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Benson captures Ram Tough 200 for second straight win

Sep 2, 2007 - 12:17 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Johnny Benson took the lead from Ron Hornaday Jr. with 13 laps remaining and cruised to the win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday.

It was Benson's second straight win following last week's victory at Bristol and his third of the season in a Toyota Tundra. He now sits fifth in the standings.

Benson took the lead from Hornaday on lap 38 and lost it in the pits when he exited with loose lug nuts. He then took it back for good when he made the pass for the lead on the outside on the backstretch in the closing laps.

"This thing ran awesome today," said Benson, who now has eight career wins. "It was a fun, tough battle. I could've passed (Hornaday) three or four laps before that, but I wanted to make sure I could clear him."

Hornaday, who finished second in a Chevrolet Silverado, took over the series lead from Mike Skinner by four points.

"He just got us at the end," Hornaday said. "He just had a little more than us."

Skinner entered the race with a 92-point lead over Hornaday and started from the pole. But he lost the lead to Hornaday on lap 32, and his Toyota blew a right-front tire in the first turn of lap 57 and hit the wall.

Skinner returned to the race several laps down and finished 28th.

Ted Musgrave finished third in a Toyota, followed by Todd Bodine in a Toyota and Regan Smith in a Chevrolet.

David Green was running third until blowing a right-front tire on his Toyota with five laps to go. Ryan Matthews crashed his Toyota on the final lap, ending the race under caution.