Final Race For Benson in #10, Pontiac & Winston
Sunday’s NASCAR Winston Cup Race at the newly reconfigured Homestead-Miami Speedway marks the final race for Pontiac in NASCAR, the final race for Winston as the series sponsor and the final race for Johnny Benson in the #10 Valvoline Pontiac. Benson hopes a two-day Goodyear tire test on Oct. 28-29 will give him an advantage over other drivers who will see the reconfiguration for the first time on Wednesday during a day-long test session. Benson On The Final Race: “You always want to do well, but when you know it will be the last time for everyone together on this team, the last time for Pontiac and the last time for Winston then this race is probably a little extra special. “Things change in this sport pretty fast. Everyone is looking to the future now but I think we will always remember the things we have done in the past. Hey we went from this team being nearly bankrupt in 2000 to winning a race. All of the credit goes to the crew guys who have worked on this team. “Winston and Pontiac leaving the sport just proves that nothing ever stays the same. Both have been great for the sport and helped get it to where it is these days. But I’ll miss the people with Winston and Pontiac the most. We welcome the new folks coming in, but it’s kind of hard to see the others leave.” Winning On Sunday: “They say you are only as good as your last race. Well if you win Sunday in Miami you are going to be great all the way into February when we take the green flag at Daytona. Doing well Sunday can make the off season a whole lot of fun.” Will Homestead Be A Better Race Under The New Configuration? "I believe so. But, it will be unfair to expect side-by-side racing right off the bat. No new track has had that immediately. Some of the NASCAR people are down here and they are looking at different ideas to make it a two-groove track. I think we should put pylons down on the bottom and make everyone practice in the second groove. I think that will help develop that other groove and make the side-by-side racing come quicker. It's just going to take time but if we speed up the process it will be even better." Does Homestead Now Compare To Another Track? "Each track has its own characteristics and this track is no different. You are in the gas pedal for an awful long time. It gives you the sensation of the old Atlanta track. I think everyone liked the old Atlanta track so they will probably like this as well." 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 Martinsville 29 34 Atlanta 30 24 Phoenix 35 21 Rockingham 25 29 Race Info: THE RACE: Ford 400 Winston Cup Race #36 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Race: Sunday, November 16, 2003 in Homestead, FL TV: NBC - 1:00pm/et Pre-Race Show: NBC - 12:30pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber Scheduled Race Re-Air: on Speed Channel a one-hour recap of the race scheduled for: Wednesday, November 19th at 7:00pm/et and again on November 20th at 1:00am/et; and a full three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday, November 20th 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: $4,444,009 (was $3,868,755 in 2002) 2002 Race Winner: Kurt Busch, 116.462mph, started 1st Race Record: Tony Stewart, Nov 1999, 140.335mph Slowest Race Record: Kurt Busch, 2002, 116.462mph Most Wins - Active Driver: Tony Stewart, 2 Most Poles - Active Driver/All-Time: 4 races, 4 different drivers Most Top 5s: 3 - Mark Martin and Jeff Burton Most Top 10s: 3 - Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton Oldest Winner: Bill Elliott, 46 years, 1 months, 3 days, 11/11/2001 Youngest Winner: Kurt Busch, 24 years, 3 months, 13 days, 11/17/2002 Most Cautions: 6 - Twice, most recently 11/17/2002 Most Caution Laps: 41, Twice, most recently 11/17/2002 Fewest Cautions: 1 - 11/14/1999 Fewest Caution Laps: 5, 11/14/1999 Most on the Lead Lap: 25 - 11/11/2001 Fewest on the Lead Lap: 6 - 11/12/2000 Most Running at the Finish: 42 - 11/11/2001 Fewest Running at the Finish: 35 - 11/12/2000 Worst Starting Spot to Win: Tony Stewart, 2000, started 13th Most Lead Changes: 19 - Twice, most recently 11/11/2001 Fewest Lead Changes: 12 - 11/17/2002 Most Laps Led by a Race Winner: 166 - Tony Stewart, 11/12/2000 Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 28 - Kurt Busch 11/17/2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Practice Practice: Wednesday, November 12th, 9:00am - 12:00noon/et; 1:00 - 5:00pm/et; Friday, November 14th, 10:00am - 12:00noon/et; and Saturday, November 15th, 8:30 - 9:15am/et Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, November 15th, 10:10 - 10:55am/et, LIVE on TV-Speed Channel ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Qualifying Qualifying Draw: Friday, November 14th, 9:00am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, November 14th at 1:35pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live and will re-air at 8:00pm/et and at 1:00a,/et on Saturday, November, 15th. #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) Mark Green 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