Chicagoland NASCAR Winston Cup Results Plus Benson Notes
Unofficial results and race points 1. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 180 - 5 bonus points 2. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 180 - 10 bonus points 3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points 4. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 165 - 5 bonus points 5. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 160 - 5 bonus points 6. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 150 7. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 146 8. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 147 - 5 bonus points 9. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 138 10. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 134 11. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 130 12. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 127 13. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 124 14. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 121 15. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 118 16. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 115 17. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 117 - 5 bonus points 18. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 109 19. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 106 20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 103 21. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 100 22. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 97 23. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 94 24. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 91 25. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 88 26. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 85 27. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 82 28. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 79 29. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 76 30. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 73 31. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 70 32. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 67 33. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 64 34. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 61 35. (4) Johnny Sauter, Pontiac, 58 36. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 55 37. (01) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, 52 38. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 49 39. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 46 40. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 43 41. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 40 42. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 37 43. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 34 Average speed of race winner: 134.059 mph. Time of race: 2 hours, 59 minutes, 15 seconds. Margin of victory: 2.633. Caution flags: 7 for 36 laps. Lead changes: 13 among 7 drivers. Lap leaders: T. Stewart 1-60; K. Harvick 61-64; M. Waltrip 65; T. Stewart 66-83; K. Harvick 84-104; T. Stewart 105-106; K. Harvick 107-127; J. Gordon 128-173; J. Johnson 174-188; J. McMurray 189; R. Newman 190-198; J. Johnson 199-208; J. Gordon 209; R. Newman 210-267. Updated Winston Cup standings after the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway: 1. Matt Kenseth, 2678 2. Jeff Gordon, 2513 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2420 4. Bobby Labonte, 2351 5. Michael Waltrip, 2294 6. Jimmie Johnson, 2249 7. Kevin Harvick, 2166 8. Tony Stewart, 2129 9. Kurt Busch, 2113 10. Sterling Marlin, 2098 11. Rusty Wallace, 2086 12. Mark Martin, 2070 13. Jeff Burton, 2057 14. Terry Labonte, 2028 15. Robby Gordon, 2023 16. Ryan Newman, 2013 17. Ricky Craven, 1919 18. Elliott Sadler, 1911 19. Bill Elliott, 1902 20. Greg Biffle, 1810 21. Ward Burton, 1796 22. Jamie McMurray, 1795 23. Ricky Rudd, 1768 24. Joe Nemechek, 1725 25. Jeremy Mayfield, 1723 26. Johnny Benson, 1719 27. Dave Blaney, 1662 28. Kenny Wallace, 1636 29. Dale Jarrett, 1626 30. Jimmy Spencer, 1581 31. Todd Bodine, 1543 32. Jeff Green, 1468 33. Steve Park, 1388 34. Casey Mears, 1358 35. Kyle Petty, 1304 36. Ken Schrader, 1291 37. Jack Sprague, 1284 38. Tony Raines, 1208 39. John Andretti, 1137 40. Mike Skinner, 1004 41. Jerry Nadeau, 844 42. Larry Foyt, 686 43. Mike Wallace, 640 44. Brett Bodine, 308 45. Derrike Cope, 292 46. Christian Fittipaldi, 289 47. Boris Said, 155 48. Ron Fellows, 151 49. Hermie Sadler, 128 50. Buckshot Jones, 112 Benson 18th at Chicagoland Sometimes having one of the fastest cars isn’t all that you need to contend for a victory in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. On Sunday the stopwatch showed #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson had what was probably one of the ten fastest cars at Chicagoland Speedway. But what he was missing was a break or two during the 400-mile race. “We got the hard part down and that was making the car go fast,” Benson said. “But we weren’t very lucky today. Considering everything that happened during the race 18th place isn’t so bad. It could have been a whole lot worse.” Benson started 36th and got off to a decent start. Only problem was that leader Tony Stewart got off to an incredible start by lapping all but the top 20 cars in the first 82 laps. “We knew we Stewart would be flying at the start but you get around this place so fast and traffic is a big key. He was in clean air while the rest of us were racing in traffic and that’s how he got around everyone so fast.” Benson fell down a lap on lap 53 of the 267-lap race. For the rest of the day and his Crew Chief James Ince worked to return the Valvoline Pontiac to the lead lap. There were just a few occasions for Benson to regain the lost lap, but the caution flags just didn’t fall at the proper time. All the while he continued to make progress of the rest of the field and moved up into the top 20. Benson appeared to have his best shot just past the 200-lap mark when he came in for new tires during a caution period. He returned to the track with hopes of using the new rubber to chase down the leaders who were on older tires. But Casey Mears moved down on Benson going into turn three on lap 215. The collision forced the Valvoline Pontiac to slide down on the apron and just as Benson was regaining control of the car, Bobby Labonte and Benson clipped each other. Labonte’s car spun into the wall and caught fire. Several other cars joined the melee. Although the former champion was uninjured his day was over. And so was Benson’s chance to regain that lost lap. The Valvoline crew brought him to pit road several times to make major repairs to the severely damaged right front corner of the car. “There wasn’t much we could do after that,” Benson said. “Being in a crash like that we were just lucky to finish. I hate that it happened. (Mears) just came down on me and I tried to save it. There were a lot of good cars wrecked and Bobby’s wreck was pretty scary, but I’m sure glad he is OK. Benson drove his damaged car to the checkered flag in 18th pace. “If we can run like this every weekend then we are going to be OK,” Benson said. “James and the guys gave us a pretty good car today.” Ryan Newman outlasted Kevin Harvick to claim the first victory. It was the first time Harvick hasn’t won the race in the 3 years NASCAR has raced on the 1.5-mile oval. Benson and his Valvoline teammates travel to Indianapolis for testing Monday and Tuesday then on to New Hampshire International Speedway for Sunday’s race.