Benson Notches Third Consecutive Top-5 Finish On Ovals

Benson Notches Third Consecutive Top-5 Finish On Ovals
Valvoline Pontiac Best GM Car Amid Dodge Parade At Michigan

Rain couldn’t dampen the NASCAR Winston Cup Dodge parade at Michigan
International Speedway on Sunday nor could it keep Johnny Benson’s #10
Valvoline Pontiac from recording its third consecutive top-five finish on
ovals.

Benson moved into fifth place passing Dave Blaney just a few laps before rain
ended Sunday’s race 160 laps into the 200-lap event. Benson was the best of the
General Motors cars in a race that saw Dodge’s Sterling Marlin win for the
manufacturer for the first time since Neil Bonnett won at Ontario Speedway in
Ontario CA. on November 20,1977.

Benson was pleased with Sunday’s performance that resulted in his 10th top-10
finish in 2001 and tied his best finish in 12 races at Michigan. His James
Ince-led team overcame a mid-season dry spell the team attributes to bad luck
and adjusting to NASCAR’s rule changes.

"Everybody on this race team is working extremely hard,” said Benson who
finished fifth at Pocono and third at Indy. “They've been putting great race
cars under me.  The last couple of weeks we've been good, but even before that,
we weren't really struggling. We just had some bad luck and were trying to
figure out how to get around the bump stops and all that.”

Marlin, who averaged 140.513 mph grabbed the lead with 56 laps remaining in the
scheduled distance and drove away to a half-second margin over pole winner
Ricky Craven when the day’s third caution, for rain, was displayed at lap 156.
After the rain continued and the race was called. Craven finished second
followed by Bill Elliott, Matt Kenseth and Benson.
Benson started 22nd and struggle in the early going with a car that wouldn’t
turn. After the first pit stop the car then wanted to turn too much. After a
lengthy rain delay at the 100-lap mark, Benson return to action with a car that
handled much better.
“I was pretty happy then,” Benson said. “We were good and I knew we would get a
good finish if everything went well.”
Benson was moving up the scoring pylon when the rains came finally ending the
race.

Sunday’s race was the second oval-track race since NASCAR allowed the Dodge
Intrepids a two-inch extension on the front air dams to give them better
downforce on the noses of their cars. The results showed. In June Dodge posted
three top-10 finishes: Sterling Marlin (third), Dave Blaney (eighth) and Bill
Elliott (ninth). In their return to Michigan on Sunday, Dodge scored two
top-five finishes and four top-10s: Sterling Marlin (first), Bill Elliott
(third), Dave Blaney (sixth) and Casey Atwood (10th).

Benson and Ince joined a chorus of drivers and crew chiefs who said it is time
for NASCAR to help Pontiac.

"I'm real happy, but we're having to work way too hard to stay with the Dodges
on this type of racetrack. We had a so-so car. I drove my hind end off and
still couldn't catch them. They were walking away two or three tenths a lap. We
tried hard. This Valvoline Pontiac was awesome, but we still couldn't stay with
them.”

Ince pointed out that Benson, a Michigan native, was the only Pontiac on the
lead lap.

  "It's a situation where it's OK for us to have to work hard, but we're having
to working way too hard to get what we're getting right now. There is no doubt
that we're at a deficit. Maybe we haven't done a good enough job on our part to
give NASCAR an option to help us out. Maybe that is something that we need to
go work on. But the reality of it is, for us to have to work as hard as we're
working we should be winning races. We shouldn't be running in the top five. We
were the only Pontiac on the lead lap and there are good Pontiac teams in this
garage. It just doesn't make sense right now. We're happy. It was a good day
for us. I would have almost liked to have seen it go green the rest of the way.
But like I said, it's terrible when you've got a better race team than other
people have got and you're still going to run fifth with them."

Benson and Ince were kind compared to others.

“They (NASCAR) have given Dodge everything but the checkered flag to get them
to the checkered flag and they got that today,” said Bobby Labonte’s crew chief
Jimmy Makar. “They (Dodge) were pretty classy, if you look at all of them. They
all ran well.”

