Tundra drivers Johnny
Benson (third) and Todd
Bodine (fourth) scored
top-five finishes Saturday
afternoon in the NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS)
race at Gateway
International Raceway. Mike
Skinner (seventh) and Ted
Musgrave (10th) also posted
top-10 results for Toyota.
Toyota drivers Shane Sieg
(13th), Terry Cook (17th),
Chrissy Wallace (19th),
Michael Annett (24th), Marc
Mitchell (26th), Justin
Marks (27th) and David Starr
(28th) were also in the
field. With the finish,
Benson maintained his lead
in the unofficial NCTS point
standings, now 94 points
ahead of Ron Hornaday after
17 of 25 races.
JOHNNY BENSON, No. 23
Toyota Certified Used
Vehicles Toyota Tundra, Bill
Davis Racing Finished: 3rd
Can you talk about how your
pit strategy played out to
give you a top-three finish?
"It didn't play out that
good. We ended up all right,
but you could see out there
that we were getting passed,
and that's going to make it
tough for the rest of the
season. Trip Bruce (crew
chief) and the guys did a
great job. This thing was as
good as anybody through the
corners. We're pretty happy
with what we have to work
with, and we'll just deal
with it."
Where do you think the
other trucks had the
advantage over yours? "They
kicked our (butts) down the
straightaway. There isn't
any doubt about it. Before,
we were always equal to
them, and now, we're nowhere
near equal to them. We have
to deal with it. Not sure
why we fall within different
rules as everybody else, but
we'll do the best we can.
That's all we can do."
Do you think you had a
truck capable of winning the
race? "The last 30 laps of
the race, we posted some of
the best laps. I think we
had a third-place truck.
Unfortunately, with the new
rules, we have to do things
that no one else can do.
That's what we'll have to do
for the rest of the season,
and that's a shame."
What was the thinking
behind the two-tire stop at
the end? "It's the only way
we could get in the top-10,
with the new rules package.
It was a tough program
today. Our Tundra was decent
-- we could roll through the
corner good, we just got
hurt on the straightaway.
Pit strategy is what got us
up there. We got passed by
about six trucks today, and
that's how our day went."
TODD BODINE, No. 30
Lumber Liquidators Toyota
Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 4th Did you feel
at a disadvantage today with
the new engine rules? "This
new engine deal is
ridiculous. If you don't
beat them back to the
throttle, you can't run with
them on the straightaway.
There were several times
where I beat people off the
corner, and they would draft
up and almost pull out and
pass me on the front
straightaway. If I was
behind them, I could barely
run with them drafting. It's
just totally ridiculous."
DAVID STARR, No. 11 Red
Horse Racing Toyota Tundra,
Red Horse Racing Finished:
28th What happened to take
you out of the race? "This
Toyota Tundra was pretty
awesome today. I got
underneath Rick Crawford
into turn one, and coming
off two, it seemed like he
came off the wall and came
down on me. Instead of
running into him, I tried to
stay off him and we got the
worst end of it. I'm just
disappointed for my team. We
were having a great run and
were going to have a great
finish. Instead of taking
someone else out, I took
myself out."
MIKE SKINNER, No. 5
Toyota Tundra, Bill Davis
Racing Finished: 7th
TED MUSGRAVE, No. 59 Team
ASE/Harris Trucking Toyota
Tundra, HT Motorsports
Finished: 10th
SHANE SIEG, No. 51
Miccosukee Resorts Toyota
Tundra, Billy Ballew
Motorsports Finished: 13th
TERRY COOK, No. 60
Wyler.com Toyota Tundra,
Wyler Racing Finished: 17th
CHRISSY WALLACE, No. 03
Germain Toyota Tundra,
Germain Racing Finished:
19th
MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 22
Pilot Travel Centers Toyota
Tundra, Bill Davis Racing
Finished: 24th
MARC MITCHELL, No. 15
Hyprene-Ergon Toyota Tundra,
Billy Ballew Motorsports
Finished: 26th
JUSTIN MARKS, No. 9
Construct Corps Toyota
Tundra, Germain Racing
Finished: 27th