Benson 23rd
at Atlanta
It was a long rainy afternoon and evening at Atlanta Motor
Speedway for #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson and
teammates.
The race was stopped 77 laps short of completion of the full
500 miles and just about the time Benson and teammates began
running as fast as the leaders after falling down two laps
earlier in the race.
"We got it right there at the end, but it was too late,"
Benson said after the race. "We weren’t that bad today but
the leaders were going so fast that if you were a little off
you were going to lose a lap."
Bad weather, which dominated activity at the 1.54-mile
speedway all weekend including canceling, qualifying, was
looming to the west when the 33rd Winston Cup race of the
season went green. Benson started 25th and held his own in
the early going.
Virtually the entire field made a pit stop under the event's
first caution, when John Andretti crashed out of the race
off Turn 2 at lap 5. Andretti was unhurt.
By the time 15 laps had been run, there were reports of
raindrops falling at various points around the track.
Raindrops remained for the rest of the day.
The second caution came at lap 17 and after driving under
caution for 13 minutes, the pace car brought the field down
pit road and the red flag was displayed after 26 laps. The
race was stopped for more than two hours and twenty minutes.
The race resumed with Benson climbing as high as about 17th
before losing a lap to the leaders on lap 106 then another
near the lap 180 mark.
After the 200-lap mark Benson found the handling and race
wheel to wheel and even drove away from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and Jeff Gordon who ended the race in fifth and sixth. "You
are one of the three fastest cars on the track," Crew Chief
James Ince told Benson over the team radio.
At the 232 mark the rain grew harder and Nascar stopped the
event on lap 248 declaring Kurt Busch the race winner.
Benson finished 23rd.
"It’s not what we wanted," said Benson whose car sported the
University of Kentucky paint scheme on Sunday. "But we
improved in the race and that’s something we can build on.
It wasn’t as fun as finishing second like we did last week
so we will work and get better when we race here in March."
Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday in
Rockingham, N.C.
Sunday's NAPA 500 race results
Results from Sunday's NAPA 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at
the 1.54-mile
Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.:
1. (8) Kurt Busch, Ford, 248, $212,100.
2. (36) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 248, $153,400.
3. (11) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 248, $136,250.
4. (1) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 248, $137,178.
5. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 248, $97,950.
6. (7) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 248, $124,978.
7. (4) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 248, $110,742.
8. (3) Mark Martin, Ford, 248, $103,533.
9. (9) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 248, $82,275.
10. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford, 248, $92,900.
11. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 248, $77,850.
12. (14) Jeff Burton, Ford, 248, $106,817.
13. (17) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 248, $106,628.
14. (22) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 248, $67,025.
15. (33) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 248, $96,350.
16. (27) Ward Burton, Dodge, 248, $102,625.
17. (5) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 247, $103,075.
18. (28) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 247, $83,425.
19. (19) Dave Blaney, Ford, 247, $80,400.
20. (20) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 247, $90,556.
21. (16) Ricky Craven, Ford, 247, $69,350.
22. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 247, $60,500.
23. (25) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 246, $86,850.
24. (18) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 246, $59,700.
25. (23) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 246, $88,533.
26. (35) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 246, $67,389.
27. (26) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 246, $66,650.
28. (39) Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 246, $58,450.
29. (42) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 246, $55,300.
30. (24) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 246, $58,150.
31. (37) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, 246, $55,000.
32. (10) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 246, $99,237.
33. (12) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 245, $80,106.
34. (40) Brett Bodine, Ford, 245, $54,525.
35. (29) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 245, $62,400.
36. (32) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 243, $54,325.
37. (41) Derrike Cope, Dodge, 243, $54,200.
38. (38) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 241, $54,150.
39. (43) Carl Long #, Dodge, 237, $54,100.
40. (21) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 221, engine failure,
$99,818.
41. (34) Todd Bodine, Ford, 214, engine failure, $79,187.
42. (31) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 113, engine failure,
$61,950.
43. (30) John Andretti, Dodge, 4, crash, $81,243.
Average speed of race winner: 127.519 mph.
Time of race: 2 hours, 59 minutes, 42 seconds.
Margin of victory: Under Caution.
Caution flags: 5 for 50 laps.
Lead changes: 19 among 9 drivers.
Lap leaders: T. Stewart 1-19; K. Petty 20-34; J. Nemechek
35-46; J. Gordon
47-48; K. Busch 49; J. Gordon 50-85; K. Busch 86-89; R.
Newman # 90; M. Waltrip
91; T. Stewart 92-95; D. Earnhardt Jr 96-97; W. Burton
98-101; K. Petty
102-103; K. Busch 104-139; J. Nemechek 140-144; J. Gordon
145-147; J. Nemechek
148-187; T. Stewart 188-203; D. Earnhardt Jr 204-205; K.
Busch 206-248.
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