Benson hopes Michigan repeat can propel season

Johnny Benson is coming home, and all you have to do is look back to last season to see why the father of two of who will turn 44 on June 27 is very excited about the homecoming.

Benson's first full Truck Series season in 2005 was a successful one as he finished 10th in points and ended the year with six top-fives and 10 top-10s, but he couldn't find that first victory.

By the Numbers

Like Johnny Benson, Travis Kvapil has also won at Michigan and hopes a victory this week will get his season going.

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Last year, the expectations were there for Benson to improve on his solid debut, and he started out strong with six top-six finishes in the first nine races. After the Texas race, he found himself fourth in the points standings, 232 behind Todd Bodine.

Then he went home.

After struggling with a loose truck in the early going, Benson and his team made the adjustments necessary to get his No. 23 Toyota Tundra back up front. On Lap 73, Benson finally took the lead and was able to hold off Cup veterans Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte to win his first Truck Series race.

"Once we got out front -- the clean air was pretty good," Benson said. "You can't write the book any better than that. To come home and win at my home track was pretty awesome."

Not only was this Benson's first win, it was the first time in the Truck Series someone won their first race at the 2-mile speedway. On top of that, the former Busch Series champion became just the 17th driver in NASCAR history to win on all three national levels.

After Michigan, Benson went on a tear. He won the next week at the Milwaukee Mile and also posted victories at Nashville, New Hampshire and Phoenix. In those final 16 races, Benson had five wins, nine top-fives and 11 top-10s. After a fifth-place finish at Martinsville, Benson had diminished Bodine's point lead to just 79 points and ultimately he finished second to champion Bodine by 127 points.

This season, Benson finds himself again putting together strong finishes but trailing in the points. He has six top-10s through the first nine races including a second at the season-opener in Daytona, but he's currently eighth in points, 417 behind leader Mike Skinner. (Continued)