Johnny Benson Pre-Season Quote Sheet

Johnny Benson and his #10 Valvoline Pontiac teammates begin their 2002 testing schedule on Jan. 13, 14 & 15 at Daytona International Speedway. Benson hopes the 2002 season will see him improve on his 11th place finish in the points, a career-best 6 top-five finishes and lead even more than the 101 laps he led in the 2001 season.

Benson On Pre-Season Testing:

“A driver doesn’t learn much during those tests. I think Daytona testing is all
about getting the car fast not the driver. As a driver you get the car adjusted
so you are comfortable. By that I mean you get the seat, the mirror, the
steering wheel all fitted to your liking, but Superspeedway testing is
basically about shaking down your car to see where you are at for Speedweeks.

“I think we are supposed to draft on the third day at Daytona. As long as
everyone does it then I think it will be a great thing. It will help NASCAR see
how the draft works with the new rules. It will give us an even better
indication of where we are going into Speedweeks. They have been moving the
rules around and changing them a lot so drafting at the test will help us out a
bunch.

“At these tests before, you could never get everyone together to do any
drafting. It seems like we spend so much time working on qualifying and doing
one or two lap runs. Before it seemed like we spent 95 percent of our time
working on qualifying and about 5 percent on the race. We are sitting good
enough points that we can afford to work more on race setup. Personally, I wish we would work all on race setup. But, everyone emphasizes qualifying because Daytona isn’t a race you want to miss. I mean you don’t ever want to miss a race but especially not Daytona.”

2001 Season:

"No I wasn’t totally pleased. We didn't reach our goals. We wanted to win a
race and we wanted to finish in the top six in points, and we didn't achieve
that. We know those were lofty but you have to aim high. It wasn't from a lack
of hard work. We worked hard all year, but we broke six or seven engines and
that really hurt us. We had a decent season. To finish 11th isn’t bad and we
had three third place finishes and there aren’t a lot of teams that can say
that. We're just going to keep working hard. And, man, I’m looking forward to
the new season. This is a really good group of guys and we are starting to
mature and become a really good team."

2002 Season:

“We have about the same goals as we had last year. I think we can finish in the top six and we’d like to win a race. Both of those aren’t too far out of our
reach. We are getting better and better each year and I expect that to continue
in 2002. There are some guys who have won a race before we have but there are very few teams who run as well as we do week in and week out and in the long run that is going to help our program more than anything else.”

Predictions For 2002 Season:

“I think it will be a pretty good year for the fans. We had a lot of
controversy last season and I think that is all behind us. That’s normal for a
sport growing as ours. I think this season you will see more focus on what’s
going on the racetrack. I think some great finishes, a close points battle, and
drama like that are going to make for a great season. If we can get the focus
back on what is happening on the track then we are going to be pretty
entertaining for all the race fans.”

Anticipating A Victory:

“I like the attention we’re getting from the fans and media about us getting
our first win. That means they are noticing that we are running good each race
and that is great. You always like being complimented. I can’t wait until I don
’t have to answer questions about when we are going to win, but that will come.
I’m glad people take an interest in our team. We think we made a lot of fans as
we overcame all the adversity that we had to overcome. As long as we keep
running as well as we are, a win will take care of itself.

"I'm not frustrated by not having that win yet and I'm not frustrated because
we're close. I'm happy that we're close, that we're having these opportunities
to maybe win one of these races. If you're running 10th, 15th, 20th or 25th,
that's when I get frustrated. If you're running in the top 10 or in the top
five, one of these days we're going to get it done, so we're not frustrated
with finishing second although the end goal is to be first. I'd rather be in
that scenario than in the other, as far as being at the back. I'd be more
frustrated at the back than I am running in the top ten."

Celebrating First Victory:

“We're not worried about that, yet. We'll figure it out if we win one. You
don't try to plan for a party, you've got to win first and then make a party.
That's how we're working on it."

Is Corporate Ownership Like Valvoline’s The Wave Of The Future?

"I don't know if it is the wave of the future. It's got to be right for the
owner to do that. It's got to be right for the team to do that. In our case, it
was perfect for Valvoline to become our sponsor, but also a co-owner of the
race team. That's what they wanted out of the deal and that's what we needed.
For us, it's a good deal. It may not be for the next guy, but it is for
Valvoline and our race team."

