It all came down to Homestead in the Truck Series, with Johnny Benson leading by a mere three points over Ron Hornaday.
We truck fans knew, it was going to be a classic battle between two Wiley veterans, whoever finished ahead of the other would be the champion and they delivered just that a classic to the checker's finish.
Bring a fitting end to Craftsman, 14 year reign, as title sponsor of the truck series for NASCAR's most exciting series and thank you Craftsman for a job well done.
On Friday night, under the lights at Homestead, Johnny Benson would win the war beating Ron Hornaday by 0.400 of a second for the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
Johnny Benson edged Ron Hornaday by seven points, it was his second career NASCAR title and his first was being the 1995 Nationwide Series Champion. He breaks terry Labonte's record of 12 years between titles, making it 13 years.
Johnny Benson also joins Bobby Labonte and Greg Biffle as the only drivers too have won two out of three titles in NASCAR top three elite series.
Todd Bodine would win the Ford 200, on a late pass of rookie Brian Scott, getting his third win of 2008 and his crew deserves the credit for making the necessary adjustments on pit stops for him to win.
Mike Skinner in the No. 5 Tundra Sponsored Toyota Tundra truck won the pole, his 47th of his career. Colin Braun in the No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150 truck started on the outside pole position.
Kevin Harvick in the No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet Silveradotruck would start third. Ron Hornaday in the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Silverado truck started fourth and sure his boss will be a benefit to him starting beside him.
Dennis Setzerin the No. 18 University Dodge Dealership Dodge Ram truck starts fifth and will need a job next year. Ray Dunlap, mentioned pre-race that Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia may not be back in 2009.
Johnny Benson, the points leader, in the No. 23 ExideBatteries Toyota Tundra truck will start eighth and it was nice to see Exide step up to sponsor the truck.
During the warm-up laps, Scott Speed driving the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota Tundra truck in his last truck race was to start seventh. But had to come to pit road, his crew jacked up his truck and work to get his transmission unstuck. Speed would have to start at the tail end of the field.
On Lap One start, Mike Skinner would take the green with Colin Braun beside him, coming out of turn one Kevin Harvick takes the lead making a three wide pass and would pull away from both Skinner and Braun.
On Lap Two, Ron Hornaday was running in sixth, while Johnny Benson was running in ninth and struggling on the bottom.
On Lap Three, Johnny Benson got trapped on the bottom, with trucks passing him on high side and drops back to 12th place.
On Lap Four, Kevin Harvick leads Mike Skinner by 1.244 seconds, Ron Hornaday running in fifth, while Johnny Benson is running in thirteenth.
On Lap Seven, the first caution came out for Ryan Hackett in the No. 78 JandR Supply.com Ford F-150 truck spun coming out of turn four.
Kyle Busch would pit, to repair his front splitter that was dragging on the track and would restart tail end of the lead lap.
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about 1 month ago
Hooray, this is what I'd been waiting for and you did not disappoint with this one. Well done Mike, well done! What in the world are we all going to do for the next ten weeks without our races? As always, love your recaps, they are the next best thing to being there. Countdown to Daytona starts now!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks, Kara. I'm going to miss the Trucks, more than the Cup races and can't wait for the NCWTS to start in FEB.
about 1 month ago
Mike, I have to say I have been putting off reading this until I had the time to savor every word! And I knew this one was the last one of the season - hard to believe. It was a great race and truly the most exciting championship battle in all of NASCAR this year. Thanks for bringing us the lap-by-lap for this season. Can't wait until you crank it back up in Daytona!!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks appreciate it, MJ. Definitely was the classic of Championship weekend, really going to miss the trucks and will be re-reading these race recaps to make due till the season starts again.
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