Con-way Freight 200 - Official Results
Benson Takes First with Hometown Win at Michigan
Charles Krall, TrackSide Editor   
Benson Takes First with Hometown Win at Michigan

Johnny Benson celebrates after winning his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race.
(High Sierra Photo)

Johnny Benson claimed his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory by taking the win in the Con-way Freight 200 Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. Benson, from nearby Grand Rapids, Michigan, held back three-time 2006 Truck Series winner Mark Martin to become the 17th driver to pick up wins in all three nationally touring NASCAR series. Benson, driving the No. 23 Exide Batteries Toyota, delivered his first series win in his 60th series start.

Benson took over the lead from Mark Martin on lap 73, and was forced to endure three late-race cautions before securing the victory. With clean air out front, Benson was able to choose his line, and he decided to run the bottom, forcing runner-up finisher Martin to try to make the high groove work.  Former Michigan Cup Series winner Bobby Labonte piloted the No. 4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge to a third place finish, the best finish for a Dodge all season.

Todd Bodine survived a late-race scrape with Brendan Gaughan to make a charge through the top ten to come home fourth in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota.  Matt Crafton rounded out the top five finishers in the No. 88 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, his second top five finish of 2006.  Rick Crawford was sixth in the No. 14 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford, Ron Hornaday was seventh in the No. 33 Kevin Harvick, Inc. Chevrolet, Dennis Setzer was eighth in the GM FlexFuel Chevrolet, Terry Cook ninth in the Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford, and Jack Sprague rounded out the top ten in the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota. Erik Darnell was the highest Raybestos Rookie finisher, coming across the line 12th in the No. 99 Woolrich Ford. Mike Skinner started on the pole but overheating problems sent him to the pits for an unscheduled stop, relegating him to eleventh at the finish in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota.

There were a record-tying 8 cautions for a track record 29 laps, with two significant incidents on the afternoon. Timothy Peters got loose in turn four on lap 74 and overcorrected, sending his truck head-on into the SAFER barriers. There was significant damage to the nose of the truck, but Peters was checked and released from the infield care center. The second major incident was on lap 97 as Martin Truex, Jr. lost a left rear tire in turn three and spun into the wall, collecting hard-luck Kerry Earnhardt in the process. The record number of cautions held the race pace down to just 116.534 miles per hour.

Following Race 10 - Michigan International Speedway - June 17, 2006<br> Printer Version 

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F S # Driver Team Laps Pts Bpts Money Status
1 5 23 Johnny Benson Exide Batteries Toyota 102 185 5 $56,600 Running
2 9 6 Mark Martin Scotts Ford 102 180 10 $32,500 Running
3 7 4 Bobby Labonte Dodge Motorsports Dodge 102 170 5 $22,075 Running
4 25 30 Todd Bodine Lumber Liquidators Toyota 102 160   $17,525 Running
5 6 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Energizer Chevrolet 102 160 5 $13,625 Running
6 17 14 Rick Crawford Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford 102 150   $14,825 Running
7 8 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Chevrolet 102 146   $13,275 Running
8 10 85 Dennis Setzer FlexFuel E85 Chevrolet 102 142   $13,200 Running
9 12 10 Terry Cook Ford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l Ford 102 143 5 $13,150 Running
10 15 60 Jack Sprague Con-way Freight Toyota 102 134   $16,475 Running
11 1 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Tundra Toyota 102 135 5 $14,725 Running
12 16 99 Erik Darnell # Woolrich Ford 102 127   $15,640 Running
13 28 11 David Starr Red Horse Racing Toyota 102 124   $12,865 Running
14 18 16 Mike Bliss IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet 102 121   $12,815 Running
15 4 17 David Reutimann Team Toyota Toyota 102 118   $13,265 Running
16 20 77 Brendan Gaughan The Orleans Dodge 102 115   $12,740 Running
17 29 25 Boston Reid # Red Rocks Cafe Dodge 102 112   $12,640 Running
18 24 08 Chad McCumbee # U.S. Restoration Chevrolet 102 109   $12,615 Running
19 22 50 David Ragan Roush Racing Ford 102 106   $10,315 Running
20 21 12 Joey Miller # Curb Records Toyota 102 103   $12,940 Running
21 32 07 Kevin Lepage Road Loans Chevrolet 102 100   $12,515 Running
22 19 46 Kraig Kinser # U.S. Army Chevrolet 102 97   $10,215 Running
23 31 9 Ted Musgrave Team ASE/Germain Motors Toyota 102 94   $12,190 Running
24 11 98 Erin Crocker # Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 102 91   $11,165 Running
25 33 02 Kelly Sutton Raleigh Electric Chevrolet 102 88   $10,140 Running
26 2 20 Marcos Ambrose # Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford 102 85   $10,115 Running
27 23 40 Ryan Moore # AutoMotion Chevrolet 102 82   $10,090 Running
28 30 18 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Fastenal Dodge 102 79   $10,065 Running
29 14 13 Kerry Earnhardt # National Pork Board Chevrolet 102 76   $10,040 Running
30 3 21 Bobby East # State Fair Corn Dogs/Edy's Dibs Ford 102 73   $10,015 Running
31 34 59 Steve Park Melling Engine Parts Ford 101 70   $9,990 Running
32 35 15 Kyle Krisiloff # Krud Kutter Chevrolet 100 67   $9,965 Running
33 26 22 Bill Lester Waste Management Toyota 98 64   $9,940 Running
34 36 51 Martin Truex Jr. Bowen Family Homes Chevrolet 96 61   $9,890 Accident
35 27 04 Timothy Peters Dodge 73 58