LOUDON, N.H. – Johnny Benson has been successful in just about every form of race vehicle he’s ever driven.

The 1995 NASCAR Busch Series champion simply dominated the Sylvania 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway, leading 145 laps Saturday to take the checkered flag to help his cause in securing the 2006 championship.

He came into the event trailing Todd Bodine by 154 points, and served notice that he is serious about his title bid.

“This truck was awesome today,” Benson said in Victory Lane. “During the middle of the race, I could put it anywhere I wanted and it just handled perfectly. Rick Wren (crew chief) and the guys were great on pit road, they gave me what I needed today. Everybody that is involved with this team has worked hard, and it showed today. We probably can’t catch Todd (Bodine) in the points, but we’re going to run hard and give it all we have.”

Benson, who has four victories this year, narrowed Bodine’s lead to 124 points with seven races remaining.

Polesitter Mike Skinner followed Benson across the line in second, while Nextel Cup star Kyle Busch finished third. Bodine and David Starr completed the top five.

Ron Hornaday Jr., Rick Crawford, Matt Crafton, Eric Darnell and Mark Martin rounded out the top 10.

“When the truck qualified as good as it did, I was worried about getting enough adjustments into it to run good in race trim,” said Skinner. “We were a little tight most of the day, what we needed was some long green-flag runs and they just never came.”

Benson averaged 92.323 mph and earned $59,375 for his efforts. There were eight lead changes among four drivers, and 12 cautions slowed the pace for a total of 50 laps. A crowd of 28,000 enjoyed the action on a beautiful late-summer day.

Scarborough native Ryan Moore competed in a truck race at NHIS for the first time and had an impressive debut. Moore, 23, started 30th on the 36-car grid, steadily picked his way through traffic and finished 15th.

The race was Moore’s 11th start in the truck series and his second top-15 finish.

At the drop of the green flag, Skinner led the field into Turn 1. Benson got a strong run on the outside and put his Bill Davis-owned Toyota into the lead as the field completed lap one. Caution flew early as Bill Lester and Aric Almirola came together in between Turns 1 and 2.

On the ensuing restart, Benson and Skinner broke away from the field with Clint Bowyer, Ted Musgrave and Kyle Busch in tow. The man on the move in the early laps was Martin, driving for Jack Roush. The Nextel Cup veteran moved from 16th to eighth in the first 22 circuits.

In a freak mishap, the crew got the jack stuck under the truck, and it made a trip around the Magic Mile before Martin returned to pit road to have it removed. He took the restart deep in the field but quickly marched back to the front. He spun out on the backstretch on lap 68, effectively ending his chances.