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Benson Edges Hornaday At Gateway

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.

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