Benson Michigan Preview

#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson returns to his home state of
Michigan this week with an agenda that includes everything from visiting
friends to racing his late model against Tony Stewart and others at Benson’s
Berlin Raceway on Tuesday. When the Grand Rapids activities are finished he’ll
go east to Brooklyn, Michigan and Michigan International Speedway where he
hopes to put on a performance for the home state crowd.

Benson hopes to improve upon last week’s 20th-place finish at Pocono where an early brush with the wall ruined his return to racing after rib injuries forced
him to sit out since May 3.

NOTES:

· Benson scored one of his two career Bud Pole Awards at Michigan in August
1997. He has four top-10 finishes in 10 career races at the two mile oval, with
his best, a fifth, occurring there in August of 2002 and 2000. He led 11 laps
in this race last year.

· As a 7-year-old he started working in his father John Benson’s Grand Rapids
race shop selling parts and even welding. By the time he was 19 years old it
was time for him to replace Dad as the family racer and he began working his
way through late models earning track championships. He went on to the American Speed Association where he won the rookie of the year award in 1990 and the championship in 1993.

· Benson’s first try in NASCAR came when he climbed into Ernie Irvan’s Busch
car in front of the homefolks at Michigan Speedway in 1993 only to go
barrel-rolling down the backstretch on lap 3. The car now sits at the bottom of
a pond at Irvan’s house.


Are You Excited About Going To Michigan?

“I’m looking forward to going up there, spend some time with Mom, Dad and
family. On Tuesday night we’re racing with Tony Stewart at Berlin Raceway and I think that will be a lot of fun. That’s my home track and racing late models
there are a blast. I think Tony will have fun also. On Wednesday we’ll spend
all day in Grand Haven for a festival there and Thursday we have some other
commitments and we’ll go to the track for the weekend.”

Is Michigan Enjoyable Or Hectic?

“Michigan is both fun and busy. I don’t spend a lot of time lounging around
watching television. You get to see a lot of friends and family, but the phone
never stops ringing and we have a lot of commitments. It like going home for
the holidays for anyone. Sometimes when it’s all over you are more tired than
when it started.”

Benson On Michigan Speedway:

“Michigan is right up there with the fastest tracks where we race. It’s a
two-mile track with a real wide racing groove. It produces some great racing.
Its downfall is that because it is three grooves they have very few cautions
and it becomes a fuel mileage race that isn’t what everybody looks forward to.
You start thinking fuel mileage before the start of the race. You know it’s
going to probably end up on fuel.”

Would You Like Your First Victory To Come At Michigan?

“It’s no different than someone who grew up in Daytona wanting to win the
Daytona 500. I have said I don’t care where that first victory comes but it
would be extra special to have it happen in front of the home folks at
Michigan. You want to do good at all the racetracks but you want to do extra
good where you are from. That’s true with more than drivers. Our crew guys all
want to do well in front of their home folks. They are proud of where they are
from and want to look good in front of the homefolks.

How Hard Do Drivers Race When They Run Those Races At Local Tracks?

“Any time you race whether you are running a Winston Cup car, a Busch ca, late model car or just a legends car you are racing to win. We are racers and the name of the game is to race and win. We want to win all the time. Tuesday night pays $10,000 plus it’s in front of the home folks so that’s incentive enough. Plus, after sitting out the last couple of weeks that will get me some more track time and help get me in better shape.”

How Did Your Ribs Feel At Pocono?

“I felt really good in the first part of the race but with about 60 to 70 laps
to go I got to where I was hurting pretty bad. It’s a long race and I was
getting pretty sore. It probably wasn’t fair to the team because toward the end
I was getting to where I couldn’t tell the team what was wrong with the car. We
have a better car and a better race team than what we showed (at Pocono) We’ll be a lot better at Michigan, but I was glad to get the first one out of the
way.”

Season So Far?

“We aren’t happy where we have finished. It seems like whenever somebody else wrecks we get caught up in it. I don’t think we tore up hardly any cars last
season and now this season we have had quite a few. When we haven’t crashed we have run pretty well. We know we are a good team. The Pontiacs are all struggling this year, but when we will have to overcome that aero disadvantage and we’ll be heard from before the year is over.”

Benson Career Record At Michigan

Race Year S F
August 2001 22 5
June 2001 10 12
August 2000 23 5
June 2000 11 24
August 1999 41 21
June 1999 26 19
August 1998 38 34
June 1998 21 22
August 1997 1 24
June 1997 7 10
August 1996 19 7
June 1996 37 37



THE RACE: Sirius Satellite Radio 400
Winston Cup Race #15 of 36 for the 2002 Winston Cup season

· Race: Sunday, June 16, 2002 in Brooklyn, MI
· TV: Fox - 1:00pm/et
· Race re-air: Speed Channel on Wed, June 19th, 8:00pm/et; Thurs, June 20th,
1:00am/et;
· Pre-Race Show: 12:30pm/et, with hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond
· Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds
· Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum and Steve Byrnes
· Posted Awards/Purse: $? (was $3,365,198 in 2001)

2001 Race Winner: Jeff Gordon, 134.203mph, started 1st
· Race Record: Dale Jarrett, June 1999, 173.997mph (no cautions)
· Track/Race Length: 2.0 oval, 200 laps, 400 miles
· Pit Road Speed: 45mph

Practice
· Practice: Friday, June 14th, 11:20am - 1:20pm/et; Saturday, June 15th, 9:30 -
10:15am/et.
· Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, June 15th, 11:15 - 12:00noon/et on TV-FX at
3:30pm/et.



Qualifying
· Qualifying Draw: Friday, June 14th, 10:20am/et


· First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, June 14th at
3:05pm/et, TV-FSN and live via MRN Radio. Re-air on TV-Speed Channel, Fri, June 14th at 8:00pm/et.
· Second-Round Qualifying: there is no longer a 2nd round of qualifying (since
the 2001 season)
· Event Qualifying Record: Dale Jarrett, June 2000, 189.883mph
· Track Qualifying Record: Dale Earnhardt Jr, August 2000, 191.149mph
· Last Year's Pole Sitter: Jeff Gordon, 188.250mph, finished 1st.

Track Specs:
Superspeedway: 2.0-mile D-shaped oval
Banking: turns: 18 degrees; straights: frontstretch 12 degrees, backstretch 5
degrees
Backstretch Length: 2,242 feet; Front stretch Length: 2,229 feet
Pit lane is 50 feet wide and contains space for 44 individual pit areas

#10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information

Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown
Owner: Valvoline/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton)
Crew Chief: James Ince
Car Chief: Gary Putnam
Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports
Spotter Roman Pemberton
Engine Tuner: Ondre Rexford

Over The Wall Pit Crew
Gas Man: Jimmy Watts
Front Tire Changer: Mike Cluka
Front Tire Carrier: Steve Genenbacher
Catch Can: Steve Mann
Windshield: Russ Hoekwater
Jackman: Rob Jones
Rear Tire Changer: Joe Piette
Rear Tire Carrier: Shane Cooke

Other Crew Members
Truck Driver: Jerry Hess
Shock Specialist: Mike Cluka
Tires: Kyle Petty
Engineer: Tim Turner
Mechanic/Signboard: Brian Dantine
Computers: John Hayes
Scorer: Terry Lane
PR Rep: Drew Brown