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JOHNNY
BENSON, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
WAS THE KICK-OUT ON THE CHEVY THE REASON THEY DOMINATED
QUALIFYING YESTERDAY?
"I think some of it is. But, also too, a couple of the teams
you see up there are definitely great race teams. But, I
don't think the kick-out hurt them at all. Bill
Elliott has pretty much been the standard for qualifying and
he ends up back a little ways. But, that's fine. There is
nothing wrong with that."
COULD YOU TELL A DIFFERENCE IN THE PONTIAC YESTERDAY WITH
THE ADDITIONAL HALF-INCH OF KICK-OUT?
"I could tell a little bit of a difference, but you're only
talking a half an inch. It's pretty hard to tell. An inch, I
could see that being a huge deal.
"Everything helps. But, when you try to get help and they
give twice as much to the other guy, then it's something
that is very hard to feel and judge. But, that's fine.
That's what we've got to deal with. We just have to work on
our race car."
HOW LONG IS YOUR CONTRACT EXTENSION?
"It's two years. It's pretty standard. I think we've got a
pretty good race team. Otherwise, I would be looking for
something else. I've been there three years and adding
another two. We've got a good sponsor in Valvoline and a new
car with Pontiac, and a great group of guys. James Ince is
doing a tremendous job. I'm looking forward to the future.
"We've got a good race team. Obviously, it hasn't show at
all this year. But, in the same token, we've got a good
group of guys. We're just a little bit behind, but we'll get
back up on top and be fine."
YOU MENTIONED YOU'D LIKE TO RETIRE WITH THIS
TEAM...YOU'RE NOT
THINKING ABOUT THAT, ARE YOU?
"Why not? Heck, throw it out there. You see what it did for
Ricky Rudd.
"No, not really. Eventually, I'm going to retire -- just not
in two years."
ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE A TEAMMATE NEXT YEAR?
"You'd have to ask them, but as far as I know, we are.
Obviously, with M&M's moving over to the Yates deal, it's
something that is a concern to us - just trying to find a
sponsor. We've got some people that we're talking to. The
only concern is - today, the way the economy is -- to be
able to find the right sponsor to be able to come over there
with the money it takes to run in NASCAR Winston Cup racing.
That's the only concern that we've got, as far as that.
It'll be a difficult task for them, but they'll get it done
and we're not going to worry about it. We worry about the
'10' car and that is what we do.
"I don't want to see it go away. You've got to have two
teams. Three teams are more economical to run; four teams
are even more. You've got to utilize everything that you've
got as far as machinery and wind tunnel dates and things of
this nature. It costs more money to have a second, but it's
less money per team, as you put multiple teams in."
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