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Johnny Benson is the reigning Truck winner -- both last week and last year at Bristol.By the Numbers: Truck
Top 10 and then some for Bristol Motor Speedway
August 20, 2008
10:01 AM EDT
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Beginning in 2003, amendments to the Craftsman Truck Series schedule brought about what has since become as certain as death and taxes, only not as dreaded: a set number of 25 races including one in particular on a Wednesday night at Bristol.
The Truck Series has raced 10 times at Bristol Motor Speedway. The first five events, 1995 through 1999, were held on Sunday. When it returned after a three-year absence, it became the first regularly scheduled midweek race in any of NASCAR's three national series.
Ron Hornaday is the only driver to win at Bristol more than once, doing so back-to-back in 1997-98. More on him later. Coverage of the O'Reilly 200 begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on SPEED with NCTS Setup.
1Drivers to win at Bristol from a starting position worse than 12th. Joe Ruttman started 22nd out of 29 trucks in 1995. Ruttman made four starts at BMS and never finished worse than sixth. His 3.8 average finish is the best of any driver with more than two starts there.
2Poles at Bristol for Ron Hornaday, most of any driver. He won both races from the pole in No. 16 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Inc., and led 387 out of a possible 406 laps including all 200 in 1997. Hornaday finished sixth last year, his first top-10 since the back-to-back wins and fifth in eight starts.
3Consecutive top-fives at Bristol for Johnny Benson, the longest current streak. Benson finished fourth in 2005 and again in 2006 before winning last year. He has a 5.5 average finish in four career starts. Benson is racing for his fourth consecutive victory this week, which would be a series first.
4Top-fives at Bristol for Dodge, the only manufacturer without a win there. Dodge has two runner-up finishes, with Stacy Compton in 1999 and Robert Pressley in 2003. Compton and Dennis Setzer, fifth in 1999, are two of only six Dodge drivers entered in this week's race including Patrick Carpentier, who will be making his series debut.
5Races at Bristol won from the front row including three from the pole: Ron Hornaday in 1997-98 and Mark Martin in 2006. Rick Carelli (1996) and Mike Skinner (2005) each started on the outside. Carelli's victory was the first of four in his Truck career. He now spots for Hornaday.
6Fewest cautions in a race at Bristol, which has happened three times: 1995, 2003 and 2005. There were three lead changes in each of those races. Two of those races produced the fewest laps led for a winner: Joe Ruttman led eight laps in '95; Travis Kvapil led two laps in '03. Both times the winner started outside the top 10. Mike Skinner led the second-most laps (190) for a winner in '05.
7Top-10s at Bristol for Jack Sprague, most of any driver. His 1999 victory in the No. 24 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports is one of four top-fives, also tops among all drivers. Sprague's nine starts are the most at BMS, and he has a top-10 in each of the four different trucks he has driven there previously.
8Career starts at Bristol for Terry Cook, without a top-10. In fact, he has never finished on the lead lap. Cook has only two top-15 finishes and none in the past five races. He has three DNFs (all crashes) including last year when he finished 32nd, which is his worst result. His average finish is 23.8.
9Average place of finish at Bristol for Matt Crafton, who in five starts has never finished worse than 12th. In fact, he has finished 12th the past three years. He has made four starts at BMS in the No. 88 Chevrolet of Thorsport Racing including a sixth-place finish in his first race there in 2003. His lone top-five (third in 2004) was in KHI's No. 6 Chevy.
10Combined top-fives at Bristol for Truck Series stalwarts Todd Bodine, Rick Crawford, Brendan Gaughan, Ron Hornaday and Dennis Setzer, each with two. Of the group, Hornaday is the only driver with a win at BMS. Gaughan (second) and Setzer (fifth) are the only drivers with a top-five last year. Bodine was 24th last year after back-to-back runner-up finishes; Setzer was 26th and hasn't finished better than 14th since his second of two fifth-places in 2003.
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Craftsman Truck Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
| Year | Winner | Make | Start | Led | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | J. Rutmann | Ford | 22 | 8 | S. Swindell |
| 1996 | R. Carelli | Chevy | 2 | 39 | M. Skinner |
| 1997 | R. Hornaday | Chevy | 1 | 200 | R. Hornaday |
| 1998 | R. Hornaday | Chevy | 1 | 187 | R. Hornaday |
| 1999 | J. Sprague | Chevy | 3 | 100 | G. Biffle |
| 2003 | T. Kvapil | Chevy | 12 | 2 | T. Musgrave |
| 2004 | C. Edwards | Ford | 5 | 27 | K. Schrader |
| 2005 | M. Skinner | Toyota | 2 | 190 | D. Reutimann |
| 2006 | M. Martin | Ford | 1 | 164 | M. Martin |
| 2007 | J. Benson | Toyota | 8 | 84 | T. Kvapil |
Official Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Johnny Benson | 2261 | Leader |
| 2. | -- | Ron Hornaday | 2216 | -45 |
| 3. | -- | Matt Crafton | 2170 | -91 |
| 4. | +2 | Todd Bodine | 2042 | -219 |
| 5. | -- | Mike Skinner | 2026 | -235 |
| 6. | +1 | Erik Darnell | 2021 | -240 |
| 7. | -3 | Rick Crawford | 2010 | -251 |
| 8. | +1 | Jack Sprague | 1952 | -309 |
| 9. | -1 | Terry Cook | 1952 | -309 |
| 10. | -- | David Starr | 1887 | -374 |
Truck Series News
- Townley removed from No. 09 truck
- Skinner to drive at Daytona for Eddie Sharp Racing
- Dillon happy to be called 'Austin's little brother'
- SS Green Light tabs crew chief Berry for Chastain
- Crew chief-turned-owner Wauters tabs Harraka
- Chastain joins SS Green Light Racing for 2012
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