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NASCAR WCUP: Teammates Paying Dividends At MB2

28 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Two things were very apparent to #10 Aaron's Pontiac driver Johnny Benson after 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night.

He hopes he never sees the backstretch pits again and he hopes the new relationship with MB2 Motorsports teammate Ken Schrader continues to pay dividends as evidence by the team cars' 12th and 13th place finishes Saturday.

Benson's 13th -place finish came after falling down a lap to the leaders early in the race as he battled traffic then losing positions every pit stop because of the backstretch pits.

"We just struggled all day. The guys had great pit stops, but pitting on the backstretch - you lose 10 spots pitting back there. Every time we'd get to a good spot we'd pit and then give them all back. We fought our way back up to 13th and salvaged a good finish when we probably shouldn't have."

Benson dodged accidents all night and turned competitive times compared to the leaders after battling up from his 29th starting spot.

"We worked all night just getting the car to turn better," he said. "I think a lot of people had that problem."

Benson crossed the finish line just behind teammate Schrader. Benson became Schrader's teammate in July when MB2 purchased the assets of Benson's team. Schrader's crew chief Sammy Johns and Benson's crew chief James Ince huddled throughout the weekend at Bristol.

"I think it's great that we're working together. That's what the deal was going in here. The deal was, 'We're not going to lie to each other. Here's what we've got.' We kind of work during the day and see which car is running better and what tire sheets look better, and we share everything. We're pretty close on the set-ups to each other, and I believe as far as drivers go, me and Kenny are pretty close, also. It's great. We've been helping them and they've been helping us and it's working really well."

Schrader concurred.

"I see plenty of gains. We've been seeing gains since Indy - really since the '10' car (became a teammate). We started swapping info at the second Pocono race. Those cars were pretty damn identical tonight, and we finished 12th and 13th."

Benson dropped to 14th place in the driver standings. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series returns to action on Sunday in Darlington.

Text provided by Drew Brown

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