It wasn’t exciting or even very pretty at times.

But #10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson’s ninth-place finish Saturday
night looked like a work of art on paper after the race.

Benson spent most of the 400-lap race between 10th and 15th turning consistent
lap times and waging some fender-to-fender duals. While others encountered
troubles, Benson and his teammates stayed safe and used quick pit stops
throughout the night.

“We did what we had to do tonight,” Benson said. “We stayed out of trouble and
the guys in the pits made life easier for me.”

The night didn’t start as well as he hoped. After beginning the race in ninth,
Benson dropped a few spots reporting on the team radio he was having trouble
turning.

For the rest of the race the James Ince-led crew worked to make the Valvoline
Pontiac turn better.

"It took us all day to get back where we started. It was just tough. We were
just off a little on the balance, that's all,” Benson said. “James [Ince] and
the guys just kept working on it. I had a tough time with it, so I'm extremely
happy with ninth. I don't think we deserved ninth. They kept working on it trying to get it better for me.”

The car began to turn better and Benson took advantage of long green flag runs
to climb up through the field. When the checkered flag fell, Benson had moved
up to ninth.

It marked another decent run of late for Benson. Last week in Darlington a
top-ten run ended when Benson’s was caught up in another’s crash. Before that
race  he had consecutive top-15 finishes on the last three ovals.

“We are running better for sure,” Benson said. “As James says we are taking
baby steps. We are seeing improvement.”

Ryan Newman won Saturday’s race, but that will probably be a footnote after a
Ricky Rudd-Kevin Harvick altercation in the closing laps led to an off-track
skirmish on pit road after the race between drivers and crews that are sure to
dominate headlines for the near future.

Benson and his teammates return to action Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Results from Saturday night's Chevrolet 400 at Richmond International Raceway:

 1. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 180 - 5 bonus points
 2. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 170
3. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 165
4. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 165 - 5 bonus points
5. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 155
 6. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 155 - 5 bonus points
 7. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 146
8. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 147 - 5 bonus points
9