JOHNNY
BENSON, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:
YOU LOOK LIKE YOU COULD RUN 500 MORE LAPS. RIGHT NOW...
"I would have liked for there to have been 10 more, but that
doesn't matter. We ended up second. I did everything I could
to get around Kurt - even bumped him once. But, it wasn't
enough - he just got a little out of shape and I just
couldn't do anything with it. He ran a clean race and I
thought we did. We just kept working hard, trying to get up
there. I think if I was in front of him we'd have been a
little bit better. But, with him in front of us, he was
pretty good, too. So, I think how we were going to be
situated is how we were going to end up."
YOUR FAVORITE LINE AT THE END LOOKED LIKE IT WAS THE
SECOND GROOVE...
"I think both grooves were good, but I felt like the bottom
groove was hurting the tires, so I just stayed up there and
tried to save the tires a little bit and see if I could do
something at the end. I saw Kurt was running down a little
bit lower and I was hoping that he was going to hurt his
tires. It looked like he did and I was able to catch up with
him. I just couldn't pass him. I needed a lot more time
without lapped traffic. I think maybe I could've done
something, but lapped traffic was there and that's tough for
him and me to get through and try to race. All you can do is
follow at that point in time. I didn't have very many laps
to try to deal with it. Kurt did a great job. Their team
did. The Valvoline Pontiac - James Ince and all the guys - I
thought did a great job, too.
"I was a little too tight at the beginning of the runs, but
I was pretty good in the long runs, so I really needed that
go green from 100 laps on. I think we'd have been in a
little better shape. But, I'm not going to complain about
second. Second is a good day for us."
ON FINISHING SECOND AT MARTINSVILLE
"James likes this place and I don't. I have a hard time with
it. I've been a little inconsistent, so I'm real happy with
the run we had today. This place is pretty tough. And, with
the track changes, I think it maybe made the outside a
little bit better. But, it still gave you an opportunity on
new tires to go down to the bottom.
"As we came into the weekend, I don't think anybody was
really happy about it (the changes made to the track). But,
I think at the end of the race here most people should be
pleased with it. It was slick down on the bottom, but as
times goes, maybe it will get better.
"I'm looking forward to coming back if we can run that good.
I'm not going to move it up a notch. But, it's a tough place
to get around. Like I say, I've just been a little
nconsistent, but today we had a good run, so we're going to
be happy with that."
WITH TWO LAPS TO GO, DO THE RULES OF SPORTSMANSHIP
CHANGE?
"That's what it's been the last couple years that I've
watched. I'm not going to wreck a guy. I tried to move him
out of the way and that was about it. But, I'm seen some
guys wreck some guys. I think the thing is is that they do
it with five to go because it takes them five laps to
black-flag you.
"I don't know if that is the best way to do it. I raced him
hard - a little bump here and there. I've seen him do it, so
you kind of race the same way.
He did a great job."
CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENED AT BRISTOL, DO YOU WISH YOU HAD
HIT KURT A LITTLE HARDER COMING OFF OF TWO?
"No, I don't wish I had hit him any harder. That was about
all you could do without getting a guy real upset. I don't
think he was upset with that. Like I said, I've seen him do
just as much.
"I was just trying to let him break traction. I didn't hit
him real hard. But, I couldn't do anything with it anyway.
He was pretty good and I think we were pretty good. It's
getting so competitive. When these cars are pretty equal you
can't do anything with them."
DID YOU NOTICE THE GROOVE WIDENING AS THE RACE WENT ON?
"I think the upper groove has worked in the past. It's just
that the bottom has always been the preferred groove and
you're going to stay down there. Today it looked like you
could get up and move up on the top there a little bit and
be able to hold your own. The inside guy, it looked like he
had to fight real hard to get by you. It looked like he
would start spinning tires and overheating them, and then he
had to slow down and get up behind you again. I was OK with
them getting underneath me. I wasn't OK with them getting on
the outside of you.
"The newer your tires were the better the bottom was. The
older your tires
were the better the top was."
WOULD KURT HAVE HAD JUST AS MUCH TROUBLE GETTING BY YOU
IF YOU HAD BEEN IN FRONT?
"I think if I was in front of him, I think we would have
been able to pull away a little bit because he got away a
little bit in traffic, and once we got open, I caught right
back up. So, I believe we were a tad bit quicker, but he won
the race and that's usually how it works.
"I worked hard and tried to do what I could. Like I said,
those guys did a great job. I can't take anything away from
those guys. They did great."
IS AERO PUSH A FACTOR AT THESE SMALL TRACKS?
"I don't think so. I'm not going to complain about an aero
push here. Aero does matter here - yeah. But, it's not as
critical as what you see on the big tracks. You can still
wrestle the car around a little bit. That's all you can ask
for. As long as you can get it turned and wrestle it around,
you're OK. Aero is important, but I don't think it had an
effect on us today."
|
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Victory Lane
ORP
July 25, 2008
Kentucky
July 19, 2008
Milwaukee
June 20, 2008
Berger
Chevrolet
Check Out
Berlin Raceway
Results
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Hall of Fame
John Benson Sr.
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Jimmy Meyer
The Mysliwiec's
 |
|
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 |
|
|
September 27th |
|
|
|
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