NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series is a young man’s game, but Johnny Benson is leading the over-40 crowd standin’ on the gas in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Benson has won the past two and three of the past four Truck events in the No. 23 Bill Davis-owned Toyota Tundra. A Cup race winner and the 1995 Nationwide (then Busch) Series titlist, Benson is 15 points ahead of three-time champion Ron Hornaday Jr.
Only one top-10 driver in Cup points, Jeff Burton, is in his 40s. In the Trucks, just two of the top 10 are younger than 40. Three - Hornaday, Rick Crawford and Mike Skinner - are 50-plus.
Benson, 45, says “you can’t ask for it to be more competitive.” The stats back him up: There have been nine different winners in the first 14 races. Eleven races remain, including the Nov. 7 Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, where Benson won in 2006.
“I don’t think it matters if you’re young, middle age, or old,” said Benson, third in last year’s standings. “They are shorter races, so the guys race hard from the beginning to the end. It’s like good-old Saturday night short-track racing.
“You never change your approach. The goal is to beat everybody, no matter what their experience is, or their age, or what manufacturer they drive for. Winning is still the name of the game.”
“The Cup schedule is tougher, but those guys make 100 times more money than we do. This still gives us an opportunity to go home and enjoy part of the weekend with family and friends.”
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