NASCAR Rock n' Roll 400 Results; Notes From Benson Ninth at Richmond
Results from Saturday night's Chevrolet 400 at Richmond International Raceway: 1. (12)Ryan Newman, Dodge, 180 - 5 bonus points 2. (19)Jeremy Mayfield,Dodge, 170 3. (21)Ricky Rudd, Ford, 165 4. (99)Jeff Burton, Ford, 165 - 5 bonus points 5. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 155 6. (18)Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet,155 - 5 bonus points 7. (17)Matt Kenseth, Ford, 146 8. (5) Terry Labonte,Chevrolet, 147 - 5 bonus points 9. (10)Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 138 10.(24)Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 144 - 10 bonus points 11.(48)Jimmie Johnson,Chevrolet, 130 12.(09)Mike Wallace, Dodge, 132 - 5 bonus points 13.(6) Mark Martin, Ford, 129 - 5 bonus points 14.(1) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 121 15.(22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 118 16. (29)Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 120 - 5 bonuspoints 17. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 117 - 5 bonus points 18. (01)Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 109 19. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 106 20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 108 - 5 bonus points 21. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 100 22. (40)Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 102 - 5 bonus points 23. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 94 24. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 91 25. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 88 26. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 85 27. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 82 28. (0) Jason Leffler, Pontiac, 84 - 5 bonus points 29. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 76 30.(32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 73 31. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 70 32. (15)Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 67 33. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 64 34. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 61 35. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 58 36. (7) Jimmy Spencer,Dodge, 55 37. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 52 38. (4) Johnny Sauter, Pontiac, 49 39. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 46 40. (02) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 43 41. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 40 42. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 37 43. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 34 Average speed of race winner: 94.945 mph. Time of race: 3 hours, 9 minutes, 35 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.159 seconds. Caution flags: 14 for 76 laps. Lead changes: 20 among 12 drivers. Lap leaders: M. Skinner (Pole winner); M. Martin 1; G. Biffle 2-3; J. Gordon 4-64; R. Newman 65; J. Leffler 66-84; M. Wallace 85-91; J. Gordon 92-120; J. Burton 121; K. Harvick 122-144; T. Labonte 145-151; B. Labonte 152-156; T. Labonte 157-159; J. Burton 160-163; D. Earnhardt Jr 164-196; S. Marlin 197; D. Earnhardt Jr 198-213; J. Gordon 214-242; D. Earnhardt Jr 243-269; J. Gordon 270-276; R. Newman 277-400. Point Standings 1. Matt Kenseth, 3864 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3446 3. Kevin Harvick, 3423 4. Jimmie Johnson, 3363 5. Jeff Gordon, 3271 6. Ryan Newman, 3255 7. Bobby Labonte, 3208 8. Kurt Busch, 3205 9. Terry Labonte, 3082 10. Michael Waltrip, 3079 11. Tony Stewart, 3018 12. Jeff Burton, 3009 13. Robby Gordon, 2990 14. Mark Martin, 2861 15. Rusty Wallace, 2812 16. Bill Elliott, 2787 17. Sterling Marlin, 2768 18. Greg Biffle, 2713 19. Ward Burton, 2694 20. Jamie McMurray, 2685 21. Ricky Craven, 2653 22. Elliott Sadler, 2629 23. Johnny Benson, 2554 24. Jeremy Mayfield, 2521 25. Ricky Rudd, 2520 26. Joe Nemechek, 2505 27. Dale Jarrett, 2470 28. Dave Blaney, 2389 29. Jimmy Spencer, 2289 30. Kenny Wallace, 2244 31. Steve Park, 2225 32. Todd Bodine, 2178 33. Jeff Green, 1976 34. Casey Mears, 1917 35. Ken Schrader, 1837 36. Kyle Petty, 1836 37. Tony Raines, 1804 38. John Andretti, 1502 39. Mike Skinner, 1463 40. Jack Sprague, 1284 41. Larry Foyt, 921 42. Mike Wallace, 903 43. Jerry Nadeau, 844 44. Christian Fittipaldi, 647 45. Derrike Cope, 549 46. Jason Leffler, 376 47. Brett Bodine, 308 48. Johnny Sauter, 289 49. Kevin Lepage, 266 50. Scott Pruett, 236 It wasn’t exciting or even very pretty at times. But #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson’s ninth-place finish Saturday night looked like a work of art on paper after the race. Benson spent most of the 400-lap race between 10th and 15th turning consistent lap times and waging some fender-to-fender duals. While others encountered troubles, Benson and his teammates stayed safe and used quick pit stops throughout the night. “We did what we had to do tonight,” Benson said. “We stayed out of trouble and the guys in the pits made life easier for me.” The night didn’t start as well as he hoped. After beginning the race in ninth, Benson dropped a few spots reporting on the team radio he was having trouble turning. For the rest of the race the James Ince-led crew worked to make the Valvoline Pontiac turn better. "It took us all day to get back where we started. It was just tough. We were just off a little on the balance, that's all,” Benson said. “James [Ince] and the guys just kept working on it. I had a tough time with it, so I'm extremely happy with ninth. I don't think we deserved ninth. They kept working on it trying to get it better for me.” The car began to turn better and Benson took advantage of long green flag runs to climb up through the field. When the checkered flag fell, Benson had moved up to ninth. It marked another decent run of late for Benson. Last week in Darlington a top-ten run ended when Benson’s was caught up in another’s crash. Before that race he had consecutive top-15 finishes on the last three ovals. “We are running better for sure,” Benson said. “As James says we are taking baby steps. We are seeing improvement.” Ryan Newman won Saturday’s race, but that will probably be a footnote after a Ricky Rudd-Kevin Harvick altercation in the closing laps led to an off-track skirmish on pit road after the race between drivers and crews that are sure to dominate headlines for the near future. Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway. ### Drew Brown drewbrown@bellsouth.net 704-650-0428 cell 704-895-3651 home