Benson, Hornaday shine in dramatic '08 Truck season

A look back at the top performances of 2008:

Top Drivers (in alphabetical order)

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Johnny Benson had five wins in 2008, including a stretch of three in a row.

• Johnny Benson -- Captured his first Truck Series championship by seven points on Ron Hornaday in the second-closest finish in series history. Benson won five times: The Milwaukee Mile (his third consecutive win there), Kentucky, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Nashville Superspeedway and Martinsville (fall). (Year in Review)

• Todd Bodine -- Finished third in series points; his fourth top-five championship performance in as many seasons as a full-time competitor. The 2006 series champion won three races including the season opener at Daytona, his second in a row at Talladega and the season finale at Homestead. (Year in Review)

• Ron Hornaday -- Came within seven points of becoming the series' first four-time and back-to-back champion. Hornaday was the season's leading race winner with six victories. He swept both races in Texas; became the first three-time winner at New Hampshire; and won additional races at Gateway, Kansas and St. Louis. He led a series-high 1,326 laps. (Year in Review)

• Colin Braun -- Became the series' youngest rookie of the year at the age of 20 years, one month, 24 days. Braun, a native of Ovalo, Texas, is the sixth driver to win top rookie honors at the wheel of a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. His best finish was a third-place showing at Kansas Speedway. Braun finished 13th overall in series points. (read more)

• Bill Davis -- Collected his first NASCAR championship in two decades of national series competition after finishing as the series runner-up in 2006 (Benson) and 2007 (Mike Skinner). Davis' three full-time teams finished first, seventh and 11th in owner standings with seven wins, 24 top-fives, 47 top-10s and eight poles. The team's 24 victories rank second among active Truck Series competitors. (read more)

• Matt Crafton -- Scored his first victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway in his 178th series start. He also finished second twice, recording a career-best nine top-five finishes. Crafton, a fulltime competitor since 2001, ranked as high as second in the championship standings -- his all-time best -- before finishing fifth in points.

• Dennis Setzer -- Rebounded from back-to-back 13th-place points finishes, ranking eighth in his first full season with Bobby Hamilton Racing. He won the Martinsville spring race, giving Dodge its only victory of 2008. Setzer has won for four different organizations in 10 seasons. His 18 victories rank fourth among all competitors.

Top Five Races (in chronological order)

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Erik Darnell and Johnny Benson's dramatic finish at Michigan was the closest in computer-scoring history.

• American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 7) -- Seven drivers swapped the lead 18 times (including eight times in the race's 41 laps), before Kyle Busch pulled away to beat 2005 Atlanta winner Ron Hornaday in a green-white-checkered finish. (Race Review | Race Video)

• Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park (May 24) -- David Starr, winless since the 2006 season, appeared ready to break the long drought until rookie of the year candidate Donny Lia had other ideas. Lia passed both Starr and Todd Bodine on the final lap to become the series' first freshman winner since 2003. (Race Review | Race Video)

• Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan International Speedway (June 14) -- Johnny Benson, whose first series victory in 2006 came before the hometown crowd at MIS, relentlessly reeled in leader Erik Darnell, catching his opponent on the final lap. Darnell, however, withstood the challenge holding off Benson literally by inches. The .005-second margin of victory ranks closest since the advent of computer scoring. (Race Review | Race Video)

• Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 4) -- Todd Bodine duplicated his 2006 Talladega victory in a finish similar to last year's race. The race saw three leaders at the line in the last three laps: Kyle Busch, Colin Braun and Bodine, who ultimately held off Ron Hornaday by .074 seconds. (Race Review | Race Video)

• Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 14) -- Todd Bodine "book-ended" the season with a Ford 200 win to complement his February triumph at Daytona. All eyes, however, were on the fortunes of championship contenders Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday, who battled for seventh place -- and the championship -- on the final lap following a green-white-checkered restart. Benson prevailed as Hornaday came up 20 yards short. (Race Review | Race Video)