Johnny Benson On The Outside, Looking In

Johnny Benson, the defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, sits 29 points out of the top 10 – a position he and everyone else did not figure to be in at the close of 2008.

Now, after three races, his next race to regain standings prominence is Martinsville – and the last time the series visited the short track, Benson won.

So optimism is high. Benson has been solid at Martinsville since the inception of Loop Data in 2005. In his last eight races there, Benson has a Driver Rating of 90.5, an Average Running Position of 12.8, 59 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 66.8%.

But there’s a snag. David Starr, who is 10th in points, ranks above Benson in almost every key statistical category. Starr, who won at this race in 2006, has a Martinsville Driver Rating of 92.6, an Average Running Position of 12.6, 60 Fastest Laps Run, a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 65.7% and has been passed only 74 times in the last eight races, the fewest of any driver during that span.

Starr struggled during the last Martinsville race, finishing 33rd, but has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six Martinsville races.

NBaP likes both drivers, but I think we have to pull for the classic fave of Johnny Benson!