High Sierra Photo

Benson led only the final lap, the second race winner to do so in 2006. Ironically, Bodine beat Skinner in similar circumstances in June at Texas Motor Speedway without any Nashville-style fireworks.

Benson started 22nd in the 36-truck field becoming the first Nashville winner to come from deeper than 15th on the grid.

The race was the 62nd in series history, and seventh in 2006, to be concluded under the green-white-checkered format. That works out to 22 percent of the 283 races run.

The victory pushed Benson's career winnings past the $1 million mark making the Grand Rapids, Mich. driver the 33rd in series history to hit seven figures in earnings. More significantly, Benson is the ninth different driver to win at least $1 million in each of NASCAR's three national touring series.

Sprague, meanwhile, reached the $6 million mark with a second-place check for $31,050. His series leading money total is $6,013,695.

Toyota, as in 2005, starred in the truck maker's sponsored event landing the top two and three of the first  four finishing positions. Toyota's consecutive win streak in the state of Tennessee reached five with Benson becoming the fifth different winner dating to July 2005 at Memphis Motorsports Park.

This year's Volunteer State tour ends Aug. 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway where Skinner is the defending winner.

Flying under the radar after the last lap shuffle, Marcos Ambrose quietly became the season's first Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate to score two top-five finishes. Ambrose took third in the Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford duplicating his performance July 1 at Kansas Speedway.

Ambrose, a two-time V8 Supercar champion in his native Australia, was content to make laps earlier this season - in effect feeling out the veterans while making the transition from road course to oval track racing.

No longer.

"I think this proves that our first podium result was not an accident and that with some momentum we could push for a race win by the end of the season," said Ambrose, who moved to 26th in points despite being unable to compete in the season's first three races because of inexperience on high-speed ovals.

Two freshman drivers occupied the front row for only the second time in series history. Erik Darnell won the Budweiser Pole - the third Roush Racing driver to fast qualify this season. He followed teammate David Ragan by eight days and Mark Martin, who won Daytona from the No. 1 starting position.

David Reutimann and Robert Huffman shared the front row in March 2004 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Darnell never led a lap and finished outside the top 10 (12th) but Chad McCumbee, the second fastest qualifier, drove The GPS Store/Garmin Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish bettering by two spots his best career performance. Green Light Racing's best previous high qualifying effort was an eighth by now team general manager and crew chief Bobby Dotter at South Boston Speedway in 2003.

"We hung in the top five in the first part of the race then I got together with another truck and messed up the right front fender a little bit," said McCumbee. "From then on the truck wasn't perfect but we were running in the top 10 when that last-lap crash occurred.

Kerry Earnhardt's 11th-place finish was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series personal best. He was 17th in his second series appearance in February 2005 at California Speedway.