2003 Johnny Benson Fan Club -

Benson Richmond Preview

This weekend’s unveiling of the SAFER barrier at the three-quarter mile Richmond International Raceway might be a prelude to one day having all NASCAR Winston Cup tracks equipped with the energy-absorbing walls. Only Indianapolis uses the system now and New Hampshire will be equipped at the October race.

The SAFER barrier is four steel tubes welded in about 20-foot sections and bolted to the concrete walls. Between the steel and the concrete, pads of hard, pink foam are placed about 10 feet apart, allowing the surface to bend and thereby reduce force.

Benson wrecked in a Busch Series race at Richmond in 2002. He suffered a broken rib in his back on the right side and two cracked ribs on front right side of his body. He missed three races. Benson’s teammate Jerry Nadeau was injured at Richmond in May and has yet to return to racing.

The audio segment below is Johnny Benson discussing
the SAFER barrier that will make its Richmond debut

Click Play to Listen

Benson On SAFER Barrier:
"The SAFER barrier is good news. I know NASCAR has been working on it pretty hard and I'm glad they are far enough along to where they think it's time to install it at Richmond. Obviously, we all hope it works and makes the sport a little bit safer. Richmond is a great track and if this barrier works like I think it will everyone in our sport will benefit. We hit the wall at the short tracks just as hard as we hit the wall at the bigger tracks. I hope we have the SAFER barrier at all of our tracks soon."

Benson On Richmond:
“I have always liked going to Richmond. It’s a great race track. It has two grooves and you can race all over the place. I’ve said before and I still say Richmond might be the best show we put on for everyone all season. The place is a lot of fun for the drivers, the fans like it because its close short-track racing where you can pass, and I think most of our crew guys like the race because they don’t have to fix a lot of wrecked race cars like we do at Bristol.”

Predictions for Weekend:
“Last Spring we ran OK but not like we wanted to. I hope it will be better Saturday night. We are getting better and better of late. We weren’t showing all that we had a Darlington and got caught up in somebody else’s wreck. I think we had top-15s in the last three ovals. We’d like to do better than that on Saturday night.”

Benson’s Crew Chief James Ince, of Springfield, Mo., is celebrating a championship for his dirt late model car building company. Justin Wells of Crane Mo. won the IMCA Dirt Late Model championship last week in a chassis built by James Ince Motorsports.

Ince On Building the IMCA Dirt Late Model Champion:
“The company is about four or five years old in Rogersville, Missouri. Until last year we were just a parts and components business, but I decided we wanted to design and build our own dirt late model chassis. Since this was a startup operation we only sold about eight cars and one of them was to Justin Wells who was running in the IMCA late model division. He was a young kid that wasn’t getting a lot of help and we saw a lot of potential. Turns out he goes out and wins the championship and I think combined with the other drivers our cars had about 20 victories. That’s pretty rewarding. We are pretty excited. This is an all Missouri operation. The short tracks are what I grew up on and I’m proud of that background. We have our own dirt team. My brother drives for me and I’m sure some day when I’m not in Winston Cup it’s where I plan to go back to and enjoy life. Racing is what I do and it’s what I love.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benson Richmond Record

Race Year S F

Spring 2003 13 15

Fall 2002 9 35

Spring 2001 DNS

Fall 2001 27 10

Spring 2001 11 6

Fall 2000 8 7

Spring 2000 23 25

Fall 1999 30 22

Spring 1999 26 28

Fall 1998 32 41

Spring 1998 8 18

Fall 1997 37 13

Spring 1997 23 9

Fall 1996 34 10

Spring 1996 33 37

Benson 2003 Record

S F

Daytona 40 19

Rockingham 2 13

Las Vegas 16 12

Atlanta 23 11

Darlington 22 25

Bristol 20 19

Texas 13 32

Talladega 17 41

Martinsville 28 32

California 32 36

Richmond 13 15

Charlotte 10 24

Dover 30 5

Pocono 25 24

Michigan 26 25

Infineon 25 30

Daytona 22 27

Chicago 36 18

Loudon 26 26

Pocono 29 20

Indianapolis 40 13

Watkins Glen 27 27

Michigan 35 10

Bristol 32 14

Darlington 11 40

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE RACE: Chevy Rock and Roll 400

Race: Saturday, September 6, 2003 in Richmond, VA

TV: TNT - 7:40pm/et

Pre-Race Show: TNT - 7:00pm/et - hosted by Bill Weber

Scheduled Race Re-Air: one-hour recap of the race on Wednesday, September 10th at 7:00pm/et and again on September 11th at 1:00am/et; a full three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday, September 11th

Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach

Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Dave Burns

War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests

Purse/Race Awards: $3,841,298 in 2002

2002 Race Winner: Matt Kenseth, 94.787mph, started 25th

Event/Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett, Sept 1997, 109.047mph

Oldest Winner: Harry Gant, 51 years, 7 months, 28 days, Sept 1991

Youngest Winner: Richmond Petty, 23 years, 9 months, 21 days, April 1961

Most Laps Led: Bobby Allison, Sept 1979, 369 laps

Most Cautions: 14 (3 Times), most recently May 2002

Fewest Cautions: 0, March 1976

Most Caution Laps: 123 (2 times) most recently Sept 1974

Worst Starting Spot to Win: Richard Petty, March 1971, started 28th

Track/Race Length: 0.75 mile oval, 400 laps, 300 miles

Pit Road Speed: 35mph

Practice: Friday, September 5th, 11:20am - 1:20pm/et; 4:45 - 5:30pm/et Happy Hour Practice: Friday, September 5th, 6:10 - 6:55pm/et on TV-TNT tape delay at 7:00pm/et.

Qualifying Draw: Friday, September 5th, 10:20am/et First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, September 5th at 3:05pm/et, TV-TNT live.

Track Qualifying Record: Ward Burton, May 2002, 127.389mph

Event Qualifying Record: Jimmie Johnson, Sept 2002, 126.145mph

Last Year's Pole Sitter: Jimmie Johnson, 126.145, finished 13th.

Track Specs:

Short Track: 0.75-mile oval, 60-foot width with 10-foot apron

Banking: turns: 14 degrees; frontstretch 8 degrees; backstretch 2 degrees

Straights: Backstretch - 860 feet; Frontstretch - 1290 feet

Seating Capacity: ~105,00

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information

Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown

Owners: Valvoline (Jim Rocco)/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton)