That was true for Johnny Benson.  But the #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver and his Valvoline teammates did more than just survive Saturday night. Benson averted several near accidents, dramatically made up a lap and surged at the end of the race to finish 14th.

Not bad after starting the race in 32nd.  “From where we started (32nd) it was a good run for us,” Benson said. “The guys kept making adjustments on the Valvoline Pontiac to make it better and better.”

The pivotal point of Benson’s race began at lap 102 when a wreck in front of him sent cars sliding all over the place. Benson suffered some front end damaged colliding with a car in front of him then came to pit road for repairs.

The James Ince led crew fixed the Valvoline Pontiac and returned him to the race but only a few second ahead of race leader Jeff Gordon. Gordon eventually slipped past Benson on lap 136.

But on lap 160 another accident forced Gordon to slow going into turn four. Benson, just a few seconds behind, slammed the accelerator and the pair came across the start finish line rubbing side-by-side with Benson making his lap up by inches.

“Yeah, that was a big moment. I don’t think Jeff was going to give the lap back so we had to go take it from him. It’s what you have to do out here. We did it fair but it was pretty exciting.”

With Benson back on the lead lap, the Valvoline Pontiac began its march to the front using four-tire pit stops.  By lap 225 he was in 21st and by lap 279 he had moved up to 11th.  “We were getting a little better with each stop,” Benson said. “Our car was better on long runs so I was frustrated with all the cautions, but this is Bristol and there isn’t much you can do about that.”

At a lap 424 caution, Benson stayed on the track in tenth spot while nearly all the cars behind him came in for new tires. When the race restarted some of those cars with new rubber got around Benson dropping him to 14th. At the next caution on lap 445 Benson got new tires falling back to 19th but in the final laps he clawed his way back to 14th when the checkered flag fell.

Not a bad evening for Benson who has top-15 finishes at the last three oval races.  “We feel like we’re starting to get back up on track, starting to learn something for once. I’m real proud of these guys. I’ve managed to get us in some holes this year and these guys have dug us out of it. I’m really proud of them.”

Kurt Busch won Saturday night’s race with Kevin Harvick finishing second.  Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday in Darlington, S.C.

Race Results

Race results and points awarded

Results from Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway and Winston

Cup points awarded:
1. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 180 - 5 bonus points
2. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 175 - 5 bonus points
3. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 165
4. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 160
5. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 155
6.  (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 155 - 5 bonus points
 7. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 146
8. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 142
 9. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 138
10. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 134
11. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 130
12. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 127
13. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 124
14. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 121
15. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 118
16. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 115
17. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 117 - 5 bonus points
18. (01) Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 114 - 5 bonus points
19. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 106
20. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 103
21. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 100
22. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 97
 23. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 94
 24. (27) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 91
25. (4) Johnny Sauter, Pontiac, 88
26. (0) Jason Leffler, Pontiac, 85
27. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 82
 28. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 89 - 10 bonus points
29. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 76
30. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 73
 31. (7) Ted Musgrave, Dodge, 70
 32. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 67
 33. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 64
34. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 61
35. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 58
36. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 60 - 5 bonus points
37. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 52
38. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 49
39. (50) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 46
40. (1) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 48 - 5 bonus points
41. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge,
42. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 37
43. (2)  Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 34

Average speed of race winner: 77.421 mph. Time of race: 3 hours, 26 minutes, 32 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.818 seconds.

Caution flags: 20 for 119 laps. Lead changes: 11 among 8 drivers. Lap leaders:

J. Gordon 1-66; J. Green 67-82; J. Gordon 83-162; K. Harvick 163-187; M.

Skinner 188-192; J. Gordon 193-225; S. Marlin 226-261; M. Martin 262-310; R.

Newman 311-340; S. Marlin 341-365; K. Harvick 366-379; K. Busch 380-500.

Updated Winston Cup standings

Unofficial Winston Cup standings after Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol

Motor Speedway:

1. Matt Kenseth, 3592

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3241

3. Kevin Harvick, 3128

4. Jimmie Johnson, 3063

5. Jeff Gordon, 3060

6. Kurt Busch, 2990

7. Ryan Newman, 2971

8. Michael Waltrip, 2960

9. Bobby Labonte, 2907

10. Robby Gordon, 2835

11. Tony Stewart, 2809

12. Terry Labonte, 2755

13. Jeff Burton, 2709

14. Mark Martin, 2668

15. Rusty Wallace, 2602

16. Sterling Marlin, 2596

17. Bill Elliott, 2580

18. Ward Burton, 2470

19. Greg Biffle, 2466

20. Elliott Sadler, 2445

21. Ricky Craven, 2438

22. Jamie McMurray, 2414

23. Johnny Benson, 2373

24. Joe Nemechek, 2320

25. Dale Jarrett, 2309

26. Dave Blaney, 2252

27. Ricky Rudd, 2235

28. Jeremy Mayfield, 2201

29. Jimmy Spencer, 2132

30. Kenny Wallace, 2059

31. Steve Park, 2052

32. Todd Bodine, 2029

33. Jeff Green, 1867

34. Casey Mears, 1819

35. Tony Raines, 1709

36. Ken Schrader, 1700

37. Kyle Petty, 1688

38. John Andretti, 1381

39. Jack Sprague, 1284

40. Mike Skinner, 1278

41. Larry Foyt, 921

42. Jerry Nadeau, 844

43. Mike Wallace, 771

44. Christian Fittipaldi, 579

45. Derrike Cope, 503

46. Brett Bodine, 308

47. Johnny Sauter, 240

48. Scott Pruett, 236

49. Jason Leffler, 207

50. Boris Said, 201