XP1 Helps Johnny Benson Take the Victory at ORP

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 25, 2008) - Johnny Benson won Friday night's crash-filled Power Stroke Diesel 200 presented by AAA Hoosier Insurance at O'Reilly Raceway Park, race No. 14 of 25 on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.

Johnny Benson won Friday night's crash-filled Power Stroke Diesel 200 presented by AAA Hoosier Insurance at O'Reilly Raceway Park, race No. 14 of 25 on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.

Benson held off Ron Hornaday, Erik Darnell and Matt Crafton to win his second straight race and third of the season.

"Johnny's got it going on," said Bill Davis, Benson's team owner, who won his 20th race as an NCTS team owner. The win was No. 12 for Benson as a driver.

As the battle for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship continued to intensify, the points leaders slugged it out over one of the toughest short tracks on the circuit. And it was a typically brutal affair, with truck after truck making contact with ORP's walls or other trucks, or both.

Bobby East began the race on the pole in his Zaxby's Ford F-150, but early on, it became obvious that Hornaday and Benson had the fastest trucks in the field.

Hornaday, the reigning and three-time NCTS series champion, took the lead from Benson, the pre-race points leader, on a Lap 91 restart at the 0.686-mile ORP oval. Despite relentless pressure from Benson's Vemma Toyota Tundra, Hornaday kept his VFW Chevrolet Silverado out front until the next caution on Lap 113.

The race restarted on Lap 120, with Hornaday leading Benson, Erik Darnell's Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150, Todd Bodine's Lumber Liquidators Toyota and pole-sitter East. But just after the restart, Brendan Gaughan's International Maxxforce Diesel Ford, Stacy Compton Wabash Valley Chrysler Dodge Ram and East went three-wide in Turn 4 with disastrous results, causing a pileup that didn't end until Turn 1 on the following lap.

But with the ensuing restart came another caution, as Justin Marks saw his Crocs Toyota get spun on the backstretch by Michael Annett's Pilot Travel Centers Toyota.

The next restart came at Lap 134, with yet another crash two laps later, this one occurring when Chad McCumbee appeared to cut a right-front tire and went into the wall.

The race restarted on Lap 140, with Hornaday out ahead of Benson, Darnell, Bodine and 2006 ORP winner Rick Crawford's Powerstroke Diesel by International Ford. Just 12 laps later, Marks crashed again this time getting loose and spinning into East, both trucks again making contact with the wall.

Through all the carnage, Benson could not get past Hornaday, as he trailed him again when the green came out on Lap 158 as the race hit its closing stages. Just after the green, Crawford passed Darnell to take third place and set out after the leaders.

Finally, on Lap 161 Benson took the high line and went around Hornaday to take the lead. By this point, Hornaday already had clinched the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps. Two laps after Benson went out front, Brian Scott's Albertson's Chevy and Dennis Setzer's Tahoe Dodge tangled on the backstretch, bringing out yet another yellow flag.

On the Lap 169 restart, Hornaday was not able to launch one of his patented spectacular restarts, settling in behind Benson's Toyota. Then came another caution on Lap 173, as Marc Mitchell's Hyprene-Ergon Toyota got the worst of an encounter with Landon Cassill's Randy Moss-owned Godaddy.com Chevy.

The green came out on Lap 178, with Hornaday nearly getting the jump on Benson and Crawford closing quickly, the race turning into a three-truck battle. Hornaday and Crawford both bounced off the wall in pursuit of Benson, though they were able to continue unscathed.

Others were not so lucky. Bodine got hit by Matt Crafton's Menards Chevy on the backstretch, setting off a chain reaction that also snared Colin Braun's Con-Way Ford, the American Commercial Lines Chevy of Jack Sprague and Terry Cook's Wyler.com Toyota.

On Lap 191, the track went green, with Benson still ahead of Hornaday and Crawford, as Annett took fourth. That lasted until Annett spun in Turn 3 on Lap 195 to bring out the record-tying 11th caution of the night. 

Crawford's engine lost power on the restart, as he dropped to 12th in the final order, while Benson and Hornaday finished 1-2 in a tense battle.