Johnny Benson Wins in Kentucky, Kyle Busch Finishes Sixth

At Kentucky Speedway Johnny Benson dominated the latter stages of the Built Ford Tough 225, re-captured the CTS point lead, and got his second win of the season. Benson used both early pit strategy—due to a loose right front tire—and great pit crew work late in the race to his advantage.

More impressive was the restart with 32 laps to go when Benson went five wide passing lapped trucks, teammate Annett who was leading, and Setzer running second at the time.

While Benson, under caution, took four fresh Goodyear tires, both Annett and Setzer got two tires only. This proved to be the difference, giving Benson the advantage to simply cruise to the finish.

Michael Annett, in only his third Craftsman race, looks like the real deal and with time will be a great addition for Bill Davis Racing. He now has sixth, eleventh, and second place finishes in three starts.

The talk of the night was Kyle Busch, who could have made NASCAR history, being the first driver to win three consecutive races in all three of NASCAR's National Series.

Busch ran a great race for the first 51 laps, had two problems to overcome, and would end up with a sixth place finish.

From the drop of the checks, the race featured some great racing from pole sitter Mike Skinner and Kyle Busch who started on the outside pole position. The two kept switching the lead back and forth, dueling it out till Busch pitted on lap 51 under green.

A caution flag came out for a wreck involving Chrissy Wallace and Jack Sprague. They had been driving side by side for several laps, leaving each other no room, and Wallace ended up crashing into the wall. This also resulted in a 10-minute red flag to make repairs to the safer barrier wall.

Chrissy Wallace had looked good, qualified seventh, and up to the wreck was in the top 20. She was upset with Sprague since he had engine problems after racing her so hard, already two laps down.

Busch would end up alright, since he got the Aaron's Lucky Dog from the caution and would restart on the lead lap in 26th position. On the restart, Benson was the leader, winning the battle off of pit road to earn it.

Another favorite to win the race, Todd Bodine, would have to pit due to loose lug nuts, putting him a lap down and the Aaron's Lucky dog got him back on the lead lap.

But Bodine would eventually wreck out late in the race in an accident that involved Colin Braun and Brendan Gaughan. Busch, Hornaday, and Crawford raced through the wreck with no problems. 

Ron Hornaday, my favorite driver, had been running in the top 10 all night and kept himself within striking distance of the lead. Hornaday had to pit for a loose wheel and it put him a lap down with under 50 laps to go. Hornaday also benefited from a late caution, getting the Aaron's Lucky Dog and bringing the No. 33 Camping World Truck to a 10th place finish.

Kyle Busch's chance for the win ended when Ted Musgrave ran into him, triggering a wreck that ended the night for Chad McCumbee and Justin Marks and caused Busch to have to come to pit road for two right side tires. He dropped back to 18th and would only make it up to sixth before the checkered flag flew for Benson.

Both McCumbee and Marks had been running great races all night and unfortunately didn't get good finishes for all their hard work.

Matt Crafton, the big surprise in 2008, had another great night finishing in third place, just one point behind Benson for the points lead.

Hornaday would also salvage a decent night that could have been a lot worse for him. He ended up five points out of the points lead and now sits third.

Although Busch didn't achieve his milestone, others did. Bill Davis Racing secured their 20th career win in the Craftsman Truck Series. They are now second for most team wins.

Also, Roush/Fenway Racing set the mark for most starts in the series, and they passed Spears Motorsports to achieve it.

The other story of the night was the debut of Randy Moss Motorsports. Will Allen drove the No. 81 Rascal Flatts/godaddy.com truck to a 15th place finish and did a decent job for the new team.

Benson's victory celebration was pretty cool, holding the checkered and doing burnouts. The team also soaked victory lane with champagne, including Speed Channel's Krista Voda.

The top 10 for the race are as follows:

1.) Johnny Benson

2.) Michael Annett

3.) Matt Crafton

4.) Dennis Setzer

5.) David Starr

6.) Kyle Busch

7.) Mike Skinner

8.) Terry Cook

9.) Marc Mitchell

10.) Ron Hornaday