Photos by Steve Langley
This week’s race is either going to tighten the race for the Craftsman Truck Series championship or spread Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson further apart.
Going into last week’s race at Talladega, Benson led Hornaday by one point, when the dust cleared, Hornaday passed Benson for a new lead of 39 points with five races left to decide this year’s champion.
The third spot in the race for the Craftsman Truck Series championship belongs to Matt Crafton who is -218 points behind the leader, Ron Hornaday. But the race for the third position is a very close one with four drivers only 40 points separating them. Todd Bodine gained three spots with his big win last week to bring him to within -236 points behind Hornaday. 5th in points is Erik Darnell at -256, Mike Skinner is -258 in sixth place in the standings. This is a very tight race and Martinsville will probably shake up all these positions when all is said and done.
If Benson and Hornaday both have trouble in the upcoming race, watch for the points to tighten up even more. Last year Skinner walked away with the big win at Martinsville while Hornaday finished in the third position. Benson came through the tough race with a 9th place finish after having a few problems in the pits during the race.
With five races left in the Craftsman Truck Series, anything can and probably will happen. Watch for tempers to flair at the small but very exciting Martinsville Speedway this weekend. The NCTS has had a very exciting year with Speed doing a super job with their telecasts. The race airs at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Speed.
Photo and Story By: Steve Langley
