Benson at Sonoma

#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson already knows his strategy for Sunday on the road course at Infineon Raceway.

Stay on course and take advantage of good pit stops.

"That seems to be the key around here," said Benson. "Plus, I think we can pass a few cars, but we will see."

Benson qualified 25th Friday in single lap qualifying on the 2-mile road course. He picked up almost a full second over his best practice time.

"That wasn't too bad. The guys on the team told me to keep it pointed straight and out of the sand. We did that and managed to get a pretty decent lap," Benson said. "There are a lot of road course racers out here today and for those of us who grew up on ovals we had a pretty big challenge to overcome."

Benson's teammate and fellow road racing specialist Boris Said drove the #01 to the pole position. Said is substituting for Jerry Nadeau this weekend.

"That was pretty cool for those guys," Benson said. "They have been through a lot this year and deserve to have fun."

The Valvoline team will practice in two 45-minute sessions Saturday morning.

Sunday's race begins at 4 p.m. Eastern time.