Johnny Benson at Homestead in the No 23 Exide Toyota Tundra. (Glenn Smith/High Sierra Photo)

Johnny Benson and the No. 23 Exide Batteries Toyota Tundra team entered Friday night's season finale as contenders for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship. The team sat only 112 points out of the lead and knew what they had to do in order to bring Bill Davis Racing its first title. The No. 23 Toyota Tundra squad has been the team to beat in the second half of the 2006 season, and after last year's third-place performance in Miami, the team was confident in its chances to win the Ford 200.

The team was extremely happy with its truck in both of Friday morning's practice sessions. Benson explained to his crew that the truck felt really good. It showed on the time sheet: Benson had a top-five machine in both practice sessions. The No. 23 team fully expected to capture its sixth victory of the season.

Benson started the 134-lap event in the 18th spot and immediately began falling into the clutches of the field. He explained to crew chief Rick Ren that the handling of the truck was loose in both corners, and he could not get back into the gas. The loose condition caused Benson to loose valuable spots on the track, and the truck needed a major adjustment on the first pit stop.

The crew received the opportunity to make an adjustment under caution on lap 44. The team added a major chassis adjustment to its four tire stop and returned Benson to the track in the 14th spot.

On lap 60, Benson told the team that the truck was still loose, but the changes had helped. This time, the loose condition did not seem to hurt Benson on the track, and by lap 75, he was in the fourth spot. The Exide Batteries Tundra was posting competitive lap times, and it seemed the team would challenge for the win. That all changed on lap 94. As Benson exited turn four, a truck lost control in front of him, came back across the track and clipped the left side of the No. 23 Toyota Tundra. The contact caused severe damage to the left front fender of Benson's machine.

Benson brought his Tundra down the pit lane so the team could survey the damage. The team decided the damage was not catastrophic and worked to repair the truck without going a lap down. Benson remained in the race and finished 26th.

The No. 23 Toyota Tundra team had a breakthrough season, winning five times and accumulating one pole, 13 top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes.