Benson's Good Day Turns Sour

Benson’s Good Day Turns Sour At Atlanta

#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson was right where he wanted to be as
the laps wound down in the penultimate race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup
season at Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.

Benson had been up and down the scoring pylon most of the race, but as the
checkered flag drew near he occupied 12th place and appeared poised to climb
into the top ten.

With the aid of a caution flag or two, he just might challenge the leaders.

“We were looking pretty good there toward the end,” Benson said. “We’d worked
on the car all day and we were getting it better and better.”

But with about 30 laps to go, the Valvoline crew heard those infamous words in
racing that few like to hear.

“I think we just broke,” said Benson as he reported the engine woes over the
team radio.

And the day that appeared ready to end with a top-ten finish turned into a
23rd-lace finish as Benson limped home nursing the Valvoline Pontiac on seven
cylinders.

“I can’t tell you how disappointing that is,” Benson said. “We were pretty good
here on Friday, and terrible Saturday, but our team worked and worked and I
think we were pretty good here today. We lost another top ten finish and that’s
frustrating.”

It didn’t start out good for the Valvoline team.

Benson dropped from his eighth starting spot to about 20th as he and the James
Ince-led team worked on the handling of the Valvoline Pontiac.

“I’m pushing at the bottom of the track but when I go up high I get real
 loose,” Benson reported.

Ince brought Benson to pit road and number of times before dramatically
improving the car’s performance. After the midway point, Benson climbed as high
as seventh.

As the race wound down and the pit stop sequencing saw Benson hover near tenth
for most of the second half of the race.

While Benson was nursing his engine making sure he saw the checkered flag,
Bobby Labonte passed Jerry Nadeau in the final corner to win the race seconds
after Nadeau ran out of gas.

Benson and his Valvoline teammates will race Friday at New Hampshire
International Speedway to close out the 2001 season.

2001 Points

1	Jeff Gordon 	4984
2	Tony Stewart 	4608
3	Ricky Rudd 	4582
4	Sterling Marlin 	4566
5	Dale Jarrett 	4478
6	Bobby Labonte 	4391
7	Rusty Wallace 	4369
7	Dale Earnhardt, Jr 	4369
9	Kevin Harvick * 	4316
10	Jeff Burton 	4282
11	Johnny Benson 	4025
12	Mark Martin 	3957
13	Matt Kenseth 	3819
14	Ward Burton 	3809
15	Bill Elliott 	3724
16	Jimmy Spencer 	3661
17	Jerry Nadeau 	3525
18	Bobby Hamilton 	3496
19	Ken Schrader 	3434
20	Elliott Sadler 	3365
21	Ricky Craven 	3330
22	Terry Labonte 	3198
23	Dave Blaney 	3173
24	Michael Waltrip 	3116
25	Casey Atwood * 	3017
26	Robert Pressley 	3010
27	Kurt Busch * 	2981
28	Joe Nemechek 	2891
29	John Andretti 	2888
30	Todd Bodine 	2887
31	Steve Park 	2859
32	Brett Bodine 	2806
33	Stacy Compton 	2688
34	Jeremy Mayfield 	2651
35	Mike Wallace 	2626
36	Kevin Lepage 	2424
37	Jason Leffler * 	2340
38	Ron Hornaday * 	2238
39	Mike Skinner 	2029