Benson Michigan Preview
Benson Michigan Preview #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson returns to his home state of Michigan this weekend when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series races at Michigan Speedway on Sunday. The Grand Rapids native is spending the week in Michigan before heading to the race track on Thursday night. Benson has finished in the top 8 in four of the last six races at Michigan International Speedway. Johnny Benson on Michigan Return: “We don’t have a whole lot of plans. We are going straight to Michigan after Watkins Glen. The girls and Debbie and I are going on a mini-vacation in the days leading up to the race.” Benson on Michigan’s Importance: “All of our races are pretty important, but Michigan Speedway is pretty important to me because it is in my home state. Also, because we have run there well in the past. It’s a place where you have an opportunity to pass if your car is running good. “What I like most about Michigan Speedway is that it becomes a two or three groove track immediately after the green flag drops which gives the driver a ton of options when you race there.” Benson on Michigan’s Pressure: “I don’t think there is any extra pressure on me racing at home. You know you hear guys say all the time they want to do really well at their home track. Heck, I want to do well at every track where we race. I don’t know if going home to race gives you any extra…but it does let you know that you have a lot of great fans there rooting for you. A win would be big. Whether it is at Rockingham where we won our first race or Michigan, Daytona or Indy would all be big. No doubt, Michigan is in my top five of places I want to do well.” Benson on Secret To Michigan Success: “You have to have a lot of momentum and that means getting through the center of the corner there. That makes you fast coming off the corner and getting down the long straight-aways. It takes horsepower and handling to do well there. And, man it’s fast. A lot faster than most everybody realizes.” Benson on Season So Far: “No, we aren’t happy how we are running this season. The last five of six races of last year we were as good as anyone. We felt we would be right there banging on the door. A lot of it is the new body style and the new rules. We are further behind than we would like to be but we are moving forward trying to get better and better all the time. A lot of teams are in our boat. But I’m confident we will get better. This is a tough business and it gets tougher every day.” ----------------------------------------------------------------- Valvoline Informed Sources - Story Ideas On Fire Monday through Saturday Jimmy Watts is a captain with the Charlotte Fire Department. On Sunday he goes over pit wall just inches away from 43 swarming cars to gas Johnny Benson’s #10 Valvoline Pontiac. Watts helped pull Benson out of his car at Talladega last year and is a good authority on firefighting techniques in racing. Attention Radio Broadcasters: Johnny Benson audio is now available. If you would like a MP3 file of Johnny Benson previewing an upcoming race or talking about a specific subject please email me and I will send you the audio file of Benson. If you would like weekly pictures of the #10 team and Benson please email me and I will give you the pass code so you can download pics every Monday. Media only please. What's the owner doing at testing? At testing events, the car owner normally would be as ignored as a busboy at Hooters. Why are Valvoline representatives a key part of pre- and in-season testing for the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac and No. 9 and 19 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/Ts? That's because Valvoline uses the Nascar Winston Cup tests to try out its new qualifying oils, gear oils, radiator wetter that go into the engines of Johnny Benson, Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield. The Business of Racing is Business: Half of the stories written about Nascar Winston Cup racing are business related these days. Jim Rocco - Senior Vice President at the Valvoline Company - is one of the listed car owners of Johnny Benson's #10 Valvoline Pontiac and an excellent interview for stories dealing with team owners, sponsorship or economics of racing. For Sale? Want to know how much it costs to be on a Winston Cup racer? Valvoline has a color graphic in jpg form that gives rough costs estimates of every spot on a Winston Cup car. Home Grown Racing Valvoline as well as Benson and his Crew Chief James Ince value local racers across the country. Benson races a pavement late model and Ince owns and races with his dirt team in the Midwest. Valvoline supports local racers by giving money through a competition called the Valvoline Cup open to all American racers. -------------------------------------------------- Benson Career at Michigan Race Year S F June 2003 26 26 August 2002 35 8 June 2002 30 6 August 2001 22 5 June 2001 10 12 August 2000 23 5 June 2000 11 24 August 1999 41 21 June 1999 26 19 August 1998 38 34 June 1998 21 22 August 1997 1 24 June 1997 7 10 August 1996 19 7 June 1996 37 37 --------------------------------------------------------------- Benson 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 Daytona 22 27 Chicago 36 18 Loudon 26 26 Pocono 29 20 Indianapolis 40 13 Watkins Glen 27 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RACE: GFS Marketplace 400 Winston Cup Race #23 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Sunday, August 17, 2003 in Brooklyn, MI TV: TNT - 2:00pm/et Pre-Race Show: TNT - 1:30pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Scheduled Race Re-Air: Speed Channel on Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00pm/et and again on August 21st at 1:00am/et; a full three-hour race show will re-air at 4:00pm/et on Thursday, August 21st Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns War Wagon: Bill Weber Purse/Race Awards: was $3,880,083 in 2002 2002 Race Winner: Dale Jarrett, 140.556mph, started 8th Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett, June 1999, 173.997mph Track/Race Length: 2.0 oval, 200 laps, 400 miles Pit Road Speed: 45mph ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Practice Practice: Friday, August 15th, 11:20am - 1:20pm/et; and Saturday, August 16th, 9:30 - 10:15am/et Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, August 16th, 11:10 - 11:55am/et on TV-TNT at 3:30pm/et via tape or after the Busch Series race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Friday, August 15th, 10:20am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, August 15th at 3:05pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live, re-air at 9:30pm/et and on Sat. August 16th at 2:00am/et Event/Track Qualifying Record: Dale Earnhardt Jr, August 2000, 191.149mph Last Year's Pole Sitter: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 189.668mph, finished 10th. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Track Specs: Superspeedway: 2.0-mile D-shaped oval Banking: turns: 18 degrees; straights: frontstretch 12 degrees, backstretch 5 degrees Backstretch Length: 2,242 feet; Front stretch Length: 2,229 feet 73 feet wide with 10-foot apron in turns, 45 feet wide with 12-foot apron on straightaways Pit lane is 50 feet wide and contains space for 44 individual pit areas Seating: 136,000, attendence: 151,000. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Rick (Fuzz ) Burgdoff 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 Stop Coach: Gary Smith PR Rep: Drew Brown ### Drew Brown drewbrown@bellsouth.net 704-650-0428 cell 704-895-3651 home