#10
Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson wasn’t the fastest
car on the track Sunday at the NASCAR Winston Cup race in
Watkins Glen, N.Y. But he made it to the finish in one piece
and that is more than can be said for some of the fastest
cars racing on the road course.
“We weren’t that great today,” Benson
said. “We did our best and there at the end we tried some
strategies that just didn’t work out because of the way the
cautions fell.”
Benson finished the race in 28th spot,
just one spot behind where he started the race. While
Benson’s finish might not be spectacular, it was better than
Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Ron Fellows, and Benson’s
teammate for the race Boris Said. All three drivers looked
like they were fast enough to win the race, but each
encountered late-race trouble that dropped them back in the
field.
Gordon crashed in the final corner
after running out of gas; Wallace, Fellows and Said also
suffered on-track incidents. Benson said he was particularly
cautious on Sunday. “James kept reminding me before
the race to be patient,” Benson said. “It was real important
for us to stay on the track today. To not get impatient.
It’s easy to wreck here or get caught up in someone’s
problems. We are trying to jump up higher in points so we
did everything we could to stay on the track and not tear up
a car.”
On the twisty circuit, passing is
difficult and Benson spent most of the races 90 laps running
single file around 25th place. The Valvoline team had hoped
to stretch a fuel run late in the race and Benson moved to
11th while the leaders came to the pits. However the final
green flag segment went more than 25 laps without a yellow
so Benson was forced to make a quick gas and go with just 11
laps to go in the race.
Benson, who admits to not being a fan
of the two road courses in the Winston Cup series, logged a
30th-place finish at Infineon Raceway in California earlier
this year.
Robby Gordon won Sunday’s race edging
road race specialist Scott Pruett and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The
scariest moment of the day came during the first round of
pit stops when Kevin Harvick’s team spilled fuel in its pit
stall. The fuel ignited sending flames several feet in the
air. Harvick’s team was pitting next to the Valvoline
team. The flames were extinguished and Benson was able to
make his first round stop without incident.
Benson and his teammates return to
action on Sunday at Michigan Speedway Benson’s home track.
“I’m glad we are done with the road courses this year,”
Benson said. “You better believe we are looking forward to
Michigan. We were pretty good at Indy last week and
hopefully we can be even better on Sunday at MIS. I’m glad
we wont have to worry about any more right hand turns until
next season.”
Results and race points
Unofficial results and Winston Cup
points awarded in Sunday's Sirius at The Glen:
1. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 185 -
10 bonus points
2. (39) Scott Pruett, Dodge, 175 - 5
bonus points
3. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet,
170 - 5 bonus points
4. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 160
5. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 155
6. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 150
7. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 146
8. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 142
9. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 138
10. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 134
11. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 130
12. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 127
13. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet,
124
14. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 126
- 5 bonus points
15. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 118
16. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 115
17. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 112
18. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 109
19. (0) John Andretti, Pontiac, 106
20. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 103
21. (21) Ricky Rudd, 105 - 5 bonus
points
22. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 99 - 5
bonus points
23. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 91
24. (4) P.J. Jones, Pontiac, 88
25. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 85
26. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 82
27. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 79
28. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 76
29. (33) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 73
30. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 75 - 5
bonus points
31. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 72 - 5
bonus points
32. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge,
33. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 64
34. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 61
35. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 58
36. (04) Johnny Miller, Pontiac, 55
37. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 52
38. (1) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 49
39. (01) Boris Said, Pontiac, 46
40. (44) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge,
43
41. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 40
42. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 37
Time of race: 2 hours, 26 minutes, 17
seconds.
Margin of victory: 2.335 seconds.
Caution flags: 6 for 14 laps.
Lead changes: 8 among 8 drivers.
Lap leaders: J.Gordon 0; G.Biffle
1-23; S.Pruett 24-32; J.Burton 33-42;
D.Earnhardt Jr 43-53; B.Labonte 54-58;
R.Rudd 59; J.McMurray 60; R.Gordon
61-90.
Points Standings
Updated Winston Cup standings
Unofficial Winston Cup standings after
Sunday's Sirius at The Glen, Watkins
Glen, N.Y.:
1. Matt Kenseth, 3294
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3036
3. Jeff Gordon, 2898
4. Jimmie Johnson, 2816
5. Kevin Harvick, 2778
6. Michael Waltrip, 2777
7. Bobby Labonte, 2768
8. Kurt Busch, 2696
9. Ryan Newman, 2636
10. Robby Gordon, 2627
11. Tony Stewart, 2550
12. Rusty Wallace, 2519
13. Jeff Burton, 2509
14. Terry Labonte, 2501
15. Mark Martin, 2496
16. Bill Elliott, 2347
17. Sterling Marlin, 2339
18. Elliott Sadler, 2269
19. Ricky Craven, 2250
20. Ward Burton, 2225
21. Greg Biffle, 2201
22. Jamie McMurray, 2191
23. Johnny Benson, 2115
24. Joe Nemechek, 2111
25. Ricky Rudd, 2095
26. Dave Blaney, 2088
27. Dale Jarrett, 2064
28. Jimmy Spencer, 2039
29. Jeremy Mayfield, 1988
30. Todd Bodine, 1943
31. Kenny Wallace, 1904
32. Steve Park, 1818
33. Jeff Green, 1719
34. Casey Mears, 1709
35. Tony Raines, 1515
36. Kyle Petty, 1512
37. Ken Schrader, 1431
38. John Andretti, 1381
39. Jack Sprague, 1284
40. Mike Skinner, 1067
41. Jerry Nadeau, 844
42. Larry Foyt, 829
43. Mike Wallace, 771
44. Christian Fittipaldi, 475
