Tundra drivers Johnny Benson
(second) and Terry Cook
(fourth) recorded top-five
finishes this evening.
Tundra driver Josh Wise
(sixth) also recorded a
top-10 finishes this evening
-- his career-best result.
Other Tundra drivers in the
race included Mike Skinner
(13th), Ted Musgrave (15th),
David Green (18th), Jacques
Villeneuve (21st), Todd
Bodine (28th) and Jack
Sprague (32nd). Tundra
drivers led 64 laps of the
146-lap event. Skinner led
five laps (1-5), Bodine led
45 laps (22-33 and 38-70)
and Benson led 14 laps
(71-83 and 142). Tundras
have won nine races this
season. Skinner has four
wins (California, Atlanta,
Martinsville and Kentucky)
and Benson has three
victories (Milwaukee,
Bristol and St. Louis).
Sprague (Daytona) and Bodine
(Texas) each have one win
this year. This NCTS race at
Las Vegas was the 94th race
for Toyota in the Craftsman
Truck Series since the
beginning of the 2004
season. Skinner has been
behind the wheel of a Tundra
for all 94 races. Tundras
have won 34 races since the
beginning of the 2004
Craftsman Truck Series
season. Drivers who have
registered wins driving
Tundras include Bodine (11),
Benson (8), Skinner (7),
Sprague (3), Travis Kvapil
(2), David Reutimann (1),
David Starr (1) and Brandon
Whitt (1). JOHNNY BENSON,
No. 23 Toyota Certified Used
Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill
Davis Racing Finished: 2nd
How was your race? “We were
a little bit too tight. We
only had about eight or nine
laps on this set-up and my
guys did a great job. It was
a great run. I thought when
I was coming out of turn one
I had it and I didn't know
where he (Travis Kvapil) was
-- I thought he was off the
race track. If I could have
gotten through turns three
and four I think I could
have had it. Travis Kvapil
ran a great race. We are
very happy with second.”
What do you think about the
racing grooves here at LVMS?
“This track had an outside
groove here last year so I
expected it to come in. It
takes half the race for it
to come in and once it did
Travis to the front came on
it. I didn't know he was
coming, I wish I did and I
would have gotten by the 21
earlier. In fresh air we
were pretty good -- anyone
was really good up there.”
TERRY COOK, No. 59 Harris
Trucking Toyota Tundra, HT
Motorsports Finished: 4th
How was your race? “It feels
really good to get back in
the top-five. Our program
keeps getting better and
better. We are qualifying
and practicing better and we
were able to put it all
together for a top-five
racing effort. The truck was
good enough to run in the
top-five -- it was solid. I
actually thought we had a
shot at second or third when
they were running there
pretty aggressive for a
while. We had a lot of fun
racing here in Las Vegas.”
What do you think about the
racing grooves here at LVMS?
“I thought they were going
to wreck really, really hard
getting into turn two with
two or three laps to go.
They were three wide. Johnny
(Benson) was down -- I
thought he was going to
scuff the left side tires he
was so low. Last year when
we were here the second
groove was really
treacherous and as the race
moves on the groove moves up
and we have to clean it up a
little bit. Two and three
wide is exciting racing and
Las Vegas did a great job to
create such an awesome race
track.”
JOSH WISE, No. 00 Aaron's
Lucky Dog Toyota Tundra,
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Finished: 6th How was your
race tonight? “We've
improved in the last two
races. We didn't qualify
well but we've improved. The
guys had really good pit
stops and our truck was
awesome. This was my best
career finish and it feels
good -- it feels awesome! We
are making progress. We
definitely had some
struggles this year but
these guys keep believing
and working hard at the shop
and it's showing at the race
track.”
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5
Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing Finished: 13th How
was your race tonight? “I've
heard we did (get the
point's lead back) and I
heard that we didn't.
Whatever it is we didn't
capitalize on our night very
well at all. The truck was
horrible all night long. We
felt we had a tire going
down early. I don't know if
it was a bent wheel or what
was going on with it. We
just struggled all night.
The right front tire was
flat when we ended the race
so another couple of laps we
would have blown ours. It
was just one of those deals,
Ronnie (Hornaday) had bad
luck. I don't know if we got
the lead but at least I know
we tightened it up some so I
guess we can't complain.”
***Skinner unofficially
regained the point's lead by
three points (3,064) over
second-place Ron Hornaday.
TED MUSGRAVE, No. 9 Team
ASE Toyota Tundra, Germain
Racing Finished: 15th
DAVID GREEN, No. 1 Red
Horse Racing Toyota Tundra,
Red Horse Racing Finished:
18th JACQUES VILLENEUVE, No.
27 Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing Finished: 21st How
was your race? “It was a
great experience. We learned
a lot tonight -- we had a
lot of good pit stops. The
truck was running really
strong in the first part of
the race and the lap times
showed that. It was a little
loose in the beginning and
then it got settled in. I
was running high and came
off the gas and came up on
the back of the red truck
(No. 16 of Brian Scott).
After that I lost all the
down force. The truck got
really tight and it was just
a matter of trying to patch
it up and trying to run to
the end. It was a great
learning experience and the
team was very helpful
today.” How much did you
learn about driving these
trucks in race conditions
tonight? “I learned quite a
lot. First of all I got cut
out on the first restart.
That was a fun learning
experience. It's quite
aggressive in the first laps
-- everyone runs
aggressively. They slide the
trucks around and it's good
to see that you can slide
the trucks quite a lot
without crashing.” What do
you think you accomplished
tonight? “We saw the
checkered flag, which is
good without too many
incidents. We had pit stops
and I worked with the
spotter. That was very
important -- that was the
key today. Talladega is a
very different track and I
expect it to be very
different than here.”
TODD BODINE, No. 30
Lumber Liquidators Toyota
Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 28th How was your
race? “We made some
adjustments that made us get
loose and we were trying to
catch those guys. I was just
hanging on. Evidently Rick's
(Crawford) spotter didn't
tell him I was out there and
he ran me up into the wall.
I should have got out of
there. This is the first DNF
in a long time for this
team. We had a great truck
-- man this Tundra was fast.
This is one of our strong
suits, these race tracks,
especially here in Las
Vegas. We had the truck to
win the race and it's a
shame we have to end it like
this.”
JACK SPRAGUE, No. 60
Con-way Freight Toyota
Tundra, Wyler Racing
Finished: 32nd What made you
hit the wall on lap 31? “We
just blew a right front.
It's just unfortunate -- I
don't know if we ran over
something or what happened.
It's unfortunate because
with the way the wind was
blowing I hit the wall
really hard, but it wasn't
going to be that bad. We
just can't catch a break. We
were really struggling right
there, we were hitting the
nose really hard. We were
waiting for a caution to
work on it and low and
behold we were the caution.
The guys work hard and
putting out the effort -- we
are just having a rough
time. I'm sure we'll get
back out there. Not sure how
good it will be but we'll
get back out there and
finish the race.”