Full Throttle

Johnny Benson Jr. will be back in 2009 to defend his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, but he will drive for another team.

Red Horse Racing team co-owner Tom DeLoach told Scenedaily.com Monday that he has signed Benson to race his No. 1 truck next year, and he will be teammates with David Starr.

“It’s fantastic,” DeLoach said. “I’m looking forward to it. I think Johnny and David will work together really well and I expect good things out of both of them. We have one team and we’ve got two drivers. Johnny is such a fantastic guy to work with.”

Benson, 45, a Grand Rapids native, announced earlier this fall he was leaving Bill Davis Racing, and continued to march toward his first Truck title. Benson edged Ron Hornaday for the title in November’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Red Horse Racing was founded in 2005 and features co-owner Jeff Hammond, who is a NASCAR analyst for Fox. The team has posted two career victories.

Starr finished 12th in points this season.

DeLoach said the search continues for sponsorships and that Trip Bruce, Benson’s crew chief at Bill Davis, will be joining Red Horse and serving as crew chief on the No. 1 Truck.

“Johnny will be especially strong, and we’d like to do what no one has ever done before,” DeLoach said. “Johnny would see it as a tremendous accomplishment to repeat with different owners. That would be quite a statement.

“I’m just looking forward to working with him. It will be sweet for Red Horse. I’ve wanted to run two trucks for a couple of years and couldn’t get pieces put together, and finally got it done.”