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Home Cooking
Propels Benson to 8th at Michigan
The American Medical Association might not consider it good
science but it
seems the best way for a home grown race car driver to cure
broken ribs is a
visit to Michigan International Speedway.
At least #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson thinks
MIS is a fine remedy for a rather painful injury.
For the second time this season Benson came to Michigan
weeks after breaking ribs and for the second time this
season he drove from the back of the grid to post one of his
best finishes of the season.
In June the Grand Rapids native qualified 35th and finished
sixth weeks after breaking one rib and cracking two at
Richmond. On Sunday he repeated the performance starting
25th and finishing eighth just weeks after breaking three
ribs in Daytona.
Benson was pleased with the car.
"We had a very good race car today," said Benson who won the
feature race at his home track of Berlin Raceway on
Wednesday night "Our guys had the Valvoline Pontiac rolling
through the corners like we wanted. I thought it was going
to be an even better finish than eighth."
Benson noted that his best two finishes of the year have
been in front of the home folks.
"I really don’t know why that is," Benson said. "(Crew
Chief) James (Ince) and the guys seem to have this place
figured out. We have top ten finishes in four of the last
five races here. That’s pretty impressive. We’d run here
every week if it were up to me."
Benson said his only problem Sunday seemed to be an engine
that couldn’t keep up with the front runners. Debris on the
front grill midway through the race could be part of the
blame but once the debris was cleared Benson said the engine
never regained the form it showed early in the race.
"The guys on the crew had the car nearly perfect," said
Benson who on Friday joined Ince and extending their
contracts with the Valvoline team two more years. "It just
makes it awfully hard when you can’t compete with the other
cars down the straight-away."
Benson started 35th and showed from the green flag he was
going to be on of the fastest cars on the two-mile, D-shaped
oval. By lap 12 he’d moved to 23rd but around the lap
50-mark he reported the loss of 600 rpm. But, he made up for
it by rolling through the corners faster than the other
cars.
With differing pit strategies among the teams Benson moved
up and down the scoring pylon all afternoon. But, he
carefully timing his passes and drafed with the quicker cars
down the front stretch. The Valvoline team combined good
strategy, quick pit stops and tenacious driving to put a
charge on in the final laps to earn the eighth-place finish.
"We needed a good run and today we got one," Benson said.
"Our goals is to build on this and get an even better run
next weekend at Bristol."
Dale Jarrett overcame an early race spin and still won
Sunday’s race.
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Victory Lane
Milwaukee
June 20, 2008
Miami
November 16, 2007
Gateway
September 1, 2007
Bristol
August 22, 2007
Milwaukee
June 22, 2007
Berger
Chevrolet
Check Out
Berlin Raceway
Results
Berlin Raceway
Racing Broadcast on 92.5 - The Outlaw
Click Here
to listen on
the web
Berlin Raceway
Hall of Fame
John Benson Sr.
Harry Obie
Bob Knight
Gail Cobb
Ralph Baker
Jimmy Meyer
The Mysliwiec's
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2008
Craftsman Truck Schedule
|
02/15 |
Daytona |
|
02/23 |
California |
|
03/07 |
Atlanta |
|
03/29 |
Martinsville |
|
04/26 |
Kansas |
|
05/16 |
Lowes |
|
05/24 |
Mansfield |
|
05/30 |
Dover |
|
06/06 |
Texas |
|
06/14 |
MIS |
|
06/20 |
Milwaukee |
|
06/28 |
Memphis |
|
07/19 |
Kentucky |
|
07/25 |
Indy |
|
08/09 |
Nashville |
|
08/20 |
Bristol |
|
09/06 |
Gateway |
|
09/13 |
Loudon |
|
09/20 |
Las Vegas |
|
10/04 |
Talladega |
|
10/18 |
Martinsville |
|
10/25 |
Atlanta |
|
10/31 |
Texas |
|
11/07 |
Phoenix |
|
11/14 |
Homestead |
|
|
2008
Nationwide
Schedule |
|
02/16 |
Daytona |
|
02/23 |
California |
|
03/01 |
Las Vegas |
|
03/08 |
Atlanta |
|
03/15 |
Bristol |
|
03/22 |
Nashville |
|
04/05 |
Texas |
|
04/11 |
Phoenix |
|
04/20 |
Mexico |
|
04/26 |
Talladega |
|
05/02 |
Richmond |
|
05/09 |
Darlington |
|
05/24 |
Lowes |
|
05/31 |
Dover |
|
06/07 |
Nashville |
|
06/14 |
Kentucky |
|
06/21 |
Milwaukee |
|
06/28 |
New Hampshire |
|
07/04 |
Daytona |
|
07/11 |
Chicago |
|
07/19 |
Gateway |
|
07/26 |
Indy |
|
08/02 |
Montreal |
|
08/09 |
Watkins Glen |
|
08/16 |
Michigan |
|
08/22 |
Bristol |
|
08/30 |
California |
|
09/05 |
Richmond |
|
09/20 |
Dover |
|
09/27 |
Kansas |
|
10/10 |
Lowes |
|
10/25 |
Memphis |
|
11/01 |
Texas |
|
11/08 |
Phoenix |
|
11/15 |
Miami |
|
|
2008
Sprint Cup
Schedule |
|
02/17 |
Daytona |
|
02/24 |
California |
|
03/02 |
Las Vegas |
|
03/09 |
Atlanta |
|
03/16 |
Bristol |
|
03/30 |
Martinsville |
|
04/06 |
Texas |
|
04/12 |
Phoenix |
|
04/27 |
Talladega |
|
05/03 |
Richmond |
|
05/10 |
Darlington |
|
05/25 |
Lowes |
|
06/01 |
Dover |
|
06/08 |
Pocono |
|
06/15 |
MIS |
|
06/22 |
Sonoma |
|
06/29 |
New Hampshire |
|
07/05 |
Daytona |
|
07/12 |
Chicago |
|
07/27 |
Indy |
|
08/03 |
Pocono |
|
08/10 |
Watkins Glen |
|
08/17 |
MIS |
|
08/23 |
Bristol |
|
08/31 |
California |
|
09/06 |
Richmond |
|
09/14 |
Loudon |
|
09/21 |
Lowes |
|
09/28 |
Kansas |
|
10/05 |
Talladega |
|
10/11 |
Lowes |
|
10/19 |
Martinsville |
|
10/26 |
Atlanta |
|
11/02 |
Texas |
|
11/09 |
Phoenix |
|
11/16 |
Miami |
|
|
2008
JB's Berlin
Schedule |
|
|
August 2nd |
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|
September 27th |
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