NASCAR: #10 Benson Charlotte Preview
Benson Charlotte Preview #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson likes this weekend’s new night racing schedule at Lowes Motor Speedway. Benson said the Charlotte race for the NASCAR Winston Cup race teams is kind of like a high school or college football team’s homecoming game. The stands are full of friends and what they see Saturday night will be talked about around town for several months. Benson said a win at Charlotte could make a season. He said his team is targeting the final few races for a victory like they did last season by winning Rockingham. Benson was running third Sunday when he was involved in a collision with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a caution. The Valvoline team announced today that Jay Guy will serve as Benson’s crew chief for the remainder of the 2003 season. Benson On Qualifying at Night: “That is going to be cool. In more ways than one. I mean it will look neat for the fans and on television and the way the weather has been lately, I think that means you will see some pretty fast times. I figure you will see a track record. We didn’t test there but from what I hear the speeds were pretty fast. “Charlotte will be fun. This is where most of us live and our wives and families and friends you see around town every day will all be there. I guess it’s kind of like wanting to do well in your Homecoming game in high school or college. This is a big race for us. You can make a good season great by winning there.” Do You Like The New Charlotte Schedule: “I love the change. I wish we raced all of our races on Saturday night. That gives the crew guys an extra day off and for the fans I think night racing is just a lot more exciting. Somehow, everything looks faster at night.” Are Teams As Focused Now As They Were At The Start Of The Season? “Yes I know we are. Sunday was one of our best runs of the season. Sure we are tired and could use another weekend off like everyone else. But, I can only speak for our team. We are totally focused. We won at Rockingham at the end of last year. Finishing off the season with a win or two would make anyone’s year. It would be easy to say yeah we are frustrated and let’s just get through the season and move on to next year. But we are racers, we would race golf carts in the motor home lot if they let us. We are focused on winning. Plus, if you do well at the end of this year it makes the off season a lot better and you go in sky high for Daytona next season. I’d take a win at any point in the season. A win is a win no matter when it comes.” Benson 2003 Record S F Daytona 40 19 Rockingham 2 13 Las Vegas 16 12 Atlanta 23 11 Darlington 22 25 Bristol 20 19 Texas 13 32 Talladega 17 41 Martinsville 28 32 California 32 36 Richmond 13 15 Charlotte 10 24 Dover 30 5 Pocono 25 24 Michigan 26 25 Infineon 25 30 Daytona 22 27 Chicago 36 18 Loudon 26 26 Pocono 29 20 Indianapolis 40 13 Watkins Glen 27 27 Michigan 35 10 Bristol 32 14 Darlington 11 40 Richmond 9 9 Loudon 22 25 Dover 26 21 Talladega 42 41 Kansas 20 35 THE RACE: UAW-GM Quality 500 Winston Cup Race #31 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Saturday, October 11, 2003 in Concord, NC TV: NBC - 7:20pm/et Pre-Race Show: NBC - 7:00pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Scheduled Race Re-Air: there will be a one-hour recap of the race scheduled for: Wednesday, October 15th at 7:00pm/et and again on October 16th at 1:00am/et; and a full three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday, October 16th Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests NASCAR on TV Purse/Race Awards: $4,264,749 2002 Race Winner: Jamie McMurray, 141.481mph, started 5th Event Race Record: Jeff Gordon, Oct 1999, 151.952mph Track/Race Length: 1.5 mile D-shaped oval, 334 laps, 500 miles Pit Road Speed: 45mph ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Practice Practice: Thursday, October 9th, 2:20 - 4:20pm/et; and Friday, October 10th, 4:00 - 4:45pm/et Happy Hour Practice: Friday, October 10th, 5:40 - 6:25pm/et on TV-Speed Channel live. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Thursday, October 9th, 1:20pm/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Thursday, October 9th at 7:05pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live, no re-air date/time found. Second-Round Qualifying: there is no longer a 2nd round of qualifying (since the 2001 season) Race/Event Qualifying Record: Ward Burton, Oct 1994, 185.759mph Track Qualifying Record: Jimmie Johnson, May 2002, 186.464mph. Last Year's Pole Sitter: none - rained out; #20-Stewart started 1st based on owners points, finished 3rd. Track Specs: Superspeedway: 1.5-mile quad oval Banking: turns: 24 degrees; straights: 5 degrees Straights: Frontstretch - 1952.8 feet; Backstretch - 1360 feet Grandstand Seating: 167,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - #10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information Pit Contact: Jay Guy or Drew Brown Owners: Valvoline (Jim Rocco)/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton) Crew Chief/Car Chief: Jay Guy Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports Spotter (Race Day) TBD Spotter (Practice Only) Russell Hoekwater Engine Tuner John Kendrach Over The Wall Pit Crew Front Tire Changer Rick (Fuzz) Burgdoff Front Tire Carrier Shane Cooke Rear Tire Changer Greg Burkhart Rear Tire Carrier Steve Genenbacher Gasman Jimmy Watts Tire Specialist Skippy Johnson Catch Can Steve Mann Jackman Brian Perry Other Crew Members Truck Driver: Jerry Hess Mechanic: David Baum Shocks: Mike Cluka Tires: Jeff (Skippy) Johnson Engineer: Tim Turner Computers & Gas Runner: John Hayes Scorer: Terry Lane Pit Stop Coach: Gary Smith PR Rep: Drew Brown