Benson 27th
at Daytona
#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson wasn’t happy with
his 27th-place finish Saturday night in Daytona, but it
beats the frustration of recent history in the 400-mile
night race.
Benson was running in the top-ten on lap 8 last year when he
was wrecked forcing him to miss the next two races with
broken ribs.
So compared to last year, a 27th-place finish Saturday night
doesn’t look so bad.
"No we aren’t happy because we didn’t run like we thought we
would," Benson said after the race. "But our goal was to
survive and finish and we did that so that is the positive
we will take out of tonight’s race. We’ve been a lot faster
down here in the past and got wrecked so I guess you have to
look on the bright side.'
Benson started the race complaining about an "extreme
four-wheel slide" through the corners at Daytona. He was
toiling near the back of the field on lap 74 when Kurt Busch
spun in turn two triggering an accident that knocked seven
cars from contention.
Benson flat-spotted all four tires on the Valvoline Pontiac
while evading the carnage.
"That was pretty close," he said. "All you see is smoke and
cars sliding everywhere. There’s a great deal of luck in
missing big ones like that."
Benson’s car got better as the night went on.
"Toward the end of the race we seemed to be a bit better but
we were so far back that we could never catch up to the lead
pack."
Benson climbed to 15th before a late race stop for gas
dropped him into the 27th spot he occupied when the
checkered flag fell.
Greg Biffle earned his first career victory as he stretched
fuel mileage on the final run.
Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday in Chicago.
Results
1. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 180 - 5 bonus points
2. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 170
3. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 165
4. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 160
5. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 160 - 5 bonus points
6. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 155 - 5 bonus points
7. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 151 - 5 bonus points
8. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 142
9. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 148 - 10 bonus points
10. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 134
11. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 135 - 5 bonus points
12. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 127
13. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 124
14. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 126 - 5 bonus points
15. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 118
16. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 115
17. (09) Buckshot Jones, Dodge, 112
18. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 114 - 5 bonus points
19. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 106
20. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 103
21. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 100
22. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 97
23. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 99 - 5 bonus points
24. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 96 - 5 bonuspoints
25. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 88
26. (80) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 85
27.(10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 82
28. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 79
29. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 76
30. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 78 - 5 bonus points
31. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 70
32. (60) David Green, Chevrolet, 67
33. (4) Stacy Compton, Pontiac, 64
34. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 61
35. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 58
36. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 55
37. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 52
38. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 49
39. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 46
40. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 43
41. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 40
42. (01) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, 37
43. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 34
Points
1. Matt Kenseth, 2551
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2371
3. Jeff Gordon, 2348
4. Bobby Labonte, 2296
5. Michael Waltrip, 2159
6. Jimmie Johnson, 2079
7. Kurt Busch, 2067
8. Kevin Harvick, 2049
9. Rusty Wallace, 2019
10. Sterling Marlin, 1998
11. Tony Stewart, 1949
12. Mark Martin, 1949
13. Terry Labonte, 1910
14. Jeff Burton, 1907
15. Robby Gordon, 1877
16. Ryan Newman, 1833
17. Ricky Craven, 1831
18. Elliott Sadler, 1773
19. Bill Elliott, 1772
20. Greg Biffle, 1707
21. Ward Burton, 1690
22. Joe Nemechek, 1688
23. Jamie McMurray, 1648
24. Ricky Rudd, 1644
25. Johnny Benson, 1610
26. Dave Blaney, 1592
27. Jeremy Mayfield, 1589
28. Dale Jarrett, 1553
29. Kenny Wallace, 1545
30. Jimmy Spencer, 1487
31. Todd Bodine, 1479
32. Jeff Green, 1353
33. Steve Park, 1303
34. Casey Mears, 1297
35. Kyle Petty, 1247
36. Jack Sprague, 1241
37. Ken Schrader, 1212
38. John Andretti, 1137
39. Tony Raines, 1111
40. Mike Skinner, 1004
41. Jerry Nadeau, 844
42. Larry Foyt, 646
43. Mike Wallace, 588
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