Johnny Benson celebrates in victory lane at Bristol. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

Johnny Benson used a slightly different pit strategy than the bulk of the field and took advantage of late race contact between the two leaders to score the win in the O'Reilly 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Benson, aboard Bill Davis Racing's No. 23 Exide Batteries Toyota, pitted 40 laps later than the majority of the field and quickly knifed his way back to the top-five. He was running third when Travis Kvapil and Kyle Busch came together while racing for the lead on lap 179. Benson dodged the spinning trucks and led the final 20 laps en route to his seventh career series win.

Benson first took the lead on lap 42 as the front-runners all came to the pits under the second caution of the evening. From there, he led through lap 104 when crew chief Trip Bruce called him to the pits for fresh tires. Benson restarted 17th on lap 108 and by the time the next caution waved on lap 116 he had moved to ninth. He continued his march to the front over the next, eventually racing his way to third. When Kvapil and Busch got together, it was just what Benson needed to finish off his run back to the lead.

"We knew after the test that with the new concrete surface that new tires would be a benefit in the late stages of the race," Benson said. "I was a little surprised when all the field came down pit road there on that early caution, but we were sticking to our plan. I'm even more surprised that more of them didn't come back down when we did. The tires didn't wear but because of the new surface they fell off as you ran."

Benson's fresher tires gave him enough to quickly work his way through the field, but he knew right from the drop of the green flag he had a truck that could win.

"I knew when we started the race we were good enough to win," Benson said. "I was feeling pretty good after we picked up all those spots on that short run right after we pitted. It's never easy to pass, but the farther back in the field you get it's somewhat easier to get by. Once we got to the front we had to work a little harder, but that truck was really good. I don't know how long it would have taken to get past those guys in front at the end, but it turns out we didn't need to. They got together and made our job a little bit easier."

Travis Kvapil, No. 6 Ford battles with Brendan Gaughan, No. 77 Chevrolet for much of the race at Bristol. (VPS Motorimages Photo0

Kvapil's Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 K&N Filters Ford was strong all night long, but he saw his chances to sweep all three series races in Tennessee go up in a cloud of smoke following the contact with Busch. The former series champion was disappointed he lost a chance to race for the win and equally frustrated he gave up ground in the battle for the series championship.

"I'm pretty disappointed that we lost out on a shot to maybe win the race," Kvapil said. "I was happy to give Kyle the inside lane because we were really running good rolling through the high groove. It looked like he drove it in a little too deep and tried to correct it and slid up into me. We were able to get a couple of them back late in the going but it's not what we wanted.

"I know he was here to try to win the race and that's fine," Kvapil continued. "But I would have liked to see him race those of us running for the championship a little more carefully. It looked like we were going to have a good points day and pick up some on both (Mike) Skinner and (Ron) Hornaday but it turns out we gave a little back to them."

Not lost in all the shuffle at the end was second-place finisher Brendan Gaughan. Gaughan started the No. 77 South Point Hotel Chevrolet from the front row and stayed near the front of the field all night long. Gaughan made a run at Benson on the last restart with eight laps to go, but then was forced to play defender to hold off a hard-charging Mark Martin for third.

"What a great week for me and for this South Point Racing team," Gaughan said. "Tatum and I were married earlier in the week and we came here and ran terrific. I owed it to these guys to do everything I can to get up there and win, and that's what I tried to do. I really like Johnny Benson a lot but I don't know what would have happened if I got up to him. If we caught him, I want to win so bad he might have got turned around. But he got away from us there and then I did all I could to block arguably one of the greatest drivers in the history of this sport in Mark Martin."

Mike Skinner, No. 5 Toyota Tundra at Bristol. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

Series championship leader Mike Skinner finished fourth in the No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota. Skinner collected his 12th top-five finish of the season, but broke his record-breaking streak of 19 consecutive races in which he had led at least one lap. Rick Crawford rounded out the top-five in the No. 14 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. was sixth in the No.33 Camping World Chevrolet, Mike Bliss seventh in the No. 4 Open Joist Dodge, Jack Sprague eighth in the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota, Cale Gale a career-best ninth in the No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet, and Danny O'Quinn tenth in the No. 50 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford.

There were ten cautions for a total of 56 laps. The only major contact of the race happened on lap 171 when Derrike Cope had a right front tire go down coming out of turn four and pounded the frontstretch wall. While Cope was crashing, Dennis Setzer and Ted Musgrave were coming together on the backstretch, sending Musgrave to the garage early. Others involved in the various incidents included Timothy Peters, who was involved in each of the first two cautions of the night, Ryan Mathews, Kvapil and Busch, and Todd Bodine. Bodine's spin brought out the final caution of the night on lap 190.

Skinner unofficially leads Hornaday by 92 points heading into the Dodge Ram Tough 200 on September 1 at Gateway International Raceway. Kvapil is third 256 points back, Bodine fourth 335 points back, and Crawford is fifth 485 out of the lead.

TruckSeries.com will have complete event coverage from the Dodge Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway starting with TrackSideLive! coverage of practice on Friday August 31. Live! Bud Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday September 1 at 2 P.M. Eastern followed by complete lap-by-lap updates of round 17 of the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.