US Army Teams Keeps Eye on Current Events

& Army Teams Keeps Eye on Current Events Nascar Winston Cup teams' travel plans are set for upcoming races at Bristol, Texas, Talladega, Martinsville, and California. However, many are inquiring whether a potential war in Iraq will alter the sport in any way. So far, plans have not changed for Johnny Benson’s team. But team officials are paying attention to the news and plan to keep in close touch with Nascar if events warrant. Until then Benson and his teammates will concentrate on the job at hand and that’s tackling Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. Benson finished second at this race in 2000. He is currently tied for 10th with Elliott Sadler in the 2003 point standings. Jay Frye, General Manager/MB2 Racing: “So far, we haven’t changed anything regarding travel or accommodations for the upcoming races. We take a private charter for both the Army teams to most of the races so we won’t be impacted if something were to happen with commercial airline travel. Really, we are just in a wait-and-see mode like the rest of America. We will take all of our direction from Nascar. We haven’t talked, but I have every confidence Nascar will be prepared for whatever happens. I know they will have things worked out if something needs to be done. “Our teams are very close to the US Army. We are very proud to be part of the Army of One. Americans should feel very fortunate to have so many brave men and women defending our freedom. The sacrifices our soldiers make put our 36-race season in perspective. We are very proud of our soldiers and wish them well.” Johnny Benson: “Sure we are paying attention to what’s going on. I’m suppose to go to Fort Bragg next month to see the troops over there and I spent a couple days on the USS Enterprise a few years ago as they were coming home from the Middle East. I got a whole new perspective on just how professional our military guys are. I flew in some of their planes, ate with them, slept on the ship and hosted some of the guys at the track. It was something I will never forget. We even toured the USS Cole that later got bombed in the Middle East. You know you can see something on the news and you know that it is sad what happened, but when you have seen the ship and met the guys it takes on a whole new perspective. Ever since then I’ve kind of paid attention to what’s going on with them. “People sometimes think race car drivers are heroes but I look at us as people who get a chance to do what they love. Our military guys are the real heroes because they do what they do for love of their country. I hope they get their jobs done soon and come back home.“ Benson On Bristol: “Everyone looks forward to Bristol except maybe the body guys for each team. You won’t hear a word about aero-push or aero-matching or anything like that during Bristol weekend. Bristol is about racing with a little beating and banging. The key to Bristol is patience. We get there Friday and (Crew Chief) James (Ince) starts talking to me about patience. He mentions it a few times on Friday, then a few more times Saturday afternoon, some Sunday morning and then in the race he works it into the radio conversation as well. I get so tired hearing that I’m suppose to be patient, but he 100 percent right. At Bristol it is real easy to get in a hurry and get in a wreck or get wrecked. The patient guy usually does well in the end.” Benson Bristol Record Race Year S F Second Race 2002 6 12 First Race 2002 28 39 Second Race 2001 29 36 First Race 2001 28 26 Second Race 2000 29 13 First Race 2000 33 2 Second Race 1999 39 33 First Race 1999 42 29 Second Race 1998 23 33 First Race 1998 8 5 Second Race 1997 22 18 Frist Race 1997 33 31 Second Race 1996 29 28 First Race 1996 1996 DNS THE RACE: Food City 500 Winston Cup Race #6 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Sunday, March 23rd, 2003 in Bristol, TN TV: Fox - 1:00pm/et Pre-Race Show: Fox - 12:30pm/et - with hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond Race Re-Air: March 26th at 8:00pm/et on Speed Channel, March 27th at 1:00am/et and 3:00pm/et on Speed Channel Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes, Jeanne Zelasko Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond Purse/Race Awards: $? (was $4,032,688 in 2002) 2002 Race Winner: Kurt Busch, 82.281mph, started 27th Track Race Record 1st Race: Cale Yarborough, Apr 1977, 100.989 Track Race Record 2nd Race: Charlie Glotzbach, July 1971, 101.074 Track/Race Length: 0.533-mile concrete oval, 500 laps, 266.5 miles Pit Road Speed: 35mph Practice Practice: Friday, Mar 21st, 11:20am -1:20pm/et; and Saturday, Mar 22nd, 9:30 - 10:15am/et Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, Mar 22nd, 11:10 - 11:55am/et on TV-FX tape delay at 3:00pm/et Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Friday, Mar 21st, 10:20am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, Mar 21st at 3:05pm/et, TV-FSN Fox Sports Net live [and re-aired on Speed Channel, Friday, Mar 21st at 8:00pm/et and on Sat, Mar 22nd at 2:30am/et], and live via PRN radio Track/Event Qualifying Record: Jeff Gordon, March 2002, 127.216mph March 2002 Pole Sitter: #24-Jeff Gordon, 127.216, finished 31st. Track Specs: 0.533-mile concrete oval Degree of banking in corners: 36 degrees Degree of banking in straights: 16 degrees Straightaways are 650 feet long. Concrete racing surface is 40 feet wide. Seating capacity: ~147,000 Bristol has two pits roads: 21 pit stalls on the front stretch and 21 on the back stretch(1 must be shared) Pit Stall Size: 25.5 feet long, 15.5 feet wide See below for special Bristol pit road rules. 10 Pontiac Team Television Information Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown Owners: (Jim Rocco)/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton) Crew Chief/Car Chief: James Ince Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports Spotter (Race Day) Jay Guy Spotter (Practice Only) Russell Hoekwater Engine Tuner John Kendrach Over The Wall Pit Crew Front Tire Changer Bobby Burrell Front Tire Carrier Shane Cooke Rear Tire Changer Greg Burkhart Rear Tire Carrier Steve Genenbacher Gasman Jimmy Watts Tire Specialist Skippy Johnson Catch Can Steve Mann Jackman Brian Perry Other Crew Members Truck Driver: Gale (Bandit) Wilson Mechanic: Jerry Hess Mechanic: David Baum Shocks: Mike Cluka Tires: Jeff (Skippy) Johnson Engineer: Tim Turner Computers & Gas Runner: John Hayes Scorer: Terry Lane Pit Scorer Denise Ince Pit Stop Coach: Gary Smith PR Rep: Drew Brown