CHEERS and JEERS – EXTRA!
When Johnny Comes Marching Home at Michigan!
By Carol Einarsson
So it’s been almost a week, I know.
Johnny’s big win seemed to go unmentioned, but rest assured
it’s not forgotten. With the limitation on blog space for
these couple of weeks, I was thinking I could wait. But yet
I’ve wanted to get this out there and finally decided it’s
not right to postpone it another week.
CHEERS to Johnny taking the lead from Mark
Martin because we know Mark’s the best and he doesn’t give
up the lead easily.
CHEERS to pointing out that Johnny has the
most fans of anybody in Michigan.
CHEERS to Bill Davis smiling and Rick Ren,
too! Nothing like a great truck and a home-town crowd to
build confidence.
CHEERS to Johnny on the radio with nine
laps to go. Only Michael Waltrip would call the leader with
one lap to go before green. And I don’t think anyone but
Johnny could sound so laid back in that situation.
CHEERS to Mike considering calling Mark to
tell him we’re cheering for him, too. Naw. We root for Mark
every other week. This one is Johnny’s.
CHEERS to Johnny’s line being lower than
Mark’s so if there’s any passing to be done on the leader,
it’s going to be the long road around the outside.
JEERS to side-to-side slaps with two cars
together. And driver-door to driver-door.
CHEERS to the emotional roller coaster of
two crew chiefs, if for no other reason, it reaffirms the
truth that it’s not over till it’s over.
CHEERS to a Green-White-Checkered, with
Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and Todd Bodine all trying to
run down Johnny, but Johnny staying cool as a cucumber and
holding his low line.
CHEERS to “Johnny Benson, welcome to
Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway!” Best words
he’s heard over the radio in a long time, I bet.
CHEERS to Johnny beating the best. Coming
in ahead of those three guys – three guys he raced against
in Cup racing – was all the better.
CHEERS to the man in a cowboy hat getting
the flag for Johnny, and JB mixing old school with classic
burnout.
CHEERS to being in an elite group of 17.
Out of all the racers in all the series, just seventeen of
them have won in each of the top three series.
JEERS to wishing for old times, but
knowing that it will only be played out in my own
imagination: Allen at the desk, Kenny to one side, Mike to
the other, and Johnny opening the Big Show because he was
the top finisher of the weekend. “All this and more coming
up on Inside Nextel Cup” – cue the music. And maybe we’d
have even got to see the footage again of our three favorite
expert panelists skipping.
CHEERS to Section 23 filled with the fan
club. That sea of red was only for Johnny.
And finally,
CHEERS to good things happening to good
people. For so many years we’ve followed Johnny and it seems
like time after time, disappointment has come. From driving
that white car for so long, to having to pull decals off the
car when a certain sponsor flaked on the team, a couple of
good years, and then the move to the truck series. Through
it all, we never stopped rooting for Johnny. He’s run almost
100,000 laps in the top three series and now won in each of
them. And amid the big money in the sport and the sponsor
demands, to what does Johnny attribute his success? The
support of his family. And THAT is something sponsor dollars
will never diminish. When a good guy like Johnny wins,
especially at his home track, it’s a special day indeed.
Complete Column (06-22-06)
The Spin Out Zone: Johnny Benson,
overlooked, but not forgotten
By: Mike Harper
Sometimes it’s hard looking at NASCAR through the eyes of
the media. You have to make a conscience effort not to have
a favorite driver and just like a parent with more than one
child, you’ve got to remain neutral when all possible. But
at times you can find yourself, as I did during the
Con-Way Freight 200 at Michigan International Speedway
(MIS), cheering on a specific driver to win the event.
Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson won at MIS and
to be honest, it gave me chills. With ten laps to go in the
event, I completely lost my head, forgot about my media gig
and became a fan again. I shocked my wife as I yelled at
Johnny to go, go Johnny, go! Without hesitation my wife
jumped into my world and celebrated with me as Benson took
the checkered flag as the winner.
When I came back down off my cloud and put my media hat back
on, it hit me that Johnny Benson has been overlooked as a
talented and winning NASCAR driver for too long.
