Saturday, Sept. 1 Gateway Int'l Raceway St. Louis, IL

Johnny Benson celebrates in Victory Lane.

Benson Edges Hornaday at Gateway
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

MADISON, Ill. (September 1, 2007) -- Johnny Benson bounced back from a blown pit stop to win the Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 Saturday at Gateway International Raceway.

It was Benson's second straight and third of the season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Ron Hornaday Jr. finished second and moved into the championship points lead by four points over Mike Skinner, who had been leading the points battle since March. Skinner cut a tire and crashed early, finishing 28th.

Benson was running leading in Bill Davis Racing's Toyota when he pitted under caution on the 58th of 160 laps. He came in second, but a lug nut was missing on the left front wheel, and NASCAR officials forced him to return to the pits. Benson fell to 22nd, the last truck on the lead lap.

"I really did believe the day was done," Benson said, "but the truck was really good and I was able to pass. I wasn't patient. I had a lot of work to do."

Benson climbed into the top 10 in 15 laps, then steadily began gaining positions. He moved into second on Lap 92 but trailed the leader Hornaday by 4.1 seconds. Benson chopped the lead down to one second before a caution came out.

The leaders pitted, and Benson came out in fifth. He was up to second behind Hornaday for the final restart on Lap 133.

Hornaday protected the inside entering Turns 1 and 3. On Lap 148, Benson went to the outside in Turn 2, exited alongside Hornaday and passed him near the end of the backstretch.

"I had to pass him on the outside," Benson said. "He was running the bottom. I passed a lot of guys on the outside there. I had to time it right. It started to stick and he didn't squeeze me."

Benson led by 1.228 seconds going into the final lap. The race ended under caution when Ryan Mathews' Toyota hit the wall in Turn 1.

Hornaday was content to settle for second.

"We needed a good points day," Hornaday said. "I saw Mike (Skinner) go out; it was awesome. We would have liked to have won and gained 10 more points, but we'll take second."

Ted Musgrave's Germain Racing Toyota was third, tying his best finish of the season.

"We'll take a top three," Musgrave said. "We had the right pit strategy by coming in early and making adjustments."

Todd Bodine, Musgrave's teammate, was fourth and Regan Smith, in the Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet, was fifth.

Broadcast Times

• Pre-Race Show: Saturday, September 1 (SPEED at 6 p.m./AT)
• Race: Saturday, September 1 (SPEED at 6:30 p.m. AT)

Event Stats PDF files unless noted otherwise

Entry List

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200
The Place: Gateway International Raceway
The Date: Sept. 1, 20071
The Time: 5:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1.25-mile oval
Race Purse: $618,893
2006 Winner: Todd Bodine
2006 Pole: David Ragan
Schedule: Friday – Practice 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., 3:45 – 4:15 p.m. (rookies) and 6:15 – 7:15 p.m. Saturday – Qualifying 1:05 p.m.
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Green Flag Notes

• St. Louis native Kenny Wallace (No. 51 Flanders Provisions Co. Chevrolet) will return to the series after an absence of nearly nine years. Wallace last competed at Phoenix International Raceway in 1995. The Wallace family – Kenny, Mike and Rusty – is one of four to have three brothers race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. “I have some unfinished business with Mike,” said Wallace. “He may have more starts there in a truck, but I’ve had some good runs in Busch and I look forward to this opportunity to get a good top-five run in our hometown.” Mike Wallace’s best Gateway finish is fifth. Each of the families – the Wallaces, Bodines, Greens and Sauters – is represented in the Ram Tough 200. The entry includes Wallace, Todd Bodine, David Green (No. 1 RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota) and Tim Sauter (No. 07 Lester Buildings Chevrolet).
• Ken Schrader ran his only NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Gateway in 2001 finishing 17th. He finished fifth in Gateway’s 1999 NASCAR Busch Series race driving a Chevrolet owned by now ESPN analyst Andy Petree.
• Hard to believe but Todd Bodine, the defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, has won exactly one race in the past 14 months. That after setting the season on fire in 2005 with victories in the final three races and five overall. While it hasn’t exactly been a lean year – Bodine is fourth in points with a win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes – the 43-year-old champion is less than happy when he’s not visiting Victory Lane. But, looking at the bright side, the defending winner of Saturday’s Missouri/Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200, points to an increased level of competition in the series overall. “The competition has kind of stepped it up and we are going to have to step it up and get that dominant edge again,” said Bodine.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.