
• Kyle Busch posted a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 in posting his win at Bristol.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. scored a perfect Driver Rating in his victory at New Hampshire.
• Mike Skinner posted his first win of the 2008 season with his victory at Las Vegas and became the 10th different race winner of the season.
• Todd Bodine won at Talladega with the second last-lap pass for the lead this season. It is his third straight restrictor-plate victory.
• Johnny Benson won at Martinsville, posting his fifth victory of the season and tying his career-high set in 2006.
• Ryan Newman won at Atlanta, joining Mike Skinner, Robert Pressley and Kasey Kahne as the only drivers to win in his series debut.
• Ron Hornaday Jr. won at Texas, posting his series-leading sixth win of 2008.
• Kevin Harvick won his third series victory at Phoenix, the site of all three wins.
Career First Wins
• Matt Crafton (Lowe’s Motor Speedway), Donny Lia (Mansfield) and Scott Speed (Dover) all scored their career-first victories this season. Speed became the third first-time winner in as many races, the third time in series history that there have been three consecutive first-time winners. Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ken Schrader won the first three races of the series. Andy Houston (New Hampshire), Terry Cook (Flemington) and Jimmy Hensley (Nashville) posted their career-first victories in back-to-back races in 1998.
• Crafton won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, his career-first victory in his 178th race. He set the record for the most races before a career-first victory ever in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Bryan Reffner held the previous mark of 111 races before his first win (1996-2000).
Qualifying
• 118 different drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one race this season, including J.R. Norris who qualified for Kyle Busch at Texas.
• There have been 11 different pole winners in 2008. (Qualifying was canceled at Auto Club Speedway, New Hampshire and Atlanta-2):
Ron Hornaday (five)
Johnny Benson (three)
Mike Skinner (three)
Erik Darnell (two)
Jack Sprague (one)
Justin Marks (one)
Kyle Busch (one)
Bobby East (one)
Todd Bodine (one)
Scott Speed (one)
Dennis Setzer (one)
Rick Crawford (one)
• Jack Sprague set a new Martinsville qualifying record of 96.327 mph, eclipsing the mark set by Mike Skinner one year earlier.
• Justin Marks (Texas), Bobby East (ORP) and Scott Speed (Bristol-2) posted their career-first poles this season.
• Erik Darnell won the pole at Talladega, followed by Roush Fenway Racing teammates Jon Wes Townley and Colin Braun. It was the first 1-2-3 qualifying effort for a car owner in series history.
There had been nine car-owner 1-2 starts prior to that, including one by Roush Fenway: Mark Martin (first) and David Ragan (second) at Talladega in 2006.
• 44 different drivers have posted top-10 starts this season, led by Ron Hornaday Jr. with 22.
The Races
• 116 different drivers have qualified for and competed in at least one race this season. J.R. Norris qualified for Kyle Busch at Texas but did not compete in the race.
• There have been 11 different race winners in 2008:
Ron Hornaday Jr. (six)
Johnny Benson (five)
Kyle Busch (three)
Todd Bodine (two)
Dennis Setzer (one)
Matt Crafton (one)
Donny Lia (one)
Scott Speed (one)
Erik Darnell (one)
Mike Skinner (one)
Ryan Newman (one)
Kevin Harvick (one)
• 42 different drivers have posted top-10 finishes this season, led by Mike Skinner with 18.
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