Benson wins Martinsville to regain points lead

Johnny Benson leads Ron Hornaday late in the race

Johnny Benson used fresher tires and a lightning-fast truck to pass Ron Hornaday for the lead with 46 laps to go in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and cruised to his fifth victory of the season.

Kevin Harvick Inc.’s Hornaday, on older tires than Benson after taking only fuel during the leaders’ lone visit to pit road, led each of the first 154 laps and appeared poised to hang onto second before running out of gas with four laps left in the Kroger 200.

“We had a great truck today – that is all you can ask for," said Hornaday, who was seeking his first Martinsville win. "You try to save fuel, but you can't, especially here at Martinsville. Johnny Benson was a lot better off the corner, so he was probably saving a little bit [of fuel] getting in."

Hornaday finished 29th and gave up 104 points to Benson, who came to Martinsville trailing Hornaday by 39 for the series lead. Benson leaves with a 65-point advantage.

“I love Martinsville," said Bill Davis Racing’s Benson, who scored his first win at the track in 11 starts and had never led a lap at the facility before Saturday. “I don’t like sometimes how it races here but it’s cool to be in victory lane, I tell you that."

Also running out of gas late in the race was Hornaday’s car owner, Kevin Harvick, who slowed coming to the white flag.

Harvick, who was making his first Truck start of the season, ran third behind Hornaday and Benson for most of the race but came home 15th after coasting to the finish line.

Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia’s Dennis Setzer wound up second in the shakeup followed by Circle Bar Racing’s Rick Crawford in third.

Billy Ballew Motorsports’ Kyle Busch and Germain Racing’s Todd Bodine completed the top five.
Positions six through 10 belonged to TRG Motorsports' T.J. Bell Jr., BDR's Scott Speed, ThorSport Racing's Matt Crafton, BHR-Virginia's Sam Hornish Jr. and Premier Racing's Timothy Peters.

Not everyone had such a smooth ride.

That was the case for Dustin Skinner, the 23-year-old son of series veteran Mike Skinner, whose Truck debut turned ugly when his Germain Racing Toyota shot up the track and slammed the wall on the entrance to Turn 3 early in the race.

After extensive repairs, Skinner returned the race. He finished 34th.

It was also a tough day for the Roush Fenway Racing trucks of Erik Darnell and Colin Braun.

Darnell spun off Turn 4 near the start/finish line on lap 55 after a bump from Red Horse Racing’s David Starr. He continued without significant damage but struggled to a 19th-place finish.

Braun likewise found trouble – in the form of a nudge courtesy of ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton off Turn 2 – that sent the No. 6 Ford spinning on the backstretch on lap 146. Braun later spun again, on lap 162 in Turn 4.

Results:

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS

1 5 23 Johnny Benson Toyota Toyota Tundra 190/5 200 Running
2 6 18 Dennis Setzer Dodge GreenBrier Dodge 170/0 200 Running
3 7 14 Rick Crawford Ford Circle Bar Truck Corral / Power Stroke Diesel 165/0 200 Running
4 13 51 Kyle Busch Toyota Miccosukee Resort & Gaming / NOS Energy Drink 160/0 200 Running
5 2 30 Todd Bodine Toyota Lumber Liquidators 155/0 200 Running
6 29 7 T.J. Bell Chevrolet Heathcliff's Cat Litter "Home 4 the Holidays.org" 150/0 200 Running
7 32 22 Scott Speed * Toyota Red Bull 146/0 200 Running
8 17 88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet Super Clean / Menards 142/0 200 Running
9 16 4 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental 138/0 200 Running
10 8 117 Timothy Peters Dodge Hayes Iron & Metal / Danville Ready Mix 134/0 200 Running
11 15 60 Jack Sprague Toyota wyler.com 130/0 200 Running
12 22 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Toyota Tundra 127/0 200 Running
13 11 13 Shelby Howard Chevrolet FarmPaint.com 124/0 200 Running
14 23 16 Brian Scott * Toyota Albertson's 121/0 200 Running
15 3 2 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet YOU CRATE / R+L Carriers 118/0 200 Running
16 10 59 Terry Cook Toyota Team ASE / Harris Trucking 115/0 200 Running
17 18 15 Jason White Toyota Gunbroker.com 112/0 200 Running
18 9 09 Jamie McMurray Ford Zaxby's 109/0 200 Running
19 14 99 Erik Darnell Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 106/0 200 Running
20 26 71 Ben Stancill Chevrolet Zero Seconds / "Get Well Grace" 103/0 200 Running
21 19 212 J.R. Fitzpatrick Chevrolet Mammoet 100/0 200 Running
22 27 10 Brendan Gaughan Ford International Maxx Force Diesel 97/0 200 Running
23 33 07 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet ASI Limited 94/0 200 Running
24 30 8 Chad McCumbee Chevrolet Malcolmson Construction 91/0 199 Running
25 4 6 Colin Braun * Ford Con-way Freight 88/0 198 Running
26 35 148 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet DIRECTV NASCAR Hot Pass / TNA Wrestling 85/0 198 Running
27 28 08 Ryan Lawler Dodge Gunbroker.com 82/0 198 Running
28 12 81 Donny Lia * Chevrolet Randy Moss Motorsports / NationRides.com 79/0 198 Running
29 1 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet Camping World / RVs.com 86/10 197 Running
30 21 21 Jon Wood Ford Aquasun Motorsports 73/0 195 Running
31 25 40 Jeff Green Chevrolet Westerman Companies 70/0 191 Running
32 34 0 Chris Jones Chevrolet Copy Wizard / J.D. Byrider 67/0 109 Running
33 24 11 David Starr Toyota Zachry 64/0 174 Accident
34 31 03 Dustin Skinner Toyota Germain Toyota PE 74 Accident
35 36 74 Nick Tucker Dodge VangleVault / Vangle.com 58/0 60 Brakes
36 20 9 Sean Caisse Toyota Germain.com 55/0 44 Accident