BENSON: Double-duty On Tap for Atlanta
03-05-2008 7:52 pm

This week's race truck for the Atlanta Motor Speedway is Chassis No. 23-73. This is the same truck that the No. 23 TCUV team ran in numerous races last year, including the spring and fall events at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Double Duty… No only will Johnny Benson race his Toyota Tundra Friday night, but he will also attempt to qualify Bill Davis Racing's second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car this weekend.

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers… Benson leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with 109 green flag passes so far this season. The veteran driver also has an average running position of 7.6 (third best in series), a driver rating of 101.8 (third), and he has run 85 percent of the laps completed in the top-15.

On Board… TCUV will once again be on board Benson's truck during Friday night's race.

Fast Facts… In 1996, Benson's first season of NASCAR Cup Series competition, he won the pole at Atlanta in just his fourth start in Chuck Rider's No. 30
Pennzoil Pontiac. Benson also won the 1995 Busch Light 300 NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series event at the Georgia track. He drove Bill Baumgardner's Lipton Tea Chevrolet to victory in that race and captured the series championship later that year.

Charity Event… Benson and Bill Davis Racing teammate Phillip McGilton will participate in the Inaugural Clay Shoot and Barbecue for the Atlanta Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities Thursday afternoon at the track. The event kicks off at 11:30 a.m.

Listen and watch … The American Commercial Lines 200 is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET Friday, March 7. It will broadcast live on Speed Channel (TV), MRN (radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio (Ch. 128).

Johnny Benson on racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
"We are very excited about how the season has gone so far. Atlanta is a great track to run on, and it is always exciting for the fans. I will be pulling double duty this weekend, so I will have plenty of seat time on the track in order to prepare for Friday night's truck race. We are going to do everything we can to keep our hot streak going this year and hopefully we can get into victory lane soon."