Benson has won races in all three major NASCAR divisions and
lets not forget he is a past NASCAR champion in the Busch
Series. Prior to Nextel coming on the scene, Benson finished
13th in the 2000 point standings and 11th in 2001. In 2002,
Benson finished the season in 29th even after missing
several races due to injury. Benson still finished in the
point standings ahead of drivers Mike Skinner and Ken
Schrader and just behind Jeremy Mayfield and Elliott Sadler
even though they all ran the full Cup schedule.
In 2003, with the challenges of a new Pontiac and becoming
familiar with a new crew chief, Benson finished inside the
top 25 in the point standings. This was accomplished with
the mindset of knowing that his team ownership didn’t want
him back in 2004.
After Benson left MBV Motorsports, the team struggled during
the 2004 season without him and after the 2005 season, MBV
Motorsports dissolved and the Valvoline sponsorship moved to
another Cup team.
My point is Benson is solid. A team can be built around him
and he can win. I also think the new points system in the
Nextel Cup Series fits his style of driving. That said, I’m
having a difficult time understanding why Benson’s name
isn’t among those in the rumor mill. With well-funded teams
like Yates, Ganassi, Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull
Racing needing Cup drivers for the 2007 season, why isn’t
Benson being considered for these rides?
In my opinion, I would really like to see what Benson could
do when given the same opportunity, in the same equipment
like Mears, Yeley, Truex Jr., Vickers and Bowyer have in the
Nextel Cup Series. Benson has won at the highest level in
less equipment and frankly, I’m shocked that owners aren’t
calling him to drive their car.
If I were the NASCAR King for the day, Benson would get a
full-time Cup ride in top-notched equipment for a well-known
team. I’m positive he’d out-perform some of the current
drivers. In fact, in the past he did in much less equipment.
My call-out to Cup Series owners would be, Benson has been
overlooked for too long, but it’s time to give him a chance
to see what he can do. Until next time, Spin Out!
Toyota Testing
With Toyota's newest race winner at the wheel, the 2007
Toyota Camry passed it first tests on the high banks of
Atlanta Motor Speedway and later in the wind tunnels at
Lockheed in Marietta, Ga.
Fresh off of driving a Bill Davis Racing Toyota Tundra to
victory in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Con-way
Freight 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Johnny
Benson took the Camry on the track for its first laps around
the 1.5-mile oval. The Camry was the "Car of Today" version
that will appear for the first time in competition at the
2007 Daytona 500.
"Everything went fine, especially considering it was our
first time on the track," said Pat Wall, Vice President,
NASCAR Competition Director, TRD. "It was about 80 degrees
when we started the track test and it just got warmer from
there, so that made it a little challenging reaching
NASCAR's target speed. But Johnny just got up on the wheel
and turned in the 10 laps at the speed we needed. He's a
real pro."
Wind tunnel tests conducted at Lockheed also were within
NASCAR's target guidelines. Next step is for NASCAR to sign
approve the design of Toyota's 2007 Camry Nextel Cup Car,
which will hopefully happen in the next 30 days. (06-22-06)
Toyota Moves Closer to
Making its Nextel Cup Debut.
On Tuesday, June 20th,
Johnny Benson, who drives a Toyota Tundra in the Truck
Series, completed 10 laps in front of NASCAR officials at
Atlanta Motor Speedway after making a few minor suspension
adjustments during a warm-up run.
And that was enough to
convince the sanctioning body's inspectors that Toyota was
ready to advance to the next stage of the approval process.
After the on-track test, Benson's Camry was taken to a wind
tunnel in Marietta, Ga., for aerodynamic testing.
Les Unger, Toyota's
national motor sports manager, said they hope NASCAR
officials will sign off on the car in the next couple of
weeks. "It appears that we are right on target,
hitting all of the marks that NASCAR has set for us," Unger
said. "But we still have one more major hurdle to overcome
yet - getting an engine approved." Unger said he
expects the engineers working in the Toyota Racing
Development facility in Costa Mesa to have a V-8 ready for
inspection by Sept. 1.
(06-21-06)
