MADISON, Ill. - Despite a dominating performance Saturday at Gateway
International Raceway by two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion
Ron Hornaday, it was Johnny Benson taking the checkered flag in the
Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200. He took the lead from
Hornaday, who led a race-high 95 laps, with 13 laps left in the event. The
victory here is Benson's third of the season and his eighth overall NCTS
win.
"This thing ran awesome today," he said. "It was a fun, tough battle. I
could've passed (Hornaday) three or four laps before that, but I
wanted to make sure I could clear him."
Hornaday had little to complain about with the runner-up finish,
however. After pole-sitter Mike Skinner hit the wall on Lap 32 with a blown
tire and finished the day 65 laps down in 28th, Hornaday took the top
spot from Skinner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings
by four points.
Benson is the ninth different winner in ten races at GIR, with
third-place finisher Ted Musgrave being the only multiple NCTS winner at the
1.25-mile oval. Todd Bodine, who came into the day as the defending race
winner, finished fourth despite having mechanical problems early in the
race and Regan Smith, a former driver for the Foristell, Mo.-based MB
Motorsports, rounded out the top five.
Two hometown favorites, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, who gave the
command to fire engines to start the event, finished 13th and 17th,
respectively. At the end of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough
200, the duo left to run modifieds at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., the
track Schrader co-owns with Ray Marler.
International Raceway by two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion
Ron Hornaday, it was Johnny Benson taking the checkered flag in the
Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200. He took the lead from
Hornaday, who led a race-high 95 laps, with 13 laps left in the event. The
victory here is Benson's third of the season and his eighth overall NCTS
win.
"This thing ran awesome today," he said. "It was a fun, tough battle. I
could've passed (Hornaday) three or four laps before that, but I
wanted to make sure I could clear him."
Hornaday had little to complain about with the runner-up finish,
however. After pole-sitter Mike Skinner hit the wall on Lap 32 with a blown
tire and finished the day 65 laps down in 28th, Hornaday took the top
spot from Skinner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings
by four points.
Benson is the ninth different winner in ten races at GIR, with
third-place finisher Ted Musgrave being the only multiple NCTS winner at the
1.25-mile oval. Todd Bodine, who came into the day as the defending race
winner, finished fourth despite having mechanical problems early in the
race and Regan Smith, a former driver for the Foristell, Mo.-based MB
Motorsports, rounded out the top five.
Two hometown favorites, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, who gave the
command to fire engines to start the event, finished 13th and 17th,
respectively. At the end of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough
200, the duo left to run modifieds at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., the
track Schrader co-owns with Ray Marler.
