NAASCAR @ Watkins Glen Results - Benson 28th
Results and race points Unofficial results and Winston Cup points awarded in Sunday's Sirius at The Glen: 1. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 185 - 10 bonus points 2. (39) Scott Pruett, Dodge, 175 - 5 bonus points 3. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points 4. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160 5. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 155 6. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 150 7. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 146 8. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 142 9. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 138 10. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 134 11. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 130 12. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 127 13. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 124 14. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 126 - 5 bonus points 15. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 118 16. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 115 17. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 112 18. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 109 19. (0) John Andretti, Pontiac, 106 20. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 103 21. (21) Ricky Rudd, 105 - 5 bonus points 22. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 97 23. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 99 - 5 bonus points 24. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 91 25. (4) P.J. Jones, Pontiac, 88 26. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 85 27. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 82 28. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 79 29. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 76 30. (33) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 73 31. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 75 - 5 bonus points 32. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 72 - 5 bonus points 33. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 64 34. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 61 35. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 58 36. (04) Johnny Miller, Pontiac, 55 37. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 52 38. (1) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 49 39. (01) Boris Said, Pontiac, 46 40. (44) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 43 41. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 40 42. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 37 Time of race: 2 hours, 26 minutes, 17 seconds. Margin of victory: 2.335 seconds. Caution flags: 6 for 14 laps. Lead changes: 8 among 8 drivers. Lap leaders: J.Gordon 0; G.Biffle 1-23; S.Pruett 24-32; J.Burton 33-42; D.Earnhardt Jr 43-53; B.Labonte 54-58; R.Rudd 59; J.McMurray 60; R.Gordon 61-90. Points Standings Updated Winston Cup standings Unofficial Winston Cup standings after Sunday's Sirius at The Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y.: 1. Matt Kenseth, 3294 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3036 3. Jeff Gordon, 2898 4. Jimmie Johnson, 2816 5. Kevin Harvick, 2778 6. Michael Waltrip, 2777 7. Bobby Labonte, 2768 8. Kurt Busch, 2696 9. Ryan Newman, 2636 10. Robby Gordon, 2627 11. Tony Stewart, 2550 12. Rusty Wallace, 2519 13. Jeff Burton, 2509 14. Terry Labonte, 2501 15. Mark Martin, 2496 16. Bill Elliott, 2347 17. Sterling Marlin, 2339 18. Elliott Sadler, 2269 19. Ricky Craven, 2250 20. Ward Burton, 2225 21. Greg Biffle, 2201 22. Jamie McMurray, 2191 23. Johnny Benson, 2115 24. Joe Nemechek, 2111 25. Ricky Rudd, 2095 26. Dave Blaney, 2088 27. Dale Jarrett, 2064 28. Jimmy Spencer, 2039 29. Jeremy Mayfield, 1988 30. Todd Bodine, 1943 31. Kenny Wallace, 1904 32. Steve Park, 1818 33. Jeff Green, 1719 34. Casey Mears, 1709 35. Tony Raines, 1515 36. Kyle Petty, 1512 37. Ken Schrader, 1431 38. John Andretti, 1381 39. Jack Sprague, 1284 40. Mike Skinner, 1067 41. Jerry Nadeau, 844 42. Larry Foyt, 829 43. Mike Wallace, 771 44. Christian Fittipaldi, 475 45. Derrike Cope, 442 46. Brett Bodine, 308 47. Scott Pruett, 236 48. Boris Said, 201 49. Ron Fellows, 200 50. Johnny Sauter, 152 Benson 28th at Watkins Glen Road Course #10 Pontiac driver Johnny Benson wasn’t the fastest car on the track Sunday at the NASCAR Winston Cup race in Watkins Glen, N.Y. But he made it to the finish in one piece and that is more than can be said for some of the fastest cars racing on the road course. “We weren’t that great today,” Benson said. “We did our best and there at the end we tried some strategies that just didn’t work out because of the way the cautions fell.” Benson finished the race in 28th spot, just one spot behind where he started the race. While Benson’s finish might not be spectacular, it was better than Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Ron Fellows, and Benson’s teammate for the race Boris Said. All three drivers looked like they were fast enough to win the race, but each encountered late-race trouble that dropped them back in the field. Gordon crashed in the final corner after running out of gas; Wallace, Fellows and Said also suffered on-track incidents. Benson said he was particularly cautious on Sunday. “James kept reminding me before the race to be patient,” Benson said. “It was real important for us to stay on the track today. To not get impatient. It’s easy to wreck here or get caught up in someone’s problems. We are trying to jump up higher in points so we did everything we could to stay on the track and not tear up a car.” On the twisty circuit, passing is difficult and Benson spent most of the races 90 laps running single file around 25th place. The team had hoped to stretch a fuel run late in the race and Benson moved to 11th while the leaders came to the pits. However the final green flag segment went more than 25 laps without a yellow so Benson was forced to make a quick gas and go with just 11 laps to go in the race. Benson, who admits to not being a fan of the two road courses in the Winston Cup series, logged a 30th-place finish at Infineon Raceway in California earlier this year. Robby Gordon won Sunday’s race edging road race specialist Scott Pruett and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The scariest moment of the day came during the first round of pit stops when Kevin Harvick’s team spilled fuel in its pit stall. The fuel ignited sending flames several feet in the air. Harvick’s team was pitting next to the team. The flames were extinguished and Benson was able to make his first round stop without incident. Benson and his teammates return to action on Sunday at Michigan Speedway – Benson’s home track. “I’m glad we are done with the road courses this year,” Benson said. “You better believe we are looking forward to Michigan. We were pretty good at Indy last week and hopefully we can be even better on Sunday at MIS. I’m glad we wont have to worry about any more right hand turns until next season.” Drew Brown drewbrown@bellsouth.net 704-650-0428 cell 704-895-3651 home