Trucking in the drama

Spirited title race is once again being delivered by a NASCAR minor league

JIM UTTER

jutter@charlotteobserver.com

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008

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Jimmie Johnson is running away with the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Baring some drastic circumstances, Clint Bowyer appears headed to his first NASCAR championship in the Nationwide Series.

So, again this season, it is left to the Truck series to provide drama in its championship battle.

With three races remaining, including Friday night's Chevy Silverado 350k at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday are locked in a back-and-forth battle that won't likely be decided until the season finale Nov. 14 at Homestead, Fla.

“The last three seasons in the Truck Series have been a lot of fun to come and race. To have an opportunity to at least be right there to try to lead a championship deal is great,” said Benson, who leads Hornaday by 31 points.

“This is the first year that we've actually lead it, with a better opportunity than possibly two years ago to win it.”

Neither Benson nor Hornaday are strangers to NASCAR championships.

Hornaday has won three Truck series titles, including last season, his first with Kevin Harvick Inc. Benson, who drives for Bill Davis Racing, won the 1995 championship in what is now known as the Nationwide Series.

Both drivers have extensive NASCAR resumes as each has competed fulltime in the their respective careers in all three national series - Cup, Nationwide and Trucks.

“Every time I have tried to win a race, Johnny finishes second. If I finish second, he finishes third,” Hornaday said of his seesaw season. “It is going to come down to the wire. I am glad to see Johnny is running good for Bill Davis. He has been there every year.”

They also have mutual respect.

“I've seen Ron win a lot of races, and of course win some championships. There's no better person to go out and race with,” Benson said of his rival. “He's going to go out there and give 100 percent, and we're doing the same thing.

“For the fans, they're going to see a good battle right to the end.”

As they enter the final stretch of the season, both drivers have had to overcome their share of adversity this season.

Hornaday got wrecked by then-KHI teammate Jack Sprague at Bristol, Tenn.; and ran out of gas while leading with two laps to go at Martinsville, Va. Benson blew a tire with a dominant truck at Las Vegas and blew an engine after starting on the pole at Memphis.

The similarities of their seasons are uncanny.

“It's been an incredible year,” Benson said. “Ron's won five (races), we've won five. We both have the same top-five finishes. We both have the same top-10 finishes. So it's all been pretty close.”

And likely only to get closer.

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