Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota Tundra Toyota) owns a niche in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history he'd just as soon relinquish.

Benson is the only active competitor to participate in the series' Feb. 5, 1995 inaugural event who has yet to win a race.

Not that the 41-year-old Michigan native hasn't come close.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series veteran and television analyst has finished second three times, most recently last October at Texas Motor Speedway. And several factors suggest this week's Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway could be Benson's personal drought breaker.

Three competitors - 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and current point leader Bobby Hamilton (No. 04 Bailey's Dodge), Jamie McMurray and Scott Riggs - posted their first career victories at the .526-mile track, and recent short-track racing has produced a flurry of different winners - 11 in a row since August 2003.

Johnny Benson (23) battles with Bobby Hamilton at California High Sierra Photo

Finally, Benson has thousands of laps of experience at Martinsville in all three of NASCAR's national series. His best performance came in 2002 when he finished second to Kurt Busch in the track's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Old Dominion 500.

Benson was 11th in last fall's Kroger 200. He finished third when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series made its debut at the southern Virginia track in 1995.

"We are moving ahead with the program," said Benson, who joined Bill Davis Racing last July as teammate to Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) and Bill Lester (No. 22 Toyota Tundra Toyota). "We are real close. Maybe in Martinsville - but you will have to wait and see."

A Toyota truck has yet to win a short-track race, but Benson believes it's only a matter of time.

"We have been on the right track and have had some great runs," he said, adding that winning a series short-track race regardless of manufacturer requires a near perfect meld of driving talent, strategy and team preparation. "With the more competitive teams get it gets harder and harder to pass. It is really hard to get from the back to the front which means you can't make any mistakes."