The grueling, yet thrilling, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season has come down to one final race: tonight’s Ford 200 at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway.
For points leader Johnny Benson, the night will be about defending his three-point lead over second-place Ron Hornaday Jr. For Germain Racing’s Todd Bodine, in third place but 143 points behind Benson, the focus will be on securing a third checkered flag and wrapping up the season on a high note.
It also will be the swan song for the Craftsman tools sponsorship, which has had its name on the truck series from the outset. Next year, the series sponsor will be Camping World.
“I’m glad they both pulled a bonehead move on the same night,” Kevin Harvick, Hornaday’s truck owner, said of the Phoenix fiasco. “They both could have had opportunities to put daggers in each other.”
“Nobody has the advantage anymore in this point battle,” Hornaday said. “I think this championship is going to go to the guy that has the least amount of bad luck. I’ve been saying for the past few weeks that this thing is going to come down to Homestead and here we are. We know what we have to do and we just need to treat this week like it’s just another race.”
The two will use the same strategy in pursuit of the title. Not counting lap-leader bonuses, all one has to do is finish higher than the other to win the championship. But Benson likes his odds, is the defending race winner and comfortable at the 1.5-mile track.
For Benson, it’s his last race with Bill Davis Racing. He’s leaving the team at the end of the season, but vowed not to let that effect his final performance.
“It doesn’t really change anything. We have the opportunity to try to win a championship and to me the incentive doesn’t change,” Benson said. “We want to make that happen either way. It would mean a lot to be able to get this for Bill and Gail (Davis). They’ve been in this sport for a long time.”
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