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Congratulations, Johnny Benson, for winning the 2006 NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Con-Way Freight 200. |
Once again Mark led the most laps in Saturday’s
Craftsman Truck Series Race at Michigan International Speedway, but he came
up just short of his fourth win of the year in the series, coming in second
behind Johnny Benson. Mark led on six different occasions for 33 laps and
moved in on Benson on a couple of occasions in the closing laps of the
race, but a string of late cautions halted Mark’s advancement, as he had
to settle for the second-place finish. The finish was Mark’s fifth finish
of second or better in seven Craftsman Truck Series race this season.“That was really a good run for the Scotts Team,” said Mark. “The truck was good and we were able to get out front and lead some laps. All of the cautions really hurt us at the end there, but Johnny (Benson) was fast and you can’t take anything away from him. He ran a good race and deserved the win. “We’ve had a lot of things fall our way this year in the truck,” added Mark. “This time it just didn’t work out, but still it was a good solid run and Mike Beam and the guys did another great job this weekend.” Mark started the race ninth and never ran outside of the top 10 for the entire race. He moved into the top five by lap 10 and took the lead for the first time on lap 24, after engaging in a tight race for the lead with Mike Skinner. Once by Skinner, Mark led the next 10 laps before giving up the lead on pit road on lap 37 after the race’s third caution. Mark came out in fifth place when the race resumed green-flag racing on lap 39 and only needed 11 laps to regain the lead on lap 53. He would hold the lead until lap 73 when he was passed by Benson just after a restart on lap 72. Mark would make inroads in catching Benson down the stretch, but a series of late cautions would prove detrimental to his chances, as Benson was able to hold onto the top spot, including holding off Mark in a green-white-checkered finish to the end. Mark will return to the Craftsman Truck Series on August 23rd at Bristol Motor Speedway. |
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