Johnny Benson got past Kyle Busch an instant
before a caution flag froze the field Saturday and never
relinquished the top spot, racing away to a win in the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway.
It was the fourth victory of the season for Benson, who had not
won a truck race before this year.
Nextel Cup star Busch, making only his fourth truck start of the
season, took the lead on lap 121 on a pit stop during one of the 12
caution flags in the 200-lap race and was battling to hold off
Benson on lap 167 when Mike Bliss hit the wall. That brought out
another yellow flag and NASCAR's scoring showed Benson had the nose
of his Bill Davis Racing Toyota just ahead of Busch's Chevrolet.
Benson, who led four times for 145 laps, pulled away on the
ensuing restart and stayed in front as pole-winner Mike Skinner got
past Busch to take second place, finishing 0.691 seconds _ about six
truck-lengths _ behind the winner.
Series points leader Todd Bodine finished fourth, followed by
David Starr, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Rick Crawford.
``The only way to catch Todd is to do what we did today,'' said
Benson, the series runner-up. Benson gained 30 points on Bodine and
now trails by 124 with seven races remaining. ``Todd and those guy
have been consistent all year, but we're doing everything we can to
get 'em.''
Skinner was disappointed that he wasn't able to take a shot at
Benson after getting past Busch, who bounced off the wall on lap
185.
``We just needed a long green run and we never could get it,''
Skinner said.
Benson's teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, the Champ Car World Series
star making his truck debut, finished 13th. The 24-year-old
Allmendinger started at the back of the 36-car field after crashing
in qualifying and having to move to a backup truck.
A caution flag on lap 90 was brought out when Ted Musgrave
bounced off the wall after being hit by Crawford. The angry Musgrave
stayed on the track, pulled up alongside Crawford under caution and
pushed Crawford's truck up to the wall before pitting.
Musgrave was parked for the rest of the race by NASCAR and
finished 31st. The defending series champion is likely to be subject
to further penalties.
