Sunday, June 22, 2008

Benson wins third straight at Milwaukee

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) -- After weathering a brief delay for lightning, Johnny Benson bolted away to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series race at the Milwaukee Mile on Friday night.

It was the third straight truck series victory at the track for Benson, who held onto his lead in the series points standings.
"Man, this is just way cool," Benson said. "I can not believe we've won three in a row here."

It was the 10th career victory for Benson, who is leading the series points standings for the first time in his career. Benson leaves Milwaukee with a 50-point lead over Todd Bodine.

"Man, everything's just going well," crew chief Trip Bruce said in a television interview after the race. "We have a lot of fun together."

Rick Crawford was leading the race when officials issued a caution flag for drizzling rain. All the leaders decided to pit, and Benson came out first. The race then was red-flagged and the grandstands were evacuated because of lightning in the area on lap 150.

Benson thanked the fans for staying to watch the end of the race.

"That lightning was unbelievable," Benson said.

After a delay of just over 25 minutes and a few laps under caution, the race resumed with 46 laps to go and Benson in the lead, followed by Matt Crafton and Landon Cassill. But neither could challenge Benson's Toyota the rest of the way.

Crafton finished second and Cassill finished third, both driving Chevrolets.

Benson came into the race as the favorite after winning the last two truck races at the track and taking the pole in qualifying earlier Friday.

Benson ran away with the lead early on. But he lost the lead to Erik Darnell -- the winner last week in Michigan by 0.005 seconds over Benson -- on a re-start 84 laps into the race, then nearly was collected in a multi-truck melee at the race's halfway point.

Darnell finished fourth and wasn't thrilled with his truck's handling.

"I just don't think we kept up with the track the way we needed to," Darnell said.

Benson was running third when Jack Sprague tried to duck inside of him in Turn 4. Benson refused to yield the spot, forcing Sprague to slow down slightly. Brendan Gaughan tapped Sprague's back bumper, causing Sprague to spin in the middle of the frontstretch and collecting a total of eight trucks in the accident.

Crawford then took the lead from Darnell on lap 117, only to lose it in the pits during the caution for rain. Crawford then was penalized for breaking the pit road speed limit and was sent to the back of the pack when the race re-started. Crawford finished eighth.

"(Crawford) was awesome," Benson said. "I hate that he had his deal on pit road there."


Trucks: Crafton survives wild finish for first win
IceHogs edge Aeros to take 3-1 series lead