NASCAR #10 Benson Martinsville Preview
Benson On Martinsville: #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson wouldn’t change a thing if he had to do last October's Martinsville NASCAR Winston Cup race all over again. But, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about it. Benson finished second at Martinsville last fall. In the final few laps he chose to race leader and eventual winner Kurt Busch instead of wrecking Busch. The 2003 season has seen several examples of rough driving where roughing up the car you are passing is almost the norm. Two weeks after finishing second to Busch at Martinsville, Benson earned his first career victory at Rockingham. Sunday's race should prove to be just as interesting. With no racing back to the yellow, and NASCAR’s new rule limiting only the top running car a lap down to get back on the lead lap at each caution should make for some interesting racing. Benson on Martinsville Last Year “You know at the end of the race I thought I had some opportunities where I thought I would be quick enough to get by Kurt but we just ran out of laps. At the time I didn’t want to run in to him, hit him or spin him out. But, you know looking back with all the stuff that has happened this year with people taking each other out for the lead, and how knocking each other out of the way is accepted; I say to myself ‘Man, I wish I could go back and relive all that.’ But the more I think about it the more I think I still did it right and we waited to Rockingham to win the race clean. I’ll just live with that. “If I would have tried Kurt on the outside a little earlier it might have been different. Who knows? If there were 10 or 15 laps left in the race it might have been different. I did everything I knew how to do. We raced clean and he finished first. Like I said maybe another ten or fifteen laps and things might have been different.” Benson on Martinsville This Year “Martinsville has always been a fun place to race but going back there with all the beating and banging with the new rules that says you can’t race back to the start finish line will make it really interesting to see how it unfolds. No matter what rules you create, Martinsville will always be about beating, banging and bumping and this weekend will probably be not different." Benson On Liking Martinsville After Success: “It’s still a place I don’t particularly care for but it is a bit better. They cut the track on the inside and that made it a little better to race with. Before they did that, all of us just raced on the bottom and knocked whoever was in front of you out of the way. Now once the race gets going you can kind of use two grooves there. I mean I love watch the races there and if I were a fan I’d buy a ticket. It’s just my driving style doesn’t really go with Martinsville. When I was growing up we had to pay for everything we wrecked so wrecking a race car meant you had a lighter wallet.” Key To Martinsville Success: “Wish I knew. I guess it’s not to tear your car up and stay on the lead lap so you can get yourself in position at the end. You also have to listen to your crew chief. The driver spends a lot of time starting at the bumpers in front of him. The Crew Chief knows what’s going on. If he says pit I pit and if he says stay out I stay out.” Benson Career At Martinsville Race Year S F Spring 2003 28 32 Fall 2002 11 2 Spring 2002 39 19 Fall 2001 5 6 Spring 2001 26 20 Fall 2000 33 19 Spring 2000 25 16 Fall 1999 40 28 Spring 1999 40 35 Fall 1998 24 9 Spring 1998 37 38 Fall 1997 26 19 Spring 1997 22 17 Fall 1996 22 17 Spring 1996 18 25 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 Kansas 20 35 Charlotte 23 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - THE RACE: Subway 500 Winston Cup Race #32 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season Race: Sunday, October 19, 2003 in Martinsville, VA TV: NBC - 12:30pm/et Pre-Race Show: NBC - 12:00pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Scheduled Race Re-Air: on Speed Channel a one-hour recap [ scheduled for: Wednesday, October 22nd at 7:00pm/et and again on October 23rd at 1:00am/et; and a full three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday, October 23rd Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests NASCAR on TV Purse/Race Awards: was $3,657,565 in 2002 2002 Race Winner: Kurt Busch, 74.651mph, started 36th Track/Event Race Record: Jeff Gordon, Sept 1996, 82.223mph Track/Race Length: 0.526 mile oval, 500 laps, 263 miles Pit Road Speed: 35mph Most Wins - Active Driver: Rusty Wallace, 6 Most Wins - All Time: Richard Petty, 15 Most Poles - Active Driver: Ricky Rudd, 4 Most Poles - All Time: Darrell Waltrip, 8 Slowest Race Record: Lee Petty, 1959, 59.440mph Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 51 years, 8 months, 12 days, 9/22/91 Youngest Winner: Richard Petty, 22 years, 9 months, 8 days, 4/10/60 Most Cautions: 18 - Oct 2000 Fewest Cautions: 1 - 3 times, most recent;y, 4/25/71 Most Caution Laps: 111, 4/9/2000 Fewest Caution Laps: 3, 4/25/71 Most Running at the Finish: 42 - April 1999 Fewest Running at the Finish: 4 - May 1951 Worst Starting Spot to Win: Kurt Busch, Oct 2002, started 36th Most Lead Changes: 25 - Sept 1980 Fewest Lead Changes: 1 - 3 times, most recently April 1961 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Practice Practice: Friday, October 17th, 11:20am - 1:20pm/et; and Saturday, October 18th, 9:30 - 10:15am/et Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, October 18th, 11:10 - 11:55am/et on TV-Speed Channel tape delay at 6:00pm/et. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Friday, October 17th, 10:20am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, October 17th at 3:05pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live, re-air at 8:00pm/et and on Oct 18th at 1:00am/et. And live via MRN radio/internet NASCAR Online will have live lap-by-lap coverage of Cup qualifying via the web (NOTE: this is a paid subscription service). Track Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, Sept 2000, 95.371mph Event Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, Apr 1999, 95.275mph Last Year's Pole Sitter: #12-Ryan Newman, 92.837, finished 15th April 2003's Pole Sitter: #24-Jeff Gordon, 94.307, finished 1st ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Track Specs: Degree of Banking: Turns: 12 degrees Straightaways: Banking: 0 degrees(flat) Straights: 800 feet Grandstand Seating: 91,000 Pit Stalls: 43 pits, 14-feet wide by 28-feet long ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - #10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information Pit Contact: Jay Guy or Drew Brown Owners: Valvoline (Jim Rocco)/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton) Crew Chief/Car Chief: Jay Guy Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports Spotter (Race Day) Keith Barnwell 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