Benson To Return At Pocono

Johnny Benson will resume his driving duties in the #10 Valvoline Pontiac
beginning at this weekend’s NASCAR Winston Cup race at Pocono, Pa.

Benson returns to the driving seat after missing the Chicago and New Hampshire races following a July 6 accident in Daytona. Benson broke three ribs in that accident.

Mike Wallace substituted for Benson at Chicago and Jerry Nadeau drove at New Hampshire.

Sunday’s Pocono race marks the second time this season Benson will make a
return from rib injuries at the triangle-shaped track. Benson missed three
races after a May 3 accident in a Busch race at Richmond where he suffered two cracked and one broken rib.

Benson made his return at Pocono finishing 20th in June. He finished fifth at
this Pocono race last year.

Benson On His Return:

“I’m not rushing. I’m ready to get back in the race car. You are always going
to have people questioning whether it is too early or not. But, health wise I’m
ahead of where I was last time when I got back in the car. I don’t think my
health will be an issue this weekend. We aren’t even going to have a back up
driver. We are just going to go to Pocono with the plans on running well then
we are going to Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and the rest of the races with the
same goal.

“I want to think Mike and Jerry. It’s a tough role to fill in for somebody and
both of them did a really good job for us. They drove the car, went to
Valvoline hospitalities and did the whole works for me while I was out.”

Benson On The Injury:

“I’m feeling good. I have a few more broken ribs than the first time but it’s
different. I have a lot more mobility and have felt better every day since
Daytona. These ribs are definitely different than the ones I hurt at Richmond.
The Richmond accident broke one in the back and cracked two in the front. These from Daytona are all in the front. It’s in a little different spot, but the
feel isn’t as bad as far as the first time.”

Therapy:

“Pretty much the same thing I did the first time. That’s get in the swimming
pool and cruise around there. They don’t want me lifting any weights or
anything like that. There really isn’t a whole lot you can do except let them
heal and get in the pool and move around. Racing is the best therapy and the
most fun for curing broken ribs.”

What Happened in the Daytona Wreck?

“We aren’t sure why I broke ribs. The only thing we do know is that both of
those wrecks in which I have broken ribs were extreme hits even though it may
not look like it on television. There were bad hits. Both were a deal where the
car went into the wall with the right front then slapped the side of the car.
It was a severe hit. We will do some testing and find out what happened. We are running the right seats and the belts.”

Frustration:

“We can say we have had a frustrating year for sure. This has been difficult
because we haven’t done a whole lot wrong. We have had wrecks that shouldn’t
have happened. We got hit at both places. Unfortunately it did and I got hurt.
It’s hard to say this is part of the sport because this is the first time in my
career I have had to miss a race because of injury. But what are you going to
do.”


THE RACE: Pep Boys presents the
Pennsylvania 500
Winston Cup Race #20 of 36 for the 2002 Winston Cup season

· Race: Sunday, July 28, 2002 in Long Pond, PA
· TV: TNT - 1:00pm/et
· Race re-air: TNT on Tues, July 30th, 1:00am/et; Speed Channel on Wed, July
31st, 8:00pm/et and Thurs, Aug 1st, 1:00am/et.
· Pre-Race Show: TNT - 12:30pm/et - Hosted by Bill Weber
· Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
· Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns
· Posted Awards/Purse: $3,685,703 (was $3,168,072 in 2001)

2001 Race Winner: Bobby Labonte, 134.590mph, started 11th
· Race Speed Record: Rusty Wallace, July 1996, 144.892mph
· Track/Race Length: 2.5 tri-oval, 200 laps, 500 miles
· Pit Road Speed: 55mph

Practice
· Practice: Friday, July 26th, 11:20 - 1:20pm/et; Saturday, July 27th, 9:30 -
10:15am/et.
· Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, July 27th, 11:15 - 12:00noon/et on TV-Speed
Channel - live.

Qualifying
· Qualifying Draw: Friday, July 26, 10:20am/et


· Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, July 26th at 3:05pm/et, TV-TNT
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: Tony Stewart, July 2000, 172.391mph
· Last Year's Pole Sitter: Todd Bodine, 170.326mph, finished 43rd.

Track Specs:
Superspeedway: 2.5 mile tri-oval
Banking: turn 1: 14 degrees, turn 2: 8 degree, turn 3: 6 degrees;
Straights: Front - 3740 feet, Long Pond(between turns 1 and 2) - 3055 feet,
North(between turns 2 and 3) - 1780 feet
Grandstand Seating: 100,000


Benson Career At Pocono
S F
First Race 2002 27 20
Second Race 2001 9 5
First Race 2000 7 24
Second Race 2000 9 12
First Race 2000 21 34
Second Race 1999 34 14
First Race 1999 38 30
Second Race 1998 36 33
First Race 1998 37 36
Second Race 1997 40 13
First Race 1997 21 27
Second Race 1996 6 5
First Race 1996 40 25


#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 Brian Dantinne
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: TBD
Rear Tire Carrier: Shane Cooke

Other Crew Members
Truck Driver: Jerry Hess
Shock Specialist: Mike Cluka
Tires: Jeff Johnson
Engineer: Tim Turner
Computers: John Hayes
Scorer: Terry Lane
PR Rep: Drew Brown