Valvoline Playing An Ownership Role With Team:

"We were in a situation in 2000 where we didn't have a sponsor, we were out of
money and we were pretty much shut down and out of business. MB2 came along and purchased half of the race team and Valvoline purchased the other half. Aaron's came on board and let us finish out the year, which was a great thing. Valvoline owning us is a totally different situation for them and us. It allows Valvoline to go ahead and do its own marketing. They can see what they want. When we bang on the door and we want more money, they can look and say, 'OK, I can see where we need that,’ and not have such a big issue. This way the sponsor isn't wondering where the money is going. They've got a pretty good idea. I think for James and the guys it's got to be a pretty good situation for them, too."

Has Valvoline Allowed You To Concentrate More On Racing?

"Valvoline has allowed us to do it to do more research and more development
stuff in other areas that we couldn't do in the past. That’s real important to
having a good race team and then turning it into a great race team. That is
what having a sponsor like Valvoline is enabling us to do. It let’s us work in
these areas that we need to get stronger in and be better at, and be able to
spend money in these areas to improve them."

Safety:

"That's a tough question. I think NASCAR’s safety effort is getting better.
What they are doing isn’t easy. There are areas that being looked at that need
to be looked at and I think everybody is doing what they can. But they don't
want to just all of a sudden change things. If we could find somebody that
knows and can evaluate everything that is going on and can give us a direction
today, we'd fix it tomorrow. But the problem is they can't give us that answer
yet, so we're looking at a lot of different things. As soon as somebody comes
up and says, 'This is the deal and this is going to make a difference,' then
that's what we need to do."

Restrictor Plate Racing

“Our current rules (in restrictor plate races) were put in place because we
basically didn't like some of the other rules. Bobby Allison’s wreck was pretty
scary and the last thing we want is for cars to do what his did at Talladega.
The plate was brought as a too produce great racing for the people in the
stands while slowing the cars. But, we felt like the packs were just a little
bit too tight. One mistake and the whole field was wrecking. Sure, we want
great racing. We want the fans to see great racing. But at times, these rules
were jeopardizing equipment and risking injury; so it was just time to evaluate
the whole system. I think NASCAR is really listening to the drivers and teams
now and in time we will come up with something to satisfy all of the concerns.
But, you've got to respect the organization for trying to get our side of the
story – from where we sit in the cars and what we see. As drivers, we're
certainly conscious of what the fans want to see. We just need to find some
kind of happy medium.”

Strategy In Plate Races?

"You can't strategize. You just have to make sure that you're in the right
place at the right time, and hope that you're in the right place if something
happens. Myself, I don't want to be halfway back in the field in the middle row
because if something happens, you're in it. It's almost guaranteed that you're
going to be in it - 99.8 percent of the time when a wreck happens and you're in
the middle of the field in the middle row, you're going to have some damage to
the race car. I try not to think about plate racing strategy until the race
because the race itself is going to wear you out. I try not to get all worked
up for the fact that you know that it's going to be a stressful day going into
the deal. When it comes down to it, you need to put yourself in a position at
the end of the race to have legitimate shot of winning the race. If you're in a
wreck with 25 to 40 [laps] to go, there is not a whole lot you can do about
that because you've got to get yourself in that position. But the first 160
laps you might as well hang out somewhere where there is not going to be
problems. You better either be leading it or running last - however you want to
play it. Sure, leading is the best place to be. If you're in the top four or
five, you're fairly confident that you can run with those guys up there and not
have a huge problem. But when you start to get to 10th, man, I would just as
soon be at the back. The problem is that you can wreck trying to get out of
there to try to get to the back. You just have to find where you're
comfortable. If you're comfortable, then you're OK. But if you feel like you're
in somewhere that you don't really want to be, then you've got to do something
to get yourself out of there. The problem is it may take you 20 laps to get out
of there, so it's a tough deal. A lot can happen in 20 laps - heck, a lot can
happen in a half a second."

Do Drivers Dread Superspeedways?

“I don’t know; it is hard to say. Is it an uncomfortable feeling? Yeah it is.
Going three or four wide at a race like that for three hours makes it, at
times, extremely uncomfortable. At other times it’s OK. If you are two-wide or
single file then it is easy just to cruise around there. I don’t think drivers
get up on the morning of the race and dread racing. I don’t think you can have
that type of mindset. You have to have the mindset that we are going to get
through this race safely and see how it all plays out. I don’t think any of us
get up in the morning and say ‘Man I wish this race were done now.’ But, there
is always concern when you run a race like Talladega.”

