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Benson 26th
at Michigan #10
Valvoline Pontiac Driver Johnny Benson had some pretty high
expectations Sunday at Michigan International Speedway where
he raced in front of the home folks.
The Grand Rapids, Mich. native's 26th-place finish was
respectable, but not the top-10 run has team has enjoyed at
the D-shaped oval in four of the last five races.
"We were a little off today," Benson said after the race.
"We struggled this weekend. We will work hard to figure out
what we need to do so we can be better here in August. Today
we just had a terrible time trying to pass people and when
we were in big packs it was really difficult. We finished OK
but we want to be a whole lot better."
Benson started the race in 25th and maintained that position
nearly the entire day but after a pit stop sequence he moved
up to 17th and during another fell back as far as 30th.
Not even some good pit stops during the middle of the race
could help move him from midpack.
Benson isn't discouraged.
"We have had some good runs up here and we were counting on
another one today," Benson said. "But we aren't going to get
frustrated. You have to remember the competition level in
this series is unbelievable. If you are a little off you run
in the middle of the pack and that's what we did today. But
like I said I don't doubt that we can figure this out and
get better for the next race."
Kurt Busch passed Jeff Gordon in the final 30 laps then held
off Bobby Labonte on a restart with five laps to go to claim
the victory.
Benson's finish keeps him 25th in the driver points race.
He and his Valvoline teammates return to action Sunday on
the road course in Sonoma, Calif.
Results
1. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 180 - 5 bonus points
2. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 170
3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points
4. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 160
5. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 155
6. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 160 - 10 bonus points
7. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 151 - 5 bonus points
8. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 147 - 5 bonus points
9. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 138
10. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 134
11. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 130
12. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 127
13. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 124
14. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 121
15. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 118
16. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 115
17. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 112
18. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 109
19. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 106
20. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 103
21. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 100
22. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 97
23. (01) Mike Wallace, 94
24. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 91
25. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 88
26. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 85
27. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 82
28. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 79
29. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 76
30. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 73
31. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 75 - 5 bonus points
32. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 67
33. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 64
34. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 61
35. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 63 - 5 bonus points
36. (02) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 60 - 5 bonus points
37. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 52
38. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 49
39. (11) Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 46
40. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 43
41. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 45 - 5 bonus points
42. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 37
43. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 34
Points
1. Matt Kenseth, 2275
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2090
3. Jeff Gordon, 2052
4. Bobby Labonte, 1998
5. Kurt Busch, 1933
6. Michael Waltrip, 1900
7. Jimmie Johnson, 1853
8. Rusty Wallace, 1798
9. Sterling Marlin, 1783
10. Mark Martin, 1740
11. Kevin Harvick, 1736
12. Tony Stewart, 1722
13. Ricky Craven, 1697
14. Jeff Burton, 1688
15. Terry Labonte, 1662
16. Robby Gordon, 1649
17. Ryan Newman, 1581
18. Joe Nemechek, 1581
19. Elliott Sadler, 1580
20. Bill Elliott, 1497
21. Ward Burton, 1497
22. Jamie McMurray, 1493
23. Greg Biffle, 1475
24. Dave Blaney, 1467
25. Johnny Benson, 1450
26. Dale Jarrett, 1382
27. Ricky Rudd, 1361
28. Kenny Wallace, 1351
29. Jeremy Mayfield, 1313
30. Jimmy Spencer, 1305
31. Jeff Green, 1277
32. Todd Bodine, 1261
33. Steve Park, 1217
34. John Andretti, 1137
35. Jack Sprague, 1125
36. Casey Mears, 1124
37. Ken Schrader, 1108
38. Kyle Petty, 1066
39. Tony Raines, 1041
40. Mike Skinner, 1004
41. Jerry Nadeau, 844
42. Larry Foyt, 585
43. Mike Wallace, 551
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