Benson Turns Car Into Coffee Table
(I have attached four jpgs. If you would like the full set of eight please let me know and I will email them.) Benson Crushes Car Into Coffee Table #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson loved his superspeedway car #4518. It was the white car he used to lead 38 laps and nearly win the 2000 Daytona 500. It was a car that ran well at most superspeedway races after that. But it was also the car he was racing in the top 10 at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona last year when he was wrecked on lap 8. Benson suffered three broken ribs on his right side in that wreck and missed the Chicago and New Hampshire races. The team retired the car, but Benson didn't want to let go of his favorite superspeedway car. So what do you do when you are a race car driver who has a car you really likes but it’s too damaged to race again? It’s easy. You make it into a coffee table for your race shop. Last month, Benson took the damaged Valvoline Pontiac up to a salvage yard in Statesville, N.C. and crushed the car into a cube. Now he’s going to make it in a table to put it in his race shop. “Hey, it was a great car,” said Benson. “I didn’t want to get rid of it so we put it to some good use. It’s going to be the #10 Valvoline coffee table now instead of a Pontiac.” Benson is putting the finishing touches on the table and expects to be complete in a few months. “It will look good when I get done. I guess you would call it a really heavy cube right now. It was just something to do for an afternoon.” Benson races again on July 5 in Daytona. Obviously, with a new car. “Hopefully, this time we will get a trophy we can put on the table," he said. "I don’t plan on making another table out of a race car ever again.” Benson Daytona Quotes Is There A Difference Between This Race and February Race? “First off there are 100 less miles and it’s at night. But that is about it. There used to be a big difference between this race and the Daytona 500. There’ s not as big of a difference now because this is a night race. When we ran this in the daytime it was so hot and slippery that downforce mattered a heck of a lot more. The track still gets slippery. But because it is at night it’s a little bit more consistent. Handling is still more important at this race but its not like it used to be. The night races on superspeedways have been great. As drivers we don’t have to worry about the track changing as much like if the sun is out or not as we did during the daytime races. The track stays consistent and they have done a great job of lighting the track. Plus it gets us home for a day on Sunday.” Are There Drafting Partners? “The only partners you really have are the guy in front of you and the guy behind you and that changes throughout the race. I don’t care what anyone promises you before the race or on the team radios during the race. If they think they can help themselves they are going to forget about any agreement just as fast as they can.” Benson Career At Daytona Race S F Feb. 2003 40 19 July 2002 6 43 Feb. 2002 38 10 July 2001 37 13 Feb 2001 33 28 July 2000 20 13 Feb 2000 27 12 July 1999 33 24 Feb 1999 39 17 July 1998 40 26 July 1997 15 16 Feb 1997 16 28 July 1996 5 25 Feb 1996 27 23 2003 Record S F Daytona 40 19 Rockingham 2 13 Las Vegas 16 12 Atlanta 23 11 Darlington 22 25 Bristol 20 19 Texas 13 32 Talladega 17 41 Martinsville 28 32 California 32 36 Richmond 13 15 Charlotte 10 24 Dover 30 5 Pocono 25 24 Michigan 26 25 Infineon 25 30 Race Information: THE RACE: Pepsi 400 Winston Cup Race #17 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Saturday, July 5, 2003 in Daytona Beach, FL TV: NBC - 7:30pm/et Pre-Race Show: NBC - 7:00pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Race Re-Air: Speed Channel - July 9th at 8:00pm/et; and July 10th at 1:00am/et and 3:00pm/et. Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests NASCAR on TV and Fox Sports Purse/Race Awards: (was $4,516,848 in 2002) 2002 Race Winner: Michael Waltrip, 135.952mph, started 7th Race Speed Record: Bobby Allison, 1980, 173.473 Track/Race Length: 2.5 mile oval, 160 laps, 400 miles Pit Road Speed: 55mph ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Practice Practice: Thursday, July 3rd, 3:15 - 5:15pm/et; and Friday, July 4th, 4:30 - 5:15pm/et Happy Hour Practice: Friday, July 4th, 6:10 - 6:55pm/et on TV-Speed Channel live. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Thursday, July3rd, 2:15pm/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Thursday, July 3rd at 8:05pm/et, TV-TNT live, no re-air date/time found, and live via MRN Event Qualifying Record before: Sterling Marlin, July 1986, 203.666mph(before restrictor plates) Event Qualifying Record after: Greg Sacks, July 1990, 195.533mph(after restrictor plates were introduced in Feb 1988) in 1987 Davey Allison ran 198.085mph when a 390 CFM carburetor was used to slow the cars down Track Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, 210.364mph, February 1987 Track Qualifying Record with Restrictor Plate: Ken Schrader, 196.996, February 1989 2002 Pole Sitter: Kevin Harvick, 185.041mph, finished 11th ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Track Specs: Superspeedway: 2.5-mile trioval 40 feet wide with 12- to 30-foot apron Turns: Banking: 31 degrees, Length: 3,000 feet Radius: 1,000 feet Trioval: Banking: 18 degrees (at start/finish line) Frontstretch: Chute length: 1,900 feet (from turn to middle of trioval) Total length: 3,800 feet Banking: Minimal for drainage only Backstretch: Length: 3,000 feet, Banking: Minimal for drainage only Pit Road: Length: 1,600 feet Width: 50 feet Grandstand Seating: 168,000. 10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown Owners: Valvoline (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 Doug Morgan 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 Stop Coach: Gary Smith PR Rep: Drew Brown ### Drew Brown drewbrown@bellsouth.net 704-650-0428 cell 704-895-3651 home