Krista Voda: Defending champ Benson’s sudden exit biggest surprise of first half
With two off weeks coming up and nearing the midpoint of the season, it’s a good time to take a look at the points race and some of the surprises and disappointments this season.
I don’t think anybody is shocked to see Ron Hornaday at the top of the standings and veterans like Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner in the mix. But I think Matt Crafton has been a pleasant surprise.
All of us who work in the series know that Matt is a contender; he finishes in the top 10 every year, but doesn’t have that big name like Skinner, Hornaday and Bodine. I would love to see him stay at the top and contend for the championship, and I think he will.
Matt is a veteran and has plenty of experience with tough battles down the stretch, he just doesn’t have the race wins that other guys do. I think he is going to find victory lane again this year and be in the championship battle.
We’ve had first-time winners in Brian Scott and Colin Braun, but that’s not a surprise because the Truck Series always seems to have that nice combination of veterans and newcomers who wind up in victory lane.
I actually thought Braun would win a race and I’m glad that he accomplished that at Michigan. It would have been disappointing if he hadn’t won by now because he has been so close. For him to finally seal the deal is huge for him and for Ford and Jack Roush.
I think the disappointment of the year has been Johnny Benson, the defending series champion, losing his ride. We knew going into the season that the economy was going to be a factor in the Truck Series. I think we were actually able to go further than we thought before we started having problems.
But in the last month we have really seen that this is for real and that it is affecting everyone from the trucks on up to Cup, and obviously Benson fell victim to that with the sponsorship not being there. The biggest surprise is the fact that his team was not able to pick up a sponsor.
Benson is going to be a factor in every race and he’s going to get TV coverage. Small-town America should be kicking themselves for not jumping on board with him, but I think it proves how tough the economy really is.
And now, although injured, he wants to come back. He is beat up and bruised from his recent crash but has every intention, if there is a deal out there, of returning.
That’s obviously the attitude of a champion. But it is really sad that such a good, quality champion doesn’t get to defend his title the way he deserves. That is the season’s biggest disappointment.
Krista Voda hosts the popular SPEED prerace show, "NCWTS Setup", leading into each NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Voda is also a regular host on The SPEED Report and serves as a pit reporter for NASCAR on Fox coverage of the Sprint Cup Series.
