Valvoline Team Looking At Owner Not Driver Points

Anyone judging #10 Valvoline Pontiac team’s performance this season you shouldn’t look for driver Johnny Benson’s name in the points race. Instead it’s the name of Nelson Bowers that matters. Bowers, Benson’s listed car owner, is 24th in the owner standings while Benson is 35th in the driver standings.

The three races Benson sat out because of an injury explain why is he near the
bottom of the driver point sheet. The owner’s sheet rewards points to the team
and not the driver allowing the #10 to benefit from Jerry Nadeau and Joe
Nemechek’s substitute drives for Benson.

Owner points matter. These points establish priority in gaining provisionals
for future races as well as determines some of the cash payouts at the end of
the season. Team haulers park in the garage each weekend in order of owner
points.

Benson and his Valvoline teammates expect to continue their points climb
Saturday night in Daytona. It is the first track the NASCAR Winston Cup Series
visits a second time in 2002. The Busch Series will race at Daytona Friday
night.

Benson Notes:

· Johnny Benson had an average finish of 25.0 in the 10 races prior to his
injury at Richmond. Since returning to the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac, he has an
average finish has been 11.0.

Benson has led 60 laps in his last five race at Daytona including 10 laps near
the end of this race last season.

· Benson leads all active drivers this weekend in the percentage of laps completed in their races at Daytona. Benson has completed 98.6 percent of the
laps in the races he has entered at Daytona. Ward Burton is second with 97.5
percent. At least five races must be reordered to rank in the standings.

Benson: Do You Look At Owner Points Or Driver Points?

“The driver points tell the story of my season and it’s pretty evident I missed
three races. It’s going to be hard to climb above a lot of guys with us missing
three races. But, the owner points tell the story of the team’s season and it
is 24th right now and hopefully will get a lot better as the season moves on.
Some of the fans and media look where I am in the points and say ‘you guys have had a 35th-place season.’ That’s not true. Look at the owner points and you will see this team is ahead of a lot of good teams and not far behind some
others. Our goal is to get up in the top 15 in owner points and that’s a reachable goal. We will even go for the top-10 if we can.”

Benson On Racing At Daytona:

“We always look forward to going to Daytona. We have always run well there it
seems. Running under the lights is a lot of fun. Not only do you get Sunday off
but for some reason racing under the lights always seems a bit more exciting
than racing in daylight. Plus, this year we get to see a Busch race on Friday
night so I plan to enjoy my weekend down there. I don’t know if we will be able
to learn anything from the Busch race that we don’t already know, but we will
be watching and normally those races are way cool there.”

Does Going To A Track The Second Time In A Season Make A Difference?

“I don’t know if it matters going to a track the second time or not. I have
found that when you think you have a track figured out and you go there a
second time you end up running bad. But when you run badly at a track the first
time sometimes the second time is a lot better. I can’t explain why that
happens but it just happens.”

What Impact Do Lights Have On A Superspeedway Race at Night?

“Well I’d hate to race at night without them but the July race under the lights
makes the track a bit more similar to the way it is in February. When we used
to race here in the daytime in July it was like a totally different track from
the way it was in February. Now with the lights the track temperature is a lot
cooler and the track is consistent throughout the race. It’s still all about
handling at Daytona but it’s not nearly as tough as it would be if we ran it in
the afternoon.”


Benson Career At Daytona

Race S F

Feb. 2002 38 10
July 2001 37 13
Feb 2001 33 28
July 2000 20 13
Feb 2000 27 12
July 1999 33 24
Feb 1999 39 17
July 1998 40 26
July 1997 15 16
Feb 1997 16 28
July 1996 5 25
Feb 1996 27 23


THE RACE: Pepsi 400
Winston Cup Race #17 of 36 for the 2002 Winston Cup season
Race: Saturday, July 6, 2002 in Daytona Beach, FL

TV: Fox - 7:30pm/et

Race re-air: Speed Channel on Wed, July 10th, 8:00pm/et; Thurs, July 11th,
1:00am/et;

Pre-Race Show: 7:00pm/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: $4,516,848 (was $3,902,630 in 2001),
First place is worth a minimum $153,575
second is $113,550
third $94,475
fourth $84,375
fifth $76,050

2001 Race Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr, 157.601mph, started 13th

Race Speed Record: Bobby Allison, 1980, 173.473

Track/Race Length: 2.5 mile oval, 160 laps, 400 miles

Pit Road Speed: 55mph


Practice

Practice: Thursday, July 4th, 3:00pm - 5:00pm/et; Friday, July 5th, 4:30 -
5:15pm/et.

Happy Hour Practice: Friday, July 5th, 6:15 - 7:00pm/et on TV-FX tape delay
6:30-7:30pm/et before the BGN race.


Qualifying

Qualifying Draw: Thursday, July 4, 2:00pm/et

Qualifying: 1 lap for positions 1-36, Thursday, July 4th at 8:15pm/et, TV-FX
live and live via MRN Radio

Second-Round Qualifying: there is no longer a 2nd round of qualifying (since
the 2001 season)

Track Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, Feb 1987, 210.364mph

Event Qualifying Record before: Sterling Marlin, July 1986, 203.666mph(before
restrictor plates)

Event Qualifying Record after: Greg Sacks, July 1990, 195.533mph(after
restrictor plates were introduced in Feb 1988) in 1987 Davey Allison ran
198.085mph when a 390 CFM carburetor was used to slow the cars down

Last Year's Pole Sitter: Sterling Marlin, 183.778mph, finished 39th.


Track Specs:
Superspeedway: 2.5-mile trioval 40 feet wide with 12- to 30-foot apron
Turns: Banking: 31 degrees, Length: 3,000 feet Radius: 1,000 feet
Trioval: Banking: 18 degrees (at start/finish line)
Frontstretch: Chute length: 1,900 feet (from turn to middle of trioval) Total
length: 3,800 feet Banking: Minimal for drainage only
Backstretch: Length: 3,000 feet, Banking: Minimal for drainage only
Pit Road: Length: 1,600 feet Width: 50 feet
Grandstand Seating: 168,000.



#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: Doug Morgan
Rear Tire Changer: Joe Piette
Rear Tire Carrier: Shane Cooke

Other Crew Members
Truck Driver: Jerry Hess
Shock Specialist: Mike Cluka
Tires: Joe Piette
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 Northeast 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.