Saturday, July 19 Kentucky Speedway Sparta, KY

Benson, Annett Lead One-Two BDR Sweep In Kentucky
By Tim Tuttle, Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

SPARTA, Ky. (July 19, 2008) -- Johnny Benson made a daring, four-wide pass to take the lead with 32 laps remaining and cruised on to victory Saturday night in the Built Ford Tough 225 Craftsman Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Benson was third behind Bill Davis Racing teammate Michael Annett and Dennis Setzer for the restart on Lap 119 of 150 on the 1.5-mile track. Chad Chaffin was the top truck a lap down on the inside.

“I had a tremendous run off Turn 2 and got alongside the 18 (Setzer),” Benson said. “We both had good runs on the 22 (Annett), and we made a made dash to the corner (Turn 3). I expected (Setzer) to turn left, and he did and I had to turn left. I had the best spot.

“This track is extremely difficult to pass on. I think we had one of the few trucks able to hug the bottom, and that was a key to winning.”

Benson won his second truck race of the season and 11th overall and moved into the points lead by one over Matt Crafton, who finished third. Previous leader Ron Hornaday Jr. is five off the lead after finishing 10th.

Annett, in his third start in the series, was second, .475 seconds behind Benson. Annett, 22, finished sixth and 11th in his previous two starts.

Annett ran solidly in the top 10 for most of the race. He was sixth when the lead-lap trucks made their final pit stops on Lap 115, with Benson leading the field down pit road.

Annett’s crew chief, Doug Wolcott, decided to take two tires, and it vaulted Annett into the lead as most trucks, including Benson and Crafton, took four.

“He made a great call and got us out front,” Annett said. “Track position was everything. I was surprised how good a run Johnny got, but he’s a veteran and he knows how to do that. I saw the red on his hood, and the spotter said, ‘Four wide,’ and then there was a crash behind us.

“It was pretty cool finishing second.”

Setzer finished fourth and David Starr fifth. Kyle Busch passed Mike Skinner at the finish for sixth.

Busch’s Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota led laps 37 to 49, relinquishing the lead to make his first pit stop. He was on pit road when the caution came out. Busch got the Lucky Dog and was able to regain the lead lap, but he restarted from the back of field and never was able to return to the front.

Busch was 13th, with a truck banged up in the multitruck crash on Lap 119, for the final restart with 29 laps remaining and charged to sixth, beating Skinner to the line by .032 seconds.

Busch was attempting to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win consecutive races in each of the three national series.

Complete Race Results click here

Post-Race Point Standings click here

Event Stats
The Race: Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers
The Place: Kentucky Speedway
Race Distance: 225 miles / 150 laps
TV: SPEED, 7:30 p.m. AT
Track Layout: 1.5-Mile Oval
2007 Winner: Mike Skinner
2007 Pole: Ryan Mathews
Schedule: Friday: Practice, 2:45-4:20 p.m. and 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Saturday: Qualifying, 3:30 p.m.
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Broadcast Times - AT*

• Final Practice: Friday, July 18 (SPEED at 7:30 p.m.)
• Qualifying: Saturday, July 19 (SPEED at 5 p.m.)
• Pre-Race: Saturday, July 19 (SPEED at 7 p.m.)
• Race: Saturday, July 19 (SPEED at 8 p.m.)

*AT is one hour ahead of ET, i.e. if it's 2 p.m./AT - it's 1 p.m./ET...

Track Map

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Event Preview

• Roush Fenway Racing To Start Milestone 316th Race...Jack Roush’s entry into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series began with Todd Bodine’s fourth-place finish at Heartland Park Topeka in August 1995. This week, 314 races later — 311 consecutive — Roush Fenway Racing will eclipse Spears Motorsports as the team with the most series starts. It’s been quite a ride to the eve of start No. 316. Greg Biffle presented Roush with the team’s first NASCAR championship in 2000. The team’s 49 victories, two coming at Kentucky Speedway in 2000 and 2003, is a series record. Twenty-eight different drivers have competed in a Roush Fenway truck; 10 count at least one win. Early on, Roush recognized the series as being a proving ground for young talent. Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and David Ragan each used the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as a gateway into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “The Craftsman Truck Series has been a tremendous place for us to find and groom the next generation of drivers,” Roush said. “The series not only provides great, competitive racing for the fans every week, but it also gives young drivers the chance to shine and prove themselves to make their way up the ranks." Roush’s Colin Braun leads series rookie points.
• Kentucky Boasts Star-Studded Roster of Winners...As Darrell Waltrip is fond of saying, it takes ‘sperience to win, especially at Kentucky Speedway. Look at the list of winners since the inaugural race in 2000: Three NASCAR Craftsman Truck champions; Two NASCAR Nationwide Series champions; Two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors — Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle — currently holding spots that would qualify them for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. And here’s another fact: Each of the eight winners has at least one NASCAR Nationwide Series trophy to share shelf space with his Built Ford Tough 225 hardware. Just one driver — Edwards — has won in both series at Kentucky Speedway. Unlike the track’s other winners, Edwards posted his first truck win.
• Intermediate Master Bodine Eyes ‘Missing’ Track...Todd Bodine has won a series-high eight times on five of the seven 1.5-mile intermediate tracks on the 2008 schedule. Kentucky Speedway isn’t one of them. Bodine does have a victory at the Sparta facility, host to Saturday’s Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers. He won the track’s 2002 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Bodine says the team has to bring the right package to the track. Luck, however, is the one factor no driver and crew can control. “We’ve shown up with great race trucks and just haven’t had the luck we needed to get the win,” he said of his 11th-place finish in 2007. “Last year at Kentucky we had a flat tire at the beginning of the race, then later lost the air off our spoiler and spun at a point where we couldn’t get more tires. The Lumber Liquidators Tundra was probably the truck to beat last year, but you have to have the whole package. We missed out on the luck part last year.” Bodine’s most recent intermediate-track win came in June 2007 at Texas Motor Speedway. He’s 0-for-9 over the past 13 months. Or put another way, he’s probably due.
• No ‘Off-Week’ For Busch...Kyle Busch will be back in the seat of the No. 51 Miccosukee Resort Toyota as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes a break. Busch last drove the truck last month in Michigan where he finished seventh. Busch bids to win in three different national series in consecutive starts following his Chicagoland sweep over the past weekend.
• Hensley Joins BHR-VA...Jeff Hensley has joined BHR-VA as director of competition. The team fields a pair of Dodges for Stacy Compton and Dennis Setzer. Hensley formerly was crew chief for Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) and succeeds Charlie Wilson, who moves to Dodge Engineering.
• bBrendan Gaughan (No. 10 MAXX Force Diesel Ford) will throw out the first pitch at Thursday’s Louisville Bats-Charlotte Knights baseball game in Louisville. American Commercial Lines, sponsor of Jack Sprague’s No. 2 Chevrolet, is hosting its Second Annual ACL Fan Fest In Jeffersonville, Ind. — also on Thursday. Sprague, teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. and others will attend and sign autographs.
• Closest Top 10 In History...After 12 races, the 74 and 212-point margins between first, fifth and 10th are closest ever. They were 385 and 612 in 2007. Still, the title went down to the final race as in 12 of 13 previous seasons.
• Double-Dippers...Justin Allgaier (No. 63 Dave Porter Truck Sales Ford), Brian Scott (No. 16 Albertsons Chevrolet) and John Wes Townley (No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford) also will compete in Friday’s ARCA RE/MAX event.

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