Valvoline Sears Point Preview

Valvoline Pontiac Driver Johnny Benson and his Crew Chief James Ince have never considered themselves road racers, but that didn’t stop the Valvoline team from working to improve their road course-racing program over the last two years. While it may have surprised many experts, it wasn’t a total surprise to the team when Benson was running third and turning lap times faster than the
leaders during the Sears Point race last year.

A pit road penalty and a late race accident ruined the good run and left Benson
with a 29th-place finish. But it increased optimism for this weekend’s return
to California wine country where Benson hopes to gain a measure of revenge.
Even though Ince, a dirt track racer from Missouri, and Benson, a short track
racer from Michigan, think their road course racing is improving they wouldn’t
be too disappointed if NASCAR would turn its entire attention to ovals and
leave the twisty circuits for other series. The NASCAR Busch Series no longer
races on road courses.


James Ince:

What Would You Do If NASCAR Eliminated Road Courses?

“I’d send them a fruit basket on Monday morning if they did. Other than that it
wouldn’t change our life a whole lot other than it would save us a whole lot of
money and time. We probably spend a quarter of a million dollars a year at
least working on road course cars, testing them, and all the manpower and time
that goes with running just two road races a year. It’s not that we dislike
road races, but it isn’t what we do. I’d much rather go to the Chicago and
Kansas City ovals twice.”

Don’t You Appreciate Road Courses Just A Little?

“I didn’t know there were even road courses when I was growing up racing in
Missouri. I know they ran sports cars on road courses but that was something I
was never around or really ever even thought about. I’m not going to say racing
on a road course is something I am excited about or that I really want to go
do, but it’s a lot different than when I first started going to road courses. I
know what to do now as far as setting up a car and I’m excited about it now
because we’ve got our program to the point where we know we will run pretty
well when we do show up at a road course. As a racer and a competitor it’s OK
to race anywhere when you run well. If you go to do something you aren’t
comfortable with in the first place and you don’t have any success at it then
you will hate it automatically.”

How Have You Improved Your Road Course Program?

“We are racers. Johnny has always had the ability these other guys have. The
Winston Cup drivers, with a few exceptions, didn’t grow up on road courses. But
the racer side in all of us came out and we wanted to do better. We learned and
we got smarter every time we went to the track. We changed our race cars to
make it good for Johnny. To make it do what Johnny needs it to do. That’s no
different than what we do at Darlington, Daytona or Martinsville. We always try
to do the same thing. That’s the racer in us coming out.

“You know we have worked real hard on this program. Johnny is almost a road
course racer now. He’s as good as any Winston Cup guy out there. It’s a place
we plan to run as well as can. You never know what can happen on a road course. It might be the place where we get our first victory which would be nice. It’s not nearly as painful as it used to be.”



Johnny Benson

On Racing a Road Course With Two Cracked Ribs And A Broken Rib:

"We tested Virginia International Raceway back before we went to Pocono and it went pretty good as far as pain and discomfort go. I'm not worried about it. I
think we will be fine. Pocono was tough there at the end because of the G
forces but Michigan wasn't as painful and we ran well there. If we are up there
contending for the win then I doubt I'll ever even think about the ribs."

On 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.”

On Road Course Strategy:

“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"


Benson Sears Point Record

Year S F
2001 14 29
2000 35 18
1999 35 26
1998 19 21
1997 35 21
1996 31 18
 

THE RACE: Dodge/Save Mart 350
Winston Cup Race #16 of 36 for the 2002 Winston Cup season
Updated: often, leading up to the race



Race: Sunday, June 23, 2002 in Sonoma, CA

TV: Fox - 3:00pm/et

Race re-air: Speed Channel on Wed, June 26th, 8:00pm/et; Thurs, June 27th,
1:00am/et;

Pre-Race Show: 2:30pm/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

Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

Posted Awards/Purse: $4,007,910 (was $3,493,689 in 2001)

2001 Race Winner: Tony Stewart, 75.889mph, started 3rd

Race Record: Jeff Gordon, June 2000, 78.789mph.

Track/Race Length: 2.0 road course, 112 laps, 224 miles, 350 kilometers.

Pit Road Speed: 35mph



Practice

Practice: Friday, June 21st, 1:20pm - 3:20pm/et; Saturday, June 22nd, 12:30 -
1:15pm/et.

Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, June 22nd, 2:15 - 3:00pm/et on TV-FX at
2:00pm/et.



Qualifying


Qualifying Draw: Friday, June 21, 12:20pm/et

Qualifying: 1 lap for positions 1-36, Friday, June 21 at 5:05pm/et, TV-FSN and
live via PRN Radio

Track Qualifying Record: Rusty Wallace, June 2000, 99.309mph

Last Year's Pole Sitter: Jeff Gordon, 93.699mph, finished 3rd.


Track Specs:
2.0 mile Road Course with 10 turns
increased from 1.949 miles to 2.0 after the 2000 season



#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


Big Brothers Big Sisters Of America:

Benson is racing this week for the Danville, Va. Chapter of Big Brothers Big
Sisters Of America. Each week Valvoline donates money to the national Big
Brothers and Big Sisters of America organization as well as an individual local
chapter based on Benson's on-track performance. Valvoline matches Benson's
performance by donating $5,000 for a win, $2,500 for a pole, $1,000 for a top
ten 10 finish, $500 for a top 20 finish and $20 for each lap led. The 3-year
program has raised over $750,000.