By Tim Tuttle Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 14, 2008) Erik Darnell surged past Johnny Benson in the final 50 yards to win by inches Saturday in the Cool City Customs 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Benson drove his Bill Davis Racing Toyota inside Darnell's Roush Fenway Racing Ford in Turns 3 and 4 on the 100th and final lap and had a half-truck length lead coming onto the frontstretch.
Darnell dove down to run alongside Benson, who was on the apron beneath the white line, and they ran side-by-side to the finish.
"The way these trucks draft, the way you can side-draft with them, especially in the air at a bigger place like Michigan, I knew he was going to be able to suck up to the side of me and pull off and get a run, so I had to do the same thing to him," Darnell said. "And, fortunately for me, I got it right at the start-finish line and we were able to beat him by just a little bit."
Darnell wasn't sure that he'd won.
"It's so hard to tell from inside the truck," Darnell said. "I thought I may have had him by a little bit, but if we did, it wasn't by much. It was close and then you get done and you don't really know whether to come back around and try to grab that checkered flag. You're just kind of in a state of confusion there for a little bit, but once you get it figured out, it's alright."
Benson lost by .005 seconds, the closest margin of victory in the truck series since NASCAR began electronic timing a decade ago.
"I thought I'd try on the last lap way down low," Benson said. "I timed it perfectly. I was able to get alongside him, got ahead of him. I just couldn't stay ahead of him. I don't know what I'd do differently if I had to do it again."
Darnell's victory was the second of his NASCAR career and the first this season for both Roush Fenway Racing and Ford in the series. Roush Fenway has won the past two years and four of the nine NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at Michigan. It was the 17th Michigan win for Roush, whose Roush Industries headquarters are in nearby Livonia, Mich.
"This is my favorite place," team owner Jack Roush said. "This is home for me."
Scott Speed was third in a Bill Davis Racing Toyota, followed by Todd Bodine's Germain Racing Toyota and Brendan Gaughan's Circle Bar Racing Ford.
Ron Hornaday Jr. and team owner Kevin Harvick had an angry confrontation with Kyle Busch in the garage after Busch's contact spun out Hornaday on the final lap in Turn 1.
Hornaday, the points leader going into the race, was running fourth. Busch's Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota tapped him in the left rear. Hornaday finished 23rd, the last truck on the lead lap, and fell to third in the points, 21 behind Benson, the new leader.
Darnell led the final 25 laps and was in control until a late caution forced a restart with three circuits to go on the two-mile track. Darnell pulled away on the restart, but Benson closed on the final lap.
"I think the finish was a little more exciting than I wanted it to be," Darnell said.
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