• Recap
• Bleachers

Busch wins O'Reilly 200

Aug 21, 2008 - 5:28 AM BRISTOL, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Kyle Busch put an end to Johnny Benson's domination.

Busch posted his third victory of the season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, capturing Wednesday's O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Seeking to enter the record book with a fourth straight win on the circuit, Benson settled for fourth place in a Toyota. The 2007 winner here, he still increased his points lead to 119 over Ron Hornaday Jr., who placed 24th in a Chevrolet due to his involvement in a multi-truck crash on lap 177.

In a Toyota, Busch led 145 of the 203 laps on the .533-mile track in capturing the race, which featured a green-white-checkered finish thanks to 12 cautions - a series record at Bristol.

"He's just an incredibly talented race car driver," Todd Bodine said. "When you put somebody of his caliber in a truck that strong, he's going to be tough to beat."

It was the third win in 11 starts on the circuit this year for Busch, who also posted three NCTS victories in 2005. He has won a combined 17 races on NASCAR's three series this season and joined Carl Edwards and Mark Martin as the only three drivers to post triumphs here in the Craftsman Truck, Sprint and Nationwide Series.

"I've been in kind of a dry spell in the truck series, but we're back in Bristol and fortunately, I've won in every series here now. That's pretty cool," Busch said. "To be able to sweep at this track is pretty awesome. I had a lot of fun tonight and learned a little bit.

"We're shooting for more wins, and hopefully, we can find some more."

Bodine was second in a Toyota, .386 seconds behind Busch for his eighth top-five finish of the year. Pole-sitter Scott Speed finished third in a Toyota, while Rick Crawford rounded out the top five in a Ford.

"Our truck was awesome all night, and it's been that way in every single race," Speed said. "I learned a lot running with guys like Kyle and Todd. It's the best school you can go to."

Jimmie Johnson's debut for Randy Moss Motorsports started well, as the veteran led laps 42-70. But he wound up 34th in the 36-truck field due to a crash that prevented him from finishing the race.

On lap 102, Johnson's Chevrolet got loose coming out of Turn 4 and spun before getting run into by Jeff Green's Chevy. That opened the door for Busch, who grabbed the lead and went on to register his ninth career NCTS victory.

"I feel terrible I tore up their truck," Johnson said. "I just got loose coming off of two and I lost it four times, saved it three times and finally crashed on the fifth or something like that.

"I wish I could have finished it up for these guys. I know we could have (had) a top-three finish tonight."