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Benson 11th at Indy Qualifying
#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver
Johnny Benson didn't think his lap around the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway was all that fast Saturday afternoon.
"The car was sliding all over the place and I thought it
wasn't going to be a good lap at all," Benson said. "Then
(Crew Chief) James Ince came over the radio and told me the
time and where that put us on the scoreboard. I felt a lot
better once I heard that."
That time of 49.920 seconds (180.288 mph) was good enough
for 11th fastest of the 50 cars who made two-lap qualifying
runs on the hot, humid day in Indianapolis.
"I think the temperatures got so hot today that it made the
handling of all our race cars really difficult," Benson
said. "It seemed like everyone had their
hands full."
Benson, like most drivers, took only one of the two allotted
laps. He said despite the tricky conditions he was happy
with the outcome.
"That's pretty good," Benson said. "You want to be near the
front of the field because this track is a pretty tough
place to pass cars. Hopefully we can take advantage of our
starting spot and have a good run here tomorrow."
Tony Stewart won the pole and will be joined on the front
row by Bill Elliott.
Nascar will allow two 45-minute practice sessions late
Saturday afternoon after the IROC race then Benson and 42
other starters will take the green flag for the Brickyard
400 at 1:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on Sunday.
NBC will televise Sunday's race.
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