Would You Buy A Ticket?

“Absolutely, the shows NASCAR puts on there are unbelievable. I’ve seen this
race from behind the steering wheel. I can’t imagine what it looks like from
the stands. I mean we had 49 lead changes last year. And someone told me the other day the victory margin is less than a second in our last 20 races at
Talladega. That’s incredible.”

How Does Pontiac Compare To Other Manufacturers?

"There are some cars out there that are aerodynamically pretty good. I'm not
saying that we're terrible, but we're not where they are. It makes it difficult
because you know you don't have the front downforce and then you've got to
loosen the thing up the car so bad that once you get in open air or get
somebody behind you, you can't drive the thing. It's a difficult deal, but
hopefully in time, they'll straighten it out and we'll be on the same playing
field as the other manufacturers. I'm not saying that we don't want to work
hard, by any means. But, it seems like we've got to work twice as hard to even
be able to compete with them. We've got a very good race team and that's the
reason that we're able to pull off great finishes sometimes, even at places
where we're at a disadvantage. But, I'd sure love to take that hard work and
then apply it to the same aero situation they've got. Life would be a lot
better for us in here then."

James Ince:

“Me and James Ince communicate really well. We both worked on race cars and we both raced them at a time when our careers started. He understands what a race car needs and what it wants. I think what really works for me is that we both understand a race car but he is able to watch a car on the track and see what the attitude of the car is and know what I like in a race car. He is able to pick that up in a fairly quick manner. That helps us as a race team – that we can pick things up quickly. I like his attitude toward racing and his approach. He gets stuff done. He demands 110 percent out of you and that’s what he expects to give back. That has really helped me as a driver as far as him getting things done and being organized. He will come right out and tell you where he stands and how he feels and he tries to get things done and that’s a plus for myself.

“The best thing I ever did was move to this race team. It's been great working
with James Ince. I love his philosophy and his 'let's go out and win some
races' attitude. If I was going to own a race team, that is something that I'd
want. I'd want that kind of person that wants to go out there and do whatever
it takes to win races and eventually win a championship. That's what it's all
about. I've been in different situations where that really wasn't the attitude
and that makes life miserable. For the guys in our race shop to have the
attitude that they have is great. It's something that I hope stays there for
quite a long time.”

One-Day Shows:

“If we could do all of our races in one day throughout the year that would be
great. But I don’t think that will happen. As far as one-day show, I’m all for
them. It’s the crew guys who bear the biggest burden of our schedule. They are
the ones who are away from their families and anything we can do to help their
lives out is fine with me.”

Points Racing:

“In some cases, late in the year, you can get to where you are points racing,
but I think that is only with the top two or three guys in points. Most of the
time we don’t even think of points. I’m sure we will just want to keep the same
goals we have had and that’s to win a race. Sure we want to end the year high
up in points but we are still going to take chances to win a race. Look at last
week.”

Driver’s Duties When It Comes To Race Strategy:

“My job is to tell the crew chief if the car was better with four tires, two
tires, or how effective were the handling adjustments we made. He takes that
information and uses it in his decision on what we will do. He is looking at
the lap times, the tire sheets, listening to what other teams are doing plus a
whole lot of other stuff. There are a lot of things that go into the crew chief’s decision but he probably listens to the driver’s input as much as anything
else.”

Goodyear Tires:

“Before it was always four tires or two tires and most of the time it was four
tires. Last year it seemed like with the tires Goodyear has brought to the
track you aren’t automatically going to head for the pits. Some guys can take
no tires. Sterling Marlin did that at Indy and finished second. Jeff Gordon did
two tires and won and I did two tires and finished third. A lot of guys ahead
of us took four and couldn’t make it back to the front. Your strategy sometimes
just boils down to what the driver is going to be comfortable with and whether
he thinks he can make it back to the front if he takes four tires. It can be
just a guessing game.

“The tire Goodyear is bringing to the track is a little bit better than what
they brought last year. It’s a little more consistent with what we have had in
the past. It’s not quite there for everything yet. Air pressure seems to make
changes to the car consistently. It being a harder tire is also making for
better races. In the past with the softer tires you knew you were going to pit
if the yellow came out. Now, the tires are pretty good so it gives you that
option of staying out on the track and gaining track position. We did that at
Texas and it almost got us the win. That’s because of the tires this year. It
think it makes our races a lot more entertaining.”

