Benson On Importance of Testing
Benson On Importance of Testing #10 Pontiac driver Johnny Benson and his teammates are limited to five test sessions each year at tracks where the NASCAR Winston Cup Series holds races. The testing restrictions are designed to reduce the teams’ costs in both time and budget. It also makes it mandatory for teams to selectively choose their test dates and locations. Benson and his Crew Chief James Ince spent one of their five allotted tests at Texas Motor Speedway on March 4 and 5. A test that Benson said was very successful but whose final results won’t be know until the checkered flag drops on Sunday. . Benson on Testing: “Testing helps a bunch. If we didn’t have a limit then we would spend all of our time and effort testing at places about every week. We’d probably end up like the Formula One teams hiring test crews and drivers that spend their entire time testing and never race. I know it makes life tough on crew chiefs who wish they could test more, but there is a balance Nascar has to reach. I think they basically do a pretty good job. Our guys are stretched to the max now as it is with the schedule we keep. “As a driver it helps me in learning the quickest way around these places. For the driver, crew chief and team it helps in us trying to find the race setup or qualifying setup we are looking for. Testing gives us a foot up on the competition by going to a place early. Remember, on these race weekends we only spend about 90-minutes on Saturday morning working on that race setup. That isn ’t a lot of time if you want to start experimenting with race setups. That is especially true at this time of year with the new bodies. The key is finding a good balance to the race car and testing is the best and easiest way to do just that. “Testing helps even after practice starts. The whole key is keeping up with the track changes. The tires, surface, weather, fuel loads, traffic can all change the way your car handles. If you can go back in your testing notes and learn what worked or didn’t work for a given set of conditions then you have an advantage. “Rockingham last year was a good example. We weren’t very happy after Saturday practice so James made a lot of changes. That was a time we hit it right on the money and we went out and won the race. How do we know which changes to make? That is where testing matters. We had tested there and knew what made the car work and what didn’t under different circumstances. We applied what we thought would work based on testing. “You never really know how the track is going to change. That’s kind of the secret to doing well. It’s where the crew chief and driver earn their money. The crew chief has to be able to make changes on the car based on what I’m telling him over the radio. It doesn’t do you much good to know how the track is at the moment, but how it will be in an hour or two. “We tested at Texas the week before Atlanta. It was really slippery the day we were there. It was losing a lot of grip. I think that is going to be a good thing. Not a bad thing. Speeds will be down a bit, but the track is in pretty good shape and should host a really good race. I hope it gives us an advantage. We were pleased with what happened there but that doesn’t mean anything until we show it on the track Sunday.” Benson Texas Record Year S F 2002 33 13 2001 17 3 2000 26 42 1999 24 11 1998 27 5 1997 13 28 THE RACE: Samsung/RadioShack 500 Winston Cup Race #7 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Sunday, March 30th, 2003 in Fort Worth, TX TV: Fox - 1:00pm/et Pre-Race Show: Fox - 12:30pm/et - with hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond Race Re-Air: April 2nd at 8:00pm/et on Speed Channel, April 3rd 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 Purse/Race Awards: $6,047,759 (was $5,497,422 in 2002) 2002 Race Winner: Matt Kenseth, 142.453mph, started 31st Track Race Record: Terry Labonte, March 1999, 144.276mph Track/Race Length: 1.5-mile quad oval, 334 laps, 501 miles Pit Road Speed: 45mph Practice · Practice: Friday, Mar 28th, 12:20 -2:20pm/et; and Saturday, Mar 29th, 10:30 - 11:15am/et · Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, Mar 29th, 12:10 - 12:55pm/et on TV-FX via tape at 1:00pm/et. Qualifying · Qualifying Draw: Friday, March 28th, 11:20am/et · First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, Mar 28th at 4:05pm/et, TV-FSN Fox Sports Net live [and re-aired on Speed Channel, Friday, Mar 28th at 8:00pm/et and on Sat, Mar 29th at 2:30am/et], and live via PRN radio/internet (link below) and XM Satellite - NASCAR Radio (Subscription Required) · Track/Event Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, April 2002, 194.224mph · March 2002 Pole Sitter: #9-Bill Elliott, 194.224, finished 9th. Track Specs: Degree of Banking: Turns: 24 degrees Straightaways: Banking: 5 degrees; Straights: Frontstraight - 2250 feet; Backstraight - 1330 feet Grandstand Seating: 154,681 Pole Winners at Texas 2002 Bill Elliott, #9 Dodge, 194.224, finished 9th 2001 Dale Earnhardt Jr, #8 Chevy, 190.678mph, finished 8th 2000 Terry Labonte, #5 Chevy, 192.137mph, finished 8th 1999 Kenny Irwin Jr, #28 Ford, 190.154mph, finished 15th 1998 Jeremy Mayfield, #12 Ford, 185.906mph, finished 23rd 1997 none, rained out Race Winners at Texas 2002 Matt Kenseth, #17 Ford, 142.453, started 31st 2001 Dale Jarrett, #88 Ford, 141.804mph, started 3rd 2000 Dale Earnhardt Jr, #8 Chevy, 131.152mph, started 4th 1999 Terry Labonte, #5 Chevy, 144.276mph, started 4th 1998 Mark Martin, #6 Ford, 136.771mph, started 7th 1997 Jeff Burton, #99 Ford, 125.111mph, started 5th 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