(Sports Network) - Johnny Benson captured the pole for Saturday afternoon's Ohio 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Mansfield Motorsports Park. The No.23 Toyota driver circled the tiny half-mile track in 16.363 seconds (110.004 m.p.h.). The pole victory was Benson's first of the season and third of his truck career.

Starting alongside Benson will be Mike Skinner who posted a second-best time of 16.405 seconds.

David Starr (16.461) and Andy Lally (16.461) will make up row two.

Short track specialist Dennis Setzer is the defending champion after he edged Jack Sprague by 0.522 seconds. Setzer did it by completing all 250 laps without a pit stop. The race was interrupted by three rain delays and more than 100 caution-flag laps, With 13 laps left, a flat right-front tire for Rick Crawford caused him to slide high on the track allowing Setzer to make the pass for first place and the win.

Ron Hornaday Jr., starting 12th, leads the 2008 Craftsman Truck Series championship, but eight drivers are within 78 points of the defending series champion. Crawford is just five points back, Todd Bodine is just 38 points back and last week's North Carolina Education Lottery 200 winner Matt Crafton is 45 points behind the leader. Crafton won for the first time in 178 races, a record number for series starts without a first win.

The race is set to drop the green flag on Saturday at 1 p.m. (et).



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