Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday Jr. are tossing punches back and forth like a pair of heavyweight fighters.
And neither shows any sign of getting knocked down or out.
Beginning with Hornaday’s June 6 victory at Texas Motor Speedway, the pair has won eight of 10 races and distanced themselves from their championship rivals.
Only Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford) and Kyle Busch (No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts/NOS Energy Drink Toyota) have stopped the Benson-Hornaday express.
Hornaday’s got the hot hand right now, fashioning back-to-back victories at Gateway International Raceway and — last Saturday — at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
His latest win, Hornaday’s third at NHMS and fifth of 2008, marked the fourth time the Californian has won consecutive races. Hornaday will go for a record-matching third victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he’s winless in seven visits to the 1.5-mile track.
“I’ve had some good runs at Las Vegas over the years. I like the track,” said Hornaday, who has won on all of the schedule’s intermediate tracks — except Las Vegas.
“I don’t see why we can’t have another good run on this type of track.”
Benson, meanwhile, keeps piling up consistent finishes. Since June, he’s finished worse than fourth just once and leads Hornaday by 74 points with seven races remaining. He owns a series-high average finish of 8.1.
Benson won at Kentucky Speedway in July. The track is similar to LVMS.
“I’m hopeful we can have the same outcome Saturday night,” said Benson. “(Crew Chief) Trip Bruce and the guys on the Exide Batteries Toyota have been working overtime trying to bring trucks to the track that can win.
“We know we have to be on top of our game every week to be in contention in Miami.”
For the 13th time in 14 seasons, it’s apparent the decision will go down to the Ford 200 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
