Benson 30th
at Infineon
All in all it was about as exciting of a 30th-place finish
as you are going to find in NASCAR Winston Cup racing.
With just a little luck it would have been a whole lot
better.
#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson ran out of gas in
the final lap ruining what could have been a top-15 finish
on the road course at Infineon Raceway on Sunday before
120,000 road racing fans.
But before the frustrating finish, Benson led 10 laps on the
two-mile track and looked pretty good doing it.
"Yeah we are pretty disappointed about running out of gas
there at the end," said Benson after the race. "We knew we
were taking a gamble by stretching that last run and we
could have used another caution or two to help us make it.
But it was worth the gamble. I'm not sure how much better we
would have finished if we had played it safe. But the
Valvoline Pontiac led some laps today and we gave it our
best effort. Racing up front is a whole lot more fun and
easier than racing in the back."
Benson started Sunday's race in 25th and dropped back to
about 30th in the early going complaining of a vibration
somewhere in the gear or transmission. He even doubted it
would last the entire race.
But, by lap 51 he was in 33rd when Crew Chief James Ince
started bringing Benson to pit road to top off the fuel tank
and take on tires during just about every caution.
Benson pitted on lap 64 for fuel then remained on the track
when the rest of the field came for gas on lap 72.
That put Benson in the lead with a little bit older tires
than the rest of the field.
"JB we can make it from here if we get several caution
laps," Ince told the driver. "Its going to be awful close
but its probably worth a gamble."
Benson concurred and when the green flag flew the Valvoline
Pontiac led the field through the twisty turns of the
Sonoma, California race course.
"Keep it straight and smooth and save fuel for me," Ince
asked.
Benson held off Rusty Wallace and led for 10 laps.
"That was fun. The car ran a bit better in the lead and
clean air," he said.
Eventual race winner Robby Gordon snuck past Wallace then
Benson as did several others who took advantage of new tires
to pass the Valvoline Pontiac.
Benson held on as the faster cars slipped by and the laps
wound down.
By lap 90 he was sixth and with 10 to go he was 17th
battling for 15th. He seemed assured of a top-20 finish
although he told Ince he was having brake problems.
But then things went bad.
"I think she just ran out," Benson announced as he was
coming to take the white flag. Benson pitted for gas and
returned to the track but in 30th place.
Ince said the gamble came close to working.
"All we needed was a lap and half and I think we would have
been OK," he said. "We are here to run up front and win and
that was our best chance of doing that today."
Benson's 30th place finish moves him to 24th in the driver
points.
Robby Gordon held off Jeff Gordon in the closing laps to
earn his first victory of the season.
The Winston Cup Series will take a weekend off and return to
action in Daytona on July 5.
Results.
1. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 185 - 10 bonus points
2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 170
3. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 165
4. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 160
5. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 155
6. (01) Boris Said, Pontiac, 155 - 5 bonus points
7. (1) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 151 - 5 bonus points
8. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 142
9. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 138
10. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 134
11. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 130
12. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 127
13. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 124
14. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 121
15. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 118
16. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 115
17. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 112
18. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 109
19. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 106
20. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 103
21. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 100
22. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 97
23. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 94
24. (4) Johnny Miller, Pontiac, 91
25. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 88
26. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 85
27. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 82
28. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 79
29. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 76
30. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 78 - 5 bonus points
31. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 70
32. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 67
33. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 64
34. (09) Scott Pruett, Dodge, 61
35. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 58
36. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 55
37. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 52
38. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 49
39. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 46
40. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 43
41. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 40
42. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 37
43. (66) Hideo Fukuyama, Ford, 34
2003 Points
1. Matt Kenseth, 2396
2. Jeff Gordon, 2222
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2220
4. Bobby Labonte, 2136
5. Michael Waltrip, 2024
6. Kurt Busch, 2012
7. Jimmie Johnson, 1965
8. Rusty Wallace, 1940
9. Kevin Harvick, 1901
10. Sterling Marlin, 1892
11. Tony Stewart, 1849
12. Mark Martin, 1846
13. Robby Gordon, 1834
14. Ricky Craven, 1797
15. Terry Labonte, 1750
16. Jeff Burton, 1737
17. Ryan Newman, 1736
18. Elliott Sadler, 1677
19. Bill Elliott, 1657
20. Joe Nemechek, 1639
21. Ward Burton, 1612
22. Jamie McMurray, 1596
23. Dave Blaney, 1534
24. Johnny Benson, 1528
25. Greg Biffle, 1527
26. Ricky Rudd, 1479
27. Jeremy Mayfield, 1447
28. Kenny Wallace, 1427
29. Dale Jarrett, 1419
30. Jimmy Spencer, 1360
31. Todd Bodine, 1355
32. Jeff Green, 1277
33. Steve Park, 1257
34. Casey Mears, 1209
35. Ken Schrader, 1172
36. Jack Sprague, 1171
37. Kyle Petty, 1148
38. John Andretti, 1137
39. Tony Raines, 1111
40. Mike Skinner, 1004
41. Jerry Nadeau, 844
42. Larry Foyt, 585
43. Mike Wallace, 551
44. Brett Bodine, 308
45. Derrike Cope, 258
|
|
Johnny's
Official Facebook
Follow
Us
on Twitter
|
_small.jpg)
