Benson, Hornaday pick up title battle at Las Vegas

Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson have transformed the Craftsman Truck Series championship into a two-driver show by winning eight of the past 10 races.

Hornaday has the momentum with two consecutive victories going into Saturday night's Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but he still trails Benson by 74 points with seven races remaining. Matt Crafton is 242 points behind in third.

Fast Facts

What	Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350
When	9:30 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	SPEED, 9 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 9 ET

• Track Page | Tickets | Travel

Benson has mitigated the damages to his lead in the past two weeks by finishing third at Gateway and second at New Hampshire, the first two races run under a new engine rule that imposed restrictions on the Toyotas. It removed an estimated 10 to 15 horsepower. NASCAR said it made the move after running dynamometer tests to "help further maintain a level playing field among our competitors."

Benson doesn't view the rule change in the same way. He says it had a limited impact at 1.25-mile Gateway and 1.058-mile New Hampshire but will really be felt on the 1.5-mile tracks such as Las Vegas. Four of the remaining races are on 1.5-milers.

"I think we're being penalized for doing a good job," Benson said. "Where it's going to be bad is Texas, Atlanta, Homestead and Las Vegas. Vegas is where we'll suffer the worst."

Benson is confident he'll have a good-handling truck. He has finished in the top four in nine of the past 10 races and leads the series with 12 top-fives in 18 races.

"[Crew chief] Trip Bruce and all the guys on this team are doing a great job every week preparing these Tundras," Benson said. "We just have to keep doing what we're doing to have a chance to race for the championship."

Hornaday will attempt to win three consecutive races for the second time in his Truck career, which includes three championships and a record 38 victories. Hornaday hasn't won at Las Vegas but has four top-fives in seven starts.

"I've had some good runs at Las Vegas," Hornaday said. "I like the track. Our mile-and-a-half program has been great this year. I don't see why we can't have another good run on this type of track."

Hornaday has two wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season, at Kansas and Texas, and was second at Atlanta.

Rookie Scott Speed returns in the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, and John Andretti will drive the Billy Ballew Motorsports No. 15 Toyota in his first Truck race in more than three years. Speed has made nine starts and has a win and two thirds in his past four races. Andretti drove in four races for Ballew in 2005.