#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson has enjoyed a very busy week after
capturing his first career Nascar Winston Cup victory Sunday at North Carolina
Speedway in Rockingham. But he isn’t complaining. Nor will he next week if he
wins his second consecutive race when he takes the green flag at Phoenix
International Raceway on Sunday.

Benson has record of success at Phoenix with three top 10 finishes in six
races. He also led 53 laps and finished fourth at New Hampshire in September,
the last flat mile oval where the series raced. The Valvoline team tested at
Phoenix on Oct. 29 & 30th.

Benson Notes:

• Benson became the 18th different race winner in 2002 and the fifth
first-time race winner this season.

• Benson became the 18th driver to gain eligibility for 2003 running of The
Winston based on a victory this season.

• Benson became the 14th first-time winner on the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit since the 2000 Daytona 500. There were only 15 first-time winners in the entire 10-year period of the 1990s.

• Benson is the first driver over the age of 30 to win a NASCAR Winston Cup
race in the last 11 races.

·Benson’s victory at Rockingham was the first win for Pontiac other than by a
Joe Gibbs Racing driver since Ward Burton won at Darlington in March 2000.

Johnny Benson On His Week After Victory:

“It’s been real busy. I never realized there were so many interviews you had to
do after you won a race. But it’s a good kind of busy. I’m worn out and losing
my voice but I’ll talk myself hoarse if it means talking about winning. We have
really had a lot of fun. I didn’t sleep much Sunday night after partying with
the guys at the shop. On Monday my kids wanted to take the Rockingham trophy to their school for show-and-tell but I told them they couldn’t because I’m taking it to my television show for my show-and-tell.

“Between that and all the phone calls and messages on the answering machine and everybody coming up and offering congratulations it’s been a fun week. We
counted and only a couple of our guys in the shop had ever been to victory lane
so a lot of guys are like me in experiencing winning a Winston Cup victory for
the first time. It’s an awesome feeling.”

Benson On Phoenix:

“We plan to go out there and win our second race in a row. But I’m sure there
are going to be 42 other guys out there who are planning on winning also.
Walking into the garage at Phoenix knowing we have a win under our belt is
going to be a pretty cool feeling. We tested there last week and thought we
were pretty good. We ran good at Loudon where it was a flat mile like Phoenix
so (Crew Chief) James (Ince) thinks we have a pretty good chance this weekend.”

Benson On Ending The Winless Streak:

“One of the best parts of the deal is not getting asked about that again. I’m
glad it’s over. The way we look at it now we have the longest winning streak in
the sport and that’s pretty cool. Everyone has asked if winning the second race
will be as hard as the first one and my response this week has been ‘I sure as
heck hope not because I don’t have that much time.’ ”

Was Victory Lane As Fun As You Thought It Would Be?

“Absolutely. It was a long time in coming. We have talked the last few years
about what we were going to do when we win and our plan was for all of our guys to hop over the wall and pick up the car and turn it over then spin it on its
roof. But, Sunday they wouldn’t let our guys over the wall so we just kind of
resorted to doing the burnout thing which was a lot of fun and then I ran out
of gas. Rockingham must have felt pretty good about us winning because I
figured they might call us about tearing up their grass.”

Benson Career Record at Phoenix
Race S F
2001 13 10
2000 4 16
1999 19 31
1998 15 9
1997 8 7
1996 23 32

Race Information

THE RACE: Checker Auto Parts 500
Winston Cup Race #35 of 36 for the 2002 Winston Cup season
· Race: Sunday, November 10, 2002 in Phoenix, AZ
· TV: NBC - 2:30pm/et
· Race re-air: TNT on Tues, Nov 12th at 2:00am/et; Speed Channel on Wed, Nov 13th, 8:00pm/et; Thurs, Nov 14th, 1:00am/et and again at 12:00noon/et.
· Pre-Race Show: NBC - 2:00pm/et - Hosted by Bill Weber
· Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
· Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns
· Purse/Race Awards: $3,881,518 (last year $3,248,538)
· 2001 Race Winner: Jeff Burton, 102.613mph, started 3rd
· Race Record: Tony Stewart, Nov 1999, 118.132mph
· Track/Race Length: 1.0 mile oval, 312 laps, 312 miles/500km
· Pit Road Speed: 45mph

Practice
· Practice: Friday, November 8th, 12:30 - 2:30pm/et; Saturday, November 9th,
10:30 - 11:15am/et.
· Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, November 9th, 12:15 - 1:00pm/et on TV-Speed Channel.

Qualifying
·Qualifying Draw: Friday, November 8th, 11:30am/et

·Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, November 8th at 5:05pm/et,
TV-Speed Channel and live via MRN Radio
·Track/Event Qualifying Record: Rusty Wallace, Nov 2000, 134.178mph
·Last Year's Pole Sitter: Casey Atwood, 131.296, finished 14th.

Track Specs:
Degree of Banking: Turns 1-2: 11 degrees; Turns 3-4: 9 degrees
Frontstretch: Length: 1,179 feet, Banking: None
Backstretch: Length: 1,551 feet, Banking: None
Pit Road: Length: 1,140
Grandstand seating: 76,812

#10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information

Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown
Owner: Valvoline/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton)
Crew Chief/Car Chief: James Ince
Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports
Spotter (Race Day) Brian Dantinne
Spotter (Practice Only) Russell Hoekwater
Engine Tuner: Devin Barbee

Over The Wall Pit Crew
Gas Man: Jimmy Watts
Front Tire Changer: Bobby Burrell
Front Tire Carrier: David Smith Tilley
Catch Can: Steve Mann
Jackman: Rob Jones
Rear Tire Changer: Greg Burkhart
Rear Tire Carrier: Shane Cooke

Other Crew Members
Truck Driver: Gale (Bandit) Wilson
Mechanic: Jerry Hess
Mechanic: David Baum
Shocks: Mike Cluka
Tires: Jeff Johnson
Engineer: Tim Turner
Computers & Gas Runner: John Hayes
Scorer: Terry Lane
Pit Stop Coach: Gary Smith
PR Rep: Drew Brown