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10/02/2008 - 09:05 AM
Talladega, Ala.
NCTS Leader Johnny Benson and second place Ron Hornaday Jr. are only separated by one point. (Rusty Jarrett, Todd Warshaw/Getty Images Photos) ยป More Photos
Article written by veteran motorsports Author and Journalist Tom Jensen - Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com
Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday Jr. are in a virtual dead heat in the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points race heading into Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 at the always-treacherous Talladega Superspeedway in central Alabama.
Through the first 19 races on the 25-race season, Benson leads Hornaday by a single point, with Matt Crafton third, 164 markers back. No one else is within 200 points of the lead duo and truth is, it will take a streak of remarkably bad luck for anyone other than Benson, Hornaday or Crafton to win the title — and Crafton is an extreme long shot.
Then again, remarkably bad luck is a common commodity at Talladega Superspeedway, where a simple mistake making a pass can turn into a 10-truck pile-up. On the other hand, the 2.66-mile track does make for some thrilling finishes, as last year’s three-way fight among Todd Bodine, Rick Crawford and Benson showed.
Here are the top-10 storylines going into Saturday’s race:
CAN BENSON BOUNCE BACK? It sounds crazy to talk about Benson bouncing back from his 27th-place finish at Las Vegas two weeks ago. After all, in the previous six races, he had three victories and not a single finish worse than fourth. And yet,
“Talladega is your typical superspeedway where anything can happen and happens fast,” said Benson. “We just have keep out of the big wreck and be there at the end of the race.”
WILL HORNADAY KEEP THE HEAT ON? Hornaday has been the hunter in his Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned Camping World Chevrolet Silverado in recent weeks, as he’s wiped out Benson’s points lead on the strength of two victories and a fifth-place finish in the last three races. If he wants to win a second consecutive – and fourth overall – NCTS title, Hornaday can’t let up this weekend. “Last year going into Talladega, I would say we were more on the conservative side,” he said. We were only three points behind (Mike) Skinner and we just needed to make it out of Talladega with a good, solid finish and not try too hard and let one little mistake cause us to lose points. We need to have the same mindset this year.”
One factor working against him: A Chevrolet has never won a Truck race at Talladega or Daytona. In fact, no Silverados finished in the top five here last year or at Daytona in February.
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