#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