Labonte wins at Homstead - At the End Of the Road Benson 4th

Bill Elliott might have had the fastest car and Bobby Labonte took home the
race trophy.

But Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson and his #10 team walked out of
Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday night with their heads held as high as anyone.

Their fourth-place finish probably won't make any highlight show years from now
or be remembered this off season by fans more focused on Labonte's thrilling
final-lap victory over Elliott who cut a tire on the backstretch of the final
lap.

But what Benson and company did Sunday afternoon was turn what was supposed to
be a drama-less final race for most at the #10 team into the best story of race
weekend in South Florida.

The team that endured a frustrating 2003 season and could have been forgiven if
it had mailed-in the final race of the year, darn near visited Victory Lane. .

"I'm very proud of all of my guys today," said Benson who leaves the #10 team
with 14 of the 17 top-five finishes in MB2 Motorsports history. "This is
something I don't have the words to describe. We have been together since 2000.
We came through a lot of tough times and I guess if we have to be broken up we
wanted to go out in style and I think we did that today.

Benson said the final race was important to everyone on the team.

"I'm glad we could run well. It's kind of a landmark race with Winston and
Pontiac leaving the sport and the fact that this is our last race here makes
this extra special. I want to thank Valvoline and Pontiac for giving me a
chance here. But I really wish we could have kept this deal together. But
that's life and we will go on and make good things happen."

Benson started 21st and it didn't take long to see he was one of the fastest
cars on the track.

By lap 39 he moved into the lead for six laps.

"Keep it straight and be smooth JB you are the fastest car on the track," Crew
Chief Jay Guy told Benson. Guy had Benson take four tires each stop to ensure
he could make spots on the long runs throughout the race.

The strategy worked and Benson stayed up front.

But it was obvious Elliott was the man to beat.

"The #9 was kind of playing with everyone today," Benson said. "I think he was
by far the best car out there today. I hate for what happened to him there at
the end. I don't think we could have run with him but we could run with
everyone else."

Benson fell back in the field a bit when he bolted on four tires while others
tried to gain track position by taking either two or no tires.

But Benson always returned to the front.

At lap 214 Benson entered the pits in third then used a 13-second pit stop from
his crew to jump ahead of Jimmie Johnson and into second place.

"Man, that was awesome. I could see Jimmie coming in the mirror and my guys got
me out so fast."

After moving into second Benson stayed there through several cautions.

With less than 20 laps remaining Benson restarted the race still in second but
this time the Valvoline Pontiac wasn't quite as good as it had been throughout
the day.

Bobby Labonte used an outside move to slip past  Benson on lap 250 and then
Johnson and Kevin Harvick got past a few laps later. Benson held off Gordon and
when Elliott blew a tire coming to the checkered flag Benson slipped by for
fourth.

Fourth place  wasn't victory lane. It wasn't a season championship.

But it was a fitting  way to end a four-year run that saw Benson start with a
plain white car that almost won the 2000 Daytona 500 and go on to post a
victory at Rockingham, two top-15 finishes in the points and a lot of fun for
fans and teammates along the way.


1. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 180 - 5 bonus points

2. (29 )Kevin Harvick , Chevrolet, 175 - 5 bonus points

3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points

4. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 165 - 5 bonus points

5. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160 - 5 bonus points

6. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 155 - 5 bonus points

7. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 151 - 5 bonus points

8. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 152 - 10 bonus points

9. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 138

10. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 134

11. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 130

12. (22) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 127

13. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 124

14. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 121

15. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 123 - 5 bonus points

16. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 115

17. (01) Joe Nemechek, Pontiac, 112

18. (4) Kevin Lepage, Pontiac, 109

19. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 106

20. (90) Ron Hornaday, Chevrolet, 103

21. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 100

22. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 97

23. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 99 - 5 bonus points

24. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 91

25. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 93 - 5 bonus points

26. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 85

27. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 82

28. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 79

29. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 76

30. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 73

31. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 70

32. (0) Ward Burton, Pontiac, 67

33. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 64

34. (25) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 66 - 5 bonus points

35. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 58

36. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 55

37. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 52

38. (02) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 49

39. (00) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 46

40. (43) Jeff Green, Dodge, 43

41. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 40

42. (1) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 37

43. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 34


Average speed of race winner: 116.868 mph.

Time of race: 3 hours, 25 minutes, 37 seconds.

Margin of victory: 1.749 seconds.

Caution flags: 10 for 60 laps.

Lead changes: 21 among 12 drivers. Lap leaders: J. McMurray 0; B. Vickers 1-11;
J. Gordon 12-15; R. Wallace 16-22; J. Johnson 23-29; R. Wallace 30; J. Spencer
31-39; J. Benson 40-46; B. Elliott 47-73; R. Wallace 74; B. Elliott 75-87; J.
Mayfield 88-91; B. Elliott 92-121; K. Harvick 122; T. Labonte 123; K. Harvick
124-132; B. Elliott 133-142; K. Harvick 143; B. Elliott 144-201; T. Stewart
202-215; B. Elliott 216-266; B. Labonte 267.


Points

1. Matt Kenseth, 5022

2. Jimmie Johnson, 4932

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 4815

4. Jeff Gordon, 4785

5. Kevin Harvick, 4770

6. Ryan Newman, 4711

7. Tony Stewart, 4549

8. Bobby Labonte, 4377

9. Bill Elliott, 4303

10. Terry Labonte, 4162

11. Kurt Busch, 4150

12. Jeff Burton, 4109

13. Jamie McMurray, 3965

14. Rusty Wallace, 3950

15. Michael Waltrip, 3934

16. Robby Gordon, 3856

17. Mark Martin, 3769

18. Sterling Marlin, 3745

19. Jeremy Mayfield, 3736

20. Greg Biffle, 3696

21. Ward Burton, 3550

22. Elliott Sadler, 3525

23. Ricky Rudd, 3521

24. Johnny Benson, 3448

25. Joe Nemechek, 3426

26. Dale Jarrett, 3358

27. Ricky Craven, 3334

28. Dave Blaney, 3194

29. Jimmy Spencer, 3147

30. Kenny Wallace, 3061

31. Todd Bodine, 2976

32. Steve Park, 2923

33. Tony Raines, 2772

34. Jeff Green, 2656

35. Casey Mears, 2638

36. Ken Schrader, 2451

37. Kyle Petty, 2414

38. John Andretti, 2379

39. Mike Skinner, 1960

40. Jack Sprague, 1284

41. Larry Foyt, 1228

42. Mike Wallace, 1189

43. Kevin Lepage, 877

44. Christian Fittipaldi, 857

45. Jerry Nadeau, 844

46. Derrike Cope, 822

47. Jason Leffler, 764

48. Scott Wimmer, 599

49. Hermie Sadler, 422

50. Brian Vickers, 379