NASCAR WCUP: Johnny Benson Notes, Post Race, Texas Motor Speedway
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
April 2, 2001
JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 EAGLE ONE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(ON STAYING OUT ON THE LAST STOP TO TRY TO WIN THE RACE) "We were running about ninth and we knew we weren't going to beat them from there. We knew that (staying out) was our best opportunity. We really couldn't do anything else. We weren't able to come from the back, so we took the gamble. James [Ince] said, 'What do you think? Do you want to stay out?' I said, 'Yeah, let's go for it,' and I stayed out.
"I knew the guys on four tires were coming. I thought maybe I could hold off the guys with two tires. I didn't think I could hold anybody off with four tires and that ended up proving to be the case.
" I was kind of hoping that they would get to racing behind us. That was helping me, but eventually they got by us. They went by me like I was standing still.
"Right at the end, it was probably as good as it had been all day. We ran eighth or ninth - right in that area - but couldn't go forward, so it was the right choice for us, just to stay out. It allowed us to lead some laps and gave us an opportunity to try and steal it, and we ended up third. We're extremely how we've been running and real happy how the team has been doing."
(ON RACING TO WIN) "Absolutely. That is what we're here for and that's what we're trying to do. If we had come in, put tires on it and come out eighth or ninth, if the car had been really good I might have gotten to sixth. We were having a hard time moving forward, so it was the right move. We had seen that people staying out could almost hold their own up front. Track position is extremely premium nowadays. Like everybody has said, if you get behind somebody you get such an aero push that it's very difficult. "We just thought we'd take the gamble. I didn't feel we had anything to lose because we could have fallen back nine spots and been right where I was. We were just going to go for the win and hope that these guys got to running side-by-side. It just didn't quite pay off. But we finished in the top five and I think any time we can run in the top five, a win should be right around the corner."
(ON THE PRIDE HE HAS IN HIS TEAM) "I'm really proud of all the guys that work on this Valvoline and Eagle One Pontiac. The guys are working hard. I'm real confident in James Ince, Gary Putnam, Tim Turner - everybody at the shop. Those guys are working so hard. I appreciate it, and I go in there enough to have some fun when I'm there, too."
(IS THIS A TURNING POINT IN THE SEASON?) "No. It's not a turning point, by any means. We've been running good all year long. I would just like to win one of these once. But all in all, I'm real happy. I'm just real excited how everybody has come together."
(IS A WIN RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER?) "Well, I've been thinking that for awhile. It seems to be right in front of us. I'm hoping the day that we do break through, it will come a little easier. I doubt it, but I can hope. This first one just seems to be tough."
[ON BOTH HE AND HIS TEAMMATE (KEN SCHRADER) FINISHING IN THE TOP 10)] "We're real excited. Everybody is just trying to make the most of our opportunities, and run the best that we can."
(ON THE AERO PUSH YOU EXPERIENCE BEHIND SOMEONE) "You need to get a good balance. If you're good up front, you're going to be tight behind somebody. If you get it where you're really good behind somebody, there is a good chance that you're going to be real loose up front. We played both sides of the fence. We got the car where it was loose, we got it where it was tight and never got it perfect. I think at the end I was as good as I had been, as far as the balance of the race car, but wasn't fast enough to beat anybody with tires.
"I think everybody had the same problem. We saw it following people. When they were tight up against somebody they had a hard time coming up off the corner. You could see a lot of guys getting runs on people when that was happening or when guys got side-by-side. Even when you were down at the bottom trying to pass somebody, the thing would aero-push bad. You're doing 190 miles per hour and you're doing over 180 coming up off the corners. Aero is a big part."
(DID THIS REMIND YOU OF LAST YEAR'S DAYTONA 500?) "No. I didn't get hit this time. He (Dale Jarrett) had four tires. He could probably run anywhere he wanted. I knew I had to stay on the bottom because if would have gotten up into the top groove, the world would have gone by. I just made sure to stay on the bottom. I saw the '88' coming. He was coming fast. I didn't even challenge him for the lead. I did what I could to run as fast as I could, but I wasn't going to try to block him. He would have run me over. And the same with Steve [Park] - when Steve was coming, he was coming hard. They had the good tires, so I let them go around the outside just to save me from having any other problems and other guys getting runs on us. It enabled us to come out of here third with the Eagle One Pontiac."
(IS IT STILL A ONE-GROOVE RACETRACK?) "I couldn't run the top most of the day. I had to stay on the bottom. There really wasn't a top [groove], but some of the guys ventured up there. You could on some of the restarts when your tires were good. But as the tires got old it was very difficult for us. Some of the people were able to run up there, but I think most of the time everybody stayed on the bottom."
Text provided by Al Larsen
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