NASCAR: #10 Benson Kansas Preview
Benson Kansas Preview #10 Pontiac driver Johnny Benson can’t wait to get to Kansas Speedway. Especially after the way his luck continued Sunday at Talladega where Benson was caught up in a lap 10 multi-car wreck ruining his day. In April at Talladega the same thing happened on lap 3. Benson knows he’s less likely to endure that kind of problem at Kansas where the field is more spread out than Talladega and isn’t at the mercy of other driver’s problems. Benson and his Valvoline team tested at Kansas Speedway last week. Benson On Going To Kansas? “Hey I’d be glad to go race a road course this weekend as long as we could get away from Talladega with the luck we have had at that place this season. “But Kansas is a good place to go after Talladega. We have run a lot better there than our results have shown. But our luck hasn’t been all that good at Kansas. The first year we were second when we blew up then we were running good until we got in a wreck in the final laps last year. If we can get to the finish then we will be fine. Our plan is to get a good run there and then we won’t even remember Talladega.” Do You Like Kansas? “It’s the type of track I like and (Crew Chief) James (Ince) gave us a really good setup the first two years there. James is from Springfield, Missouri which isn’t that far from Kansas Speedway so maybe all of us are motivated a little extra to do well in front of James’s family and friends. We know we have a lot of support in Kansas.” Kansas Testing: “We used our final test of the year there last week. We tried some things that worked and some things that didn’t work. I don’t know if we left there thinking we had the place figured out, but we left with an idea of what we want to do as far as race setup and that kind of stuff so you could say it was a successful test.” Do You Like The New Yellow Flag Rule? “It seems to be working pretty well. Everyone is doing a good job of slowing down after the yellow and that makes it safer. I think NASCAR has figured it out pretty good. I don’t mind if we give the lapped cars their lap back. I think it will be fine the rest of the year. I mean if there wasn’t problems in Talladega where everyone is side-by-side when the yellow comes out then I doubt there will be too many problems at the rest of the races.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Benson Kansas Record Year S F 2002 25 24 2001 6 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 Michigan 35 10 Bristol 32 14 Darlington 11 40 Richmond 9 9 Loudon 22 25 Dover 26 21 Talladega 42 41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Informed Sources (Story Ideas For Media) More Than Just An Owner Valvoline is more than just a co owner of the #10 Valvoline Pontiac. It’s a partner in racing technology. At the Valvoline lab we have developed the following products that you see raced on race weekends: Qualifying oil. A special, ultra-low viscosity lubricant that increases horsepower on two-lap runs. New line of no-compromises, not-street-legal oils. There are three conventional grades, three synthetic. Increased zinc levels could harm catalytic converters so these oils are not for streetcars. Super Coolant: Water-based coolant withstands higher water temps. A NASCAR-proven cooling system additive that provides a 25% improvement over conventional glycol-based engine coolants. Valvoline Racing Super Coolant is a cooling system corrosion inhibitor concentrate race-tested by Johnny Benson's #10 and Evernham Racing's Nos. 9 & 19 Winston Cup teams. It is proven to provide a 25% improvement in heat transfer over conventional glycol-based engine coolants. Synthetic Gear Oil: Valvoline SynPower Gear Oil is a full synthetic, thermally stable, extreme-pressure gear lubricant designed to operate and protect in extreme-temperature conditions. It has been the "gold standard" for race teams for 10 years. Valvoline has also worked on shock oils, greases and other special oils for special cars. Valvoline made up special oils for NHRA Top Fuel racers, Pro Stock. Racers come to us with an "issue" (bearing wear, fuel contamination, blow-by, etc.); we try to solve with new products and procedures. Teams using some or all of these products include Valvoline Racing MB2, Evernham, Morgan-McClure, Ultra Racing (Winston Cup, NCTS). 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. High Quality Jpgs 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 pictures every Monday. Media only please. 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. 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 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’s Crew Chief James Ince, of Springfield, Mo., is celebrating a championship for his dirt late model car building company. Justin Wells of Crane Mo. won the IMCA Dirt Late Model championship in a chassis built by James Ince Motorsports. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - THE RACE: Banquet 400 Winston Cup Race #30 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Sunday, October 5, 2003 in Kansas, KS TV: NBC - 2:00pm/et Pre-Race Show: NBC - 1:30pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Scheduled Race Re-Air: there will be a one-hour recap of the race scheduled for: Wednesday, October 8th at 7:00pm/et and again on October 9th at 1:00am/et; There is NO full race re-air scheduled on Speed Channel on Thursday, October 9th. Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests Purse/Race Awards: (was $4,601,173 in 2002) 2002 Race Winner: Jeff Gordon, 119.394mph, started 10th Track/Event Race Record: Jeff Gordon,, Sept 2002, 119.394mph Track/Race Length: 1.5 mile oval, 267 laps, 400.5 miles Slowest Race Record: Jeff Gordon, Sept 2001, 110.576mph Most Wins: 2 - Jeff Gordon Most Top 5s: 2 - Jeff Gordon [both wins], Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace Most Top 10s: 2 - Jeff Gordon [both wins], Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart Oldest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 31 years, 1 months, 25 days, Sept 2002 Youngest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 30 years, 1 months, 26 days, Sept 2001 Most Cautions: 13 - Sept 2001 Fewest Cautions: 11 - Sept 2002 Most Caution Laps: 70, Sept 2001 Fewest Caution Laps: 52, Sept 2002 Most Running at the Finish: 30 - Sept 2001 Fewest Running at the Finish: 27 - Sept 2002 Worst Starting Spot to Win: Jeff Gordon, Sept 2002, started 10th Most Lead Changes: 19 - Sept 2001 Fewest Lead Changes: 13 - Sept 2002 Pit Road Speed: 45mph Practice Practice: Friday, October 3rd, 12:20 - 2:20pm/et; and Saturday, October 4th, 10:30 - 11:15am/et Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, October 4th, 12:10 - 12:55pm/et on TV-Speed Channel live. Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Friday, October 3rd, 11:20am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, October 3rd at 4:05pm/et, TV-Speed Channel tape delay at 8:00pm/et and re-aired at 1:00am/et on Saturday, October 4th. And live via MRN radio Track/Event Qualifying Record: Dale Earnhardt Jr., September 2002, 177.924mph Last Year's Pole Sitter: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 177.924mph, finished 6th. Track Specs: Superspeedway: 1.5-mile quad-oval Banking: turns: 15 degrees; frontstretch: 10.4 degrees; backstretch: 5 degrees Straights: Frontstretch - 2,721 feet; Backstretch - 2,207 feet Attendence: 75,000 ------------------------------------------------------------- #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: 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