Benson 25th at Darlington
Benson 25th at Darlington Timing is everything in racing. Just ask Johnny Benson and his #10 Valvoline Pontiac teammates. Benson, who started 22nd, appeared destined for top-15 or maybe a top-10 finish Sunday at Darlington, but luck wasn't on his side. Benson survived a few near accidents at the beginning of the race as the 43-car field jostled on the 1.33-mile treacherous, egg-shaped oval. About midway through the race he began to struggle. "We were just getting a four-wheel slide in the corners," Benson said over the team radio. "We were falling behind out there so we had to do something." Leader Mark Martin lapped Benson on lap 165 of the 293-lap race as he ran about 20th. The Valvoline team called Benson to the pits on lap 174 to put on fresh tires. Those faster tires would allow him to gain time on the leader and possibly regain the lap once the leader pitted. The strategy appeared perfect. As Benson turned quick lap times, Martin, the leader on much slower tires, prepared to stop on lap 191. But just as he was getting ready to pit John Andretti crashed on the front stretch wrecking his car and Benson's chances of getting a top finish. The caution allowed Martin to pit under the yellow and put Benson down three laps. "That was frustrating," Benson said after the race. "But we had the right strategy. Another few laps and we would have been OK. We were just trying to be careful in the beginning. There were lots of wrecks and the key here is surviving so we were biding our time." Benson spent the rest of the race getting as many spots as possible. He ended the race in 25th place - enough to maintain a tie for 10th place in the season point standings. At the front of the field, Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch put on one of the most exciting races in recent memory as they slammed into each other several times and came across the start/finish line side by side. The unofficial margin of victory was two-thousandths of a second - the smallest since electronic scoring introduced in 1993. Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday on the half-mile highbanks of Bristol Motor Speedway. Final Results From Darlington 1. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 180 - 5 bonus points 2. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 175 - 5 bonus points 3. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 165 4. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 165 - 5 bonus points 5. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 155 6. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 160 - 10 bonus points 7. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 151 - 5 bonus points 8. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 142 9. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 138 10. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 134 11. (4) Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 130 12. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 127 13. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 129 14. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 126 - 5 bonus points 15. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 118 16. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 115 17. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 112 18. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 114 - 5 bonus points 19. (30) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 106 20. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 108 - 5 bonus points 21. (1) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 100 22. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 97 23. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 94 24. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 91 25. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 88 26. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 85 27. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 82 28. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 84 -5 bonus points 29. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 76 30. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 73 31. (57) Brett Bodine, Ford, 70 32. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 67 33. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 69 - 5 bonus points 34. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 61 35. (01) Jerry Nadeau, Pontiac, 58 36. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 55 37. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 52 38. (43) John Andretti, Dodge, 49 39. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 46 40. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 43 41. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 40 42. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 37 43. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 34 Point Standings 1. Matt Kenseth, 760 2. Tony Stewart, 703 3. Michael Waltrip, 698 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 634 5. Ricky Craven,617 6. Kurt Busch, 617 7. Jimmie Johnson,604 8. Dave Blaney, 603 9. Joe Nemechek, 601 10. Elliott Sadler, 575 11. Johnny Benson, 575 12. Ryan Newman,571 13. Dale Jarrett,568 14. Bobby Labonte, 562 15. Jeff Gordon, 546 16. Mark Martin, 542 17. Ricky Rudd, 535 18. Kevin Harvick, 533 19. Steve Park, 525 20. Rusty Wallace, 524 21. Robby Gordon, 516 22. Jeff Burton, 513 23. Jimmy Spencer, 493 24. Sterling Marlin, 469 25. Terry Labonte, 464 26. Jeremy Mayfield, 452 27. Greg Biffle, 448 28. Jamie McMurray, 444 29. Bill Elliott, 439 30. Casey Mears, 433 31. Ward Burton, 431 32. Kenny Wallace, 416 33. Mike Skinner, 413 34. Kyle Petty, 400 35. Jeff Green, 392 36. Jerry Nadeau, 389 37. Ken Schrader, 368 38. Todd Bodine, 367 39. Jack Sprague, 362 40. John Andretti, 346 41. Tony Raines, 338 42. Larry Foyt, 214 43. Mike Wallace, 138 44. Derrike Cope, 110 45. Brett Bodine, 110 46. Hideo Fukuyama, 64 47. Christian Fittipaldi, 58 Drew Brown drewbrown@bellsouth.net 704-650-0428 cell 704-895-3651 home