Tire Problem Ends Benson's NHIS Hopes

Tire Problem Ends Benson's NHIS Hopes

If #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson didn't have any bad luck in the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series of late, he wouldn't have any luck at all.

In recent races Benson has always been one of the fastest cars until some
strange bit of bad luck rears its ugly head to ruin the race.

At Dover another team's loose tire damaged the Valvoline Pontiac, then another
car's wreck at Pocono took him from contention, running out of gas at Charlotte
stifled a good run, engine woes at Chicago hurt his chances and a speeding
penalty at Sears Point damaged a great run.

On Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway Benson's luck was due to
change. He qualified 15th and was the fastest car in both practices on
Saturday.

But when Sunday's race started there was no change of luck. Benson became the
first of three drivers to suffer tire problems and hit the wall on the mile
track.

Benson was unhurt, but the lap 60 wreck occurred when he was 11th and turning
lap times as quick if not quicker than the leaders.

Obviously, Benson was deeply disappointed. Especially since the team was using
a normal race setup for New Hampshire that shouldn't have warranted any tire
problems.

"I guess, we must have cut a right front," Benson said. "We don't know what
happened to the tire. It started to come apart down the front stretch which let
me get the car slowed down but we hit hard enough to mess the Valvoline Pontiac
up pretty good."

Benson brought the Valvoline Pontiac to pit road then to the garage where the
team spent several minutes repairing the front-end damage. He returned to the
race many laps down and spent the rest of the afternoon making laps and staying
out of trouble before finishing in 37th position.

"It's not like we are running bad lately," Benson said. "We have been fast and
if we continue to be that fast good things are going to happen. We aren't going
to let this get our head down. This team is pretty confident in our abilities
and we'll be back up there as soon as our luck changes."

Dale Jarrett passed teammate Ricky Rudd in the closing laps to earn the
victory.

Benson falls to 10th in the 2001 driver point’s race. He and his James Ince led
crew will test in Indianapolis on Tuesday and Wednesday before traveling to
Pocono where they will race on Sunday.

2001 Points

1	Dale Jarrett 		2695
1	Jeff Gordon 		2695
3	Ricky Rudd 		2667
4	Tony Stewart 		2421
5	Sterling Marlin 	2414
6	Rusty Wallace 	2342
7	Kevin Harvick * 	2319
8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr 	2278
9	Bobby Labonte 	2258
10	Johnny Benson 	2193

Drew Brown
1335 Torrence Circle
Davidson, NC 28036
704-895-3651 H
704-906-7992 C
drew_brown@mindspring.com