Never Giving Up During A Race:

“With all the stuff that happens at the end of the race you never give up. I
know everyone always says that but it is really true this year. NASCAR is so
competitive that if you are on the lead lap, you could be OK by the end of the
race. You work on your car to get it better and better and spend the first
two-thirds of the race preparing for the end. Obviously, you would like to lead
every lap and win the race, but if you aren’t there your goal is to improve so
that when the end comes you can get to the front. In our last two races we have top five finishes, but I don’t think we were in the top 10 for most of the day. Nowadays it’s all about the end. That’s when it counts the most.”

Why Drivers Are Good At Particular Tracks:

“I think in qualifying you have to hang it out at all tracks and Las Vegas is
no different. At Vegas you have to be smooth and you have to hit your spots
just right. Most importantly you have to have a lot of confidence in what that
race car is going to do. Last year I trusted the car and we really picked up in
qualifying and ended up eighth. I hope it is a bit easier this year with just a
little bit better result.”

Road Courses:

“They are kind of fun. I’m glad we only have to do two a year. Now if they had
a schedule with a lot more road courses then I might go find some other thing
to do. You get better the more you run but by the same token everyone else does too. That keeps the playing field fairly equal. You run the best you can and you have to stay on the track. If you stay on the track, by the end of the day you should be in pretty good shape. You have to have good brakes, a good race car and a good engine like every other week. I think I’m a little bit harder on brakes than your standard road race guy. If I can keep brakes on my Valvoline Pontiac I think I will have an OK day. Before the race I tell myself that I have to get a good rhythm. That’s a huge key. You are running the car
side-to-side and these cars don’t like that. They aren’t built to do that. When
you sit down to design a road course car, a Winston Cup car isn’t what you
would build. You would build something totally different. You just have to be
smooth, consistent, get a good rhythm and work with it.”

Which Is More Important The Engine Or Chassis?

“Well, it doesn’t matter how good the handling of a car is when the engine
blows up and it doesn’t matter how much horsepower you have if you can’t get
the car turned in the corner. It’s always a struggle between the engine guys
and the chassis guys on a race team. The chassis guys blame the engine guys if the car is slow and the engine guys blame the chassis guys. We try not to do that on race teams but that is human nature. One side can’t succeed without the other.”

Which Tracks Are The Most Challenging?

“All of them are challenging. Probably, as far as challenging for a driver, I
think the flat slippery tracks are extremely challenging, but those are the
tracks that I like. So that might not be answering your question correctly.
Places like Bristol are extremely hard and running the road courses are
extremely hard because we only race them twice a year. That’s a hard question to answer. I feel the most challenging tracks are the flatter tracks but we usually do very well on those tracks.”

Are you Superstitious?

"I don't have any superstitions, whether I'm running good or running bad. I
don't worry about that. I don't think about that. As long as they don't put
green on the car, I'm good to go."

Short Tracks:

"It's always great to get back to racing some short-track races. That's where
all of us grew up, so it's always kind of cool to go back and do those."

What Do You Do If You Have To Go To The Bathroom During A Race:

“That might be the question I get asked the most. I tell people I hold it and
hold it and hold it. I remember at Texas, I finished third, but the first thing
I did was run to the restroom. I made MRN and the television folks wait while I
was in there. You always make sure you go before the race. If you forget then
it can be a pretty long afternoon.”

What Do You Do When You Aren’t Racing?

“Well, when we aren’t at the track we might be doing appearances for Valvoline, or working at the shop either answering fan mail or talking with the crew. When I’m free I like to play with the kids or play on the lake. I have a 1940 sedan we like to ride around in, and I have a motorcycle. We might go see a movie or go over and listen to music. Anything that gets me a way and let’s me relax is fine with me.”

Is There Pressure Being A Driver?

“There is pressure if you allow it. But the way I look at it, if it isn’t fun
then I’ll go do something else. I love what I do and hope I get to keep doing
it for years. Sure, the demands can be overwhelming at times, but as a driver
you have to learn to allocate your time. Sometimes you just have to get away.
But, all in all this is the stuff most people dream of so I consider myself
very lucky.”