Benson always believed he would win a Truck title

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Johnny Benson wasn't surprised to win the 2008 Craftsman Truck Series championship.

What did surprise him as that it took him as long as it did.

"To tell you the truth, three or four years ago, when I started with Bill Davis Racing, I knew we'd win a championship," Benson said. "I hated that it took this long but I knew it was just a matter of time."

A season of success

Johnny Benson capped a grinding halt to the Craftsman Truck Series season in the appropriate way: in the closing laps of the final race. The year was special for Benson, and a few others along the way.

• Benson knew he could win
• Key to the season: Survival
• Davis full circle as an owner
• Rookie Braun has big goals

For Benson, racing has always been a matter of timing. The son of a former seven-time track champion in Michigan, Benson knew from an early age that his calling would be behind the wheel of a racecar. After several years of racing Late Models, Benson moved up to the American Speed Association in 1990 and promptly won rookie of the year honors.

Three years later, he parlayed five wins and 10 poles into an ASA championship -- and made his Busch Series debut at Michigan International Speedway.

With BACE Motorsports offering Benson a chance to drive full-time, he and wife, Debbie, packed up their things and moved to North Carolina in 1994. And the move immediately paid dividends as Benson finished sixth in the Busch Series standings and was named rookie of the year. He followed that with the 1995 Busch Series championship.

Advancing to NASCAR's premier series, Benson earned Cup Series rookie of the year honors in 1996. But the success that had come so quickly seemed to elude him at that point. He scored his only Cup victory at Rockingham in 2002 and, by 2004, had been released from his Busch Series ride.

At 41, it seemed that Benson might have reached the end of his racing career. But Bill Davis had other plans. He hired Benson to drive his No. 23 Toyota, beginning at Michigan. And Benson promptly finished fourth, the first of eight top-10 finishes in the next 13 races.

"I have to really thank Bill and Gail Davis. This is for them," Benson said. "They've given me a great opportunity, along with Toyota, to come and do this. It was just awesome. I'm glad that we could get that for them. It means more to me to get that for them. They've done so much for me." (Continued)