While the Ford- Chevrolet- Dodge-Pontiac debate is sure to rage the rest of the
2001 season so will the points race. Although Jeff Gordon extended his lead to
almost 300 points over Ricky Rudd, the battle for the top five grows closer.
Benson is now ninth but sits less than 100 points out of fifth.

“We think we can get there but it's going to take good luck and our car to keep
running like it has,” Benson said. “Our goal is top six, but we will certainly
take the top five.”

Benson and his Valvoline team return to action Saturday night in Bristol, Tenn.


2001 Points

Rnk	Driver	Pts
1	J. Gordon	3353
2	R. Rudd	3055
3	D. Jarrett	2999
4	S. Marlin	2972
5	T. Stewart	2870
6	Ernhrdt Jr.	2846
7	B. Labonte	2805
8	R. Wallace	2803
9	J. Benson	2788
10	K. Harvick	2743
11	Steve Park	2708
12	M. Martin	2687
13	M. Knseth	2613
14	Jeff Burton	2573
15	J. Spencer	2568


Post-Race Quotes Courtesy of Pontiac

JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(ON POSTING HIS THIRD TOP FIVE FINISH IN FOUR RACES) "I'm real happy, but we're
having to work way too hard to stay with the Dodges on this type of
racetrack. We had a so-so car. I drove my hind end off and still couldn't
catch them. They were walking away two or three tenths a lap. We tried
hard. This Valvoline Pontiac was awesome, but we still couldn't stay with
them.
"Everybody on this race team is working extremely hard. They've been
putting great race cars under me. The last couple of weeks we've been good,
but even before that, we weren't really struggling. We just had some bad
luck and were trying to figure out how to get around the bump stops and all
that. James [Ince] is just doing a hell of a job."
(DID THE FIRST RAIN DELAY ALLOW YOU TO GET TRACK POSITION?) "It didn't give
us track position. By the time everybody pitted and got done with, we moved
up about five spots. We just made some adjustments and got it good. We
just did what we could."
(HOW ABOUT BEING THE ONLY PONTIAC TO FINISH ON THE LEAD LAP?) "Well, we're
obviously happy that it was us, but that's not saying a whole lot for the
Pontiacs right now. We're all trying to do the best we can and we ended up
as the only one on the lead lap, so I think it's about time we got some
help.
"We'll do what we can to get our car better and we'll see what happens. But
there is only so much that we can do. There is only so much anybody can do.
This car was new in '96 and it's as good as it's going to get.
"They (NASCAR) moved the nose out to help the Dodges and that's the same
thing that the Pontiac needs right now. They gave it to Chevrolet last year
and it proved to be very good. They gave it to dodge and it's already shown
that it's going to be very good for them, too."

JAMES INCE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
(IT LOOKED LIKE YOU REALLY HAD TO WORK FOR THIS TOP FIVE...) "It's a
situation where it's OK for us to have to work hard, but we're having to
working way too hard to get what we're getting right now. There is no doubt
that we're at a deficit. Maybe we haven't done a good enough job on our
part to give NASCAR an option to help us out. Maybe that is something that
we need to go work on. But the reality of it is, for us to have to work as
hard as we're working we should be winning races. We shouldn't be running
in the top five. We were the only Pontiac on the lead lap and there are
good Pontiac teams in this garage. It just doesn't make sense right now.
"We're happy. It was a good day for us. I would have almost liked to have
seen it go green the rest of the way. But like I said, it's terrible when
you've got a better race team than other people have got and you're still
going to run fifth with them."


JAMES INCE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
 (DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE AT AN AERODYNAMIC DISADVANTAGE RIGHT NOW?)
"Absolutely. We had the best Pontiac out there today and we couldn't run
with those guys. We're doing the best we can with it, but it's not a lot of
fun and it's not fair. It's just not fair for the teams that have run good,
that were at as big a disadvantage as they were already. All I keep hearing
in their (Dodge teams) interviews is, 'Yeah, it was a good [rule] change
because we kept having to run all these weird setups and all these rear
spring splits.’ Well, I'll show them my setups right now. We've got the
same problem. We have all year. We've just overcome that.
"Naturally, it's frustrating for us. But we're going to take what we've got
and go do the best we can with it until they (NASCAR) decides to help us
out, also."

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