Benson 26th at Michigan

#10 Valvoline Pontiac Driver Johnny Benson had some pretty high expectations
Sunday at Michigan International Speedway where he raced in front of the home
folks.

The Grand Rapids, Mich. native's 26th-place finish was respectable, but not the
top-10 run has team has enjoyed at the D-shaped oval in four of the last five
races.

"We were a little off today," Benson said after the race. "We struggled this
weekend. We will work hard to figure out what we need to do so we can be better
here in August. Today we just had a terrible time trying to pass people and
when we were in big packs it was really difficult. We finished OK but we want
to be a whole lot better."

Benson started the race in 25th and maintained that position nearly the entire
day but after a pit stop sequence he moved up to 17th and during another fell
back as far as 30th.

Not even some good pit stops during the middle of the race could help move him
from midpack.

Benson isn't discouraged.

"We have had some good runs up here and we were counting on another one today,"
Benson said. "But we aren't going to get frustrated. You have to remember the
competition level in this series is unbelievable. If you are a little off you
run in the middle of the pack and that's what we did today. But like I said I
don't doubt that we can figure this out and get better for the next race."

Kurt Busch passed Jeff Gordon in the final 30 laps then held off Bobby Labonte
on a restart with five laps to go to claim the victory.

Benson's finish keeps him 25th in the driver points race.

He and his Valvoline teammates return to action Sunday on the road course in
Sonoma, Calif.

Results

1. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 180 - 5 bonus points

2. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 170

3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points

4. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 160

5. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 155

6. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 160 - 10 bonus points

7. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 151 - 5 bonus points

8. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 147 - 5 bonus points

9. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 138

10. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 134

11. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 130

12. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 127

13. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 124

14. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 121

15. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 118

16. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 115

17. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 112

18. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 109

19. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 106

20. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 103

21. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 100

22. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 97

23. (01) Mike Wallace, 94

24. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 91

25. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 88

26. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 85

27. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 82

28. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 79

29. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 76

30. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 73

31. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 75 - 5 bonus points

32. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 67

33. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 64

34. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 61

35. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 63 - 5 bonus points

36. (02) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 60 - 5 bonus points

37. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 52

38. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 49

39. (11) Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 46

40. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 43

41. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 45 - 5 bonus points

42. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 37

43. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 34

Points

1. Matt Kenseth, 2275

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2090

3. Jeff Gordon, 2052

4. Bobby Labonte, 1998

5. Kurt Busch, 1933

6. Michael Waltrip, 1900

7. Jimmie Johnson, 1853

8. Rusty Wallace, 1798

9. Sterling Marlin, 1783

10. Mark Martin, 1740

11. Kevin Harvick, 1736

12. Tony Stewart, 1722

13. Ricky Craven, 1697

14. Jeff Burton, 1688

15. Terry Labonte, 1662

16. Robby Gordon, 1649

17. Ryan Newman, 1581

18. Joe Nemechek, 1581

19. Elliott Sadler, 1580

20. Bill Elliott, 1497

21. Ward Burton, 1497

22. Jamie McMurray, 1493

23. Greg Biffle, 1475

24. Dave Blaney, 1467

25. Johnny Benson, 1450

26. Dale Jarrett, 1382

27. Ricky Rudd, 1361

28. Kenny Wallace, 1351

29. Jeremy Mayfield, 1313

30. Jimmy Spencer, 1305

31. Jeff Green, 1277

32. Todd Bodine, 1261

33. Steve Park, 1217

34. John Andretti, 1137

35. Jack Sprague, 1125

36. Casey Mears, 1124

37. Ken Schrader, 1108

38. Kyle Petty, 1066

39. Tony Raines, 1041

40. Mike Skinner, 1004

41. Jerry Nadeau, 844

42. Larry Foyt, 585

43. Mike Wallace, 551

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Drew Brown
drewbrown@bellsouth.net
704-650-0428 cell
704-895-3651 home