Ronda Greer Photo

Upside-down is no place for a former NASCAR Busch Series champion to be - especially at the track he co-owns near his hometown.

But that's where Johnny Benson found himself at midweek after his late model collided with a tire barrier at Berlin Speedway. He was unhurt except for an ego bruised before a hometown crowd.

On Saturday, Benson completed the cycle of embarrassment to Victory Lane as he held off a charging Mark Martin to win Michigan International Speedway's Con-way Freight 200 and in the process record his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.

Benson, driving Bill Davis Racing's Exide Batteries Toyota, took the lead from Martin on the 73 of what turned out to be 102 laps around the 2.0-mile superspeedway, two laps added to the scheduled distance by the race's eighth caution, and held the point the rest of the way.

Martin's Scotts Ford finished .112 seconds behind, a length and a half, denying owner Jack Roush a third Michigan victory.

Benson, who four times had finished second in series competition, won in his 60th appearance and third race at Michigan, a track on which he made his debut for Davis' Toyota team in 2004. The victory, before a crowd estimated at 60,000, was the third for Davis and first since Mike Skinner's September 2005 win at Richmond.

Johnny Benson and team celebrate after winning at Michigan. (Ronda Greer Photo)

"The only way it could have been better was to have gotten it a year earlier," said a jubilant Benson, who won $56,600 at a Michigan-low average speed of 116.534 mph. The caution flag was out for 28 laps to set a Michigan record and contribute to a series best 30 lead lap finishers. Only two starters failed to finish, Timothy Peters and Martin Truex Jr., who were uninjured in separate accidents.

The winner had the best truck on restarts, and there were five of them after he snatched the lead from Martin at the start-finish stripe. Martin's truck, conversely, worked best on long runs and that wound up deflating the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup veteran's bid for a fourth 2006 victory.

"My truck's strong suit was long runs and it didn't play out that way," he said. "I take nothing away from Johnny Benson and his team. They did an awesome job today. He was really fast, especially on short runs."

Martin led the most laps, 33, two more than the winner. Six drivers; Benson, Martin, Budweiser Pole winner Skinner, Bobby Labonte, Terry Cook and Matt Crafton, took turns at the front of the field as the lead changed hands 13 times.

Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague and Bobby Labonte go three wide at Michigan. (High Sierra Photo)

Labonte, a late minute substitution in Bobby Hamilton's No. 4 Dodge, nearly won in his debut for the beleaguered manufacturer. The former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion settled for third-place, Dodge's first among the top five in 2006, after running in the lead draft all afternoon.

"I don't know if I could have run any better (with more time with the team) but it was fun," said Labonte. "What I learned, though, will be good for the future... anything for (truck owner and recovering cancer patient) Bobby Hamilton."

Todd Bodine, his Lumber Liquidators Toyota mired in 25th at the start, wasted no time working his way through the field. Bodine was 10th by lap 28 and sliced his way to fourth at the checkers. When the dust settled, he held a 178-point championship lead over David Reutimann, who was fortunate to finish 15th after multiple stops under caution to fix electrical problems dogging his Darrell Waltrip-owned Toyota.

A gritty Crafton, wheeling the privateer Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, held onto the No. 5 spot during the green-white-checker conclusion marking the first time this season that all four manufacturers finished in the top five. He was followed to the house by Rick Crawford, Ron Hornaday Jr., defending race winner Dennis Setzer, Cook and Jack Sprague.

Skinner, who matched Sprague's series qualifying record with his 27th pole (at a non-record 178.758 mph) was felled by Martin's windshield tear-off that lodged itself in the grill on his No. 5 Tundra. His BDR crew fixed the problem but not before the fast qualifier was shotgun on the field. Still, Skinner was able to race back to finish 11th.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next moves west to The Milwaukee Mile and Friday's Toyota 200. Setzer will defend a victory for the second of four times in the tour's 12th appearance at the historic, one-mile oval. Ted Musgrave is the track's only double winner with victories in 2001 and 2004.