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Toyota, shut out of Victory Lane since October, appears on the verge of ending a sophomore mini slump.

Likewise, Bill Davis Racing seems more than ready to join the list of winning teams.

Both events almost happened simultaneously at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 20.

Mike Skinner, driving Davis' No. 5 Toyota Tundra, won his second Bud Pole of the season and led 40 laps before a late accident sent the 1995 series champion to the garage.

Johnny Benson (No. 23 Toyota West Toyota) and Bill Lester (No. 22 Checkers Toyota), however, gave Davis plenty of reason to smile following the Quaker Steak & Lube 200 by Ticket or Click It.  Benson edged California Speedway winner Steve Park (No. 62 Orleans Racing Dodge) for fourth place in a photo finish while Lester, the 2003 Bud Pole winner at Lowe's, posted a career-best, sixth-place performance.

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At one point, Davis' three drivers occupied the top three positions.

Benson's finish matched the team's best effort in 2005; Skinner finished fourth at California Speedway after winning the pole.

"I'm really excited about our performance on Friday night," said Davis. "Mike didn't get the finish that we were looking for but he really dominated the late portion of the race. Our Toyotas were really strong all night and hopefully we can build on this with this stretch of races coming up."

Benson claims the team's best finish, a second at Texas Motor Speedway last October. At Lowe's, the Grand Rapids, Mich. veteran was forced to start at the rear of the field after damaging his truck during the previous evening's qualifying run.

"Once we started moving forward it got better," said Benson a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series veteran and SPEED Channel commentator. "We just didn't have enough to take the lead."

"Johnny always seems to get to the front," Davis said.

Benson is seventh in the current point standings - the highest ranked Toyota driver.

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Davis, however, reserved his greatest praise for Lester, a fourth-year series competitor with 85 career appearances.

"(Bill) really showed everyone in the garage that he is capable of running up front," Davis said. "He really impressed me with his patience on the track. He did not try and push his truck and raced hard on old tires."

In addition to posting his best career finish - he'd finished 10th on two occasions - Lester added to his place in the record book as the best-performing African-American driver in NASCAR's modern era. The finish was the best since Wendell Scott, NASCAR's only African-American race winner, finished fifth at Dog Track Speedway, a .333-mile paved oval in Moyock, N.C., on May 29, 1966.

"I'm pretty proud. It was pretty much a good night," said Lester, who stands $68,944 short of becoming the series' next $1 million career winner. "We definitely have the momentum going and everyone at Bill Davis Racing is pumped up. I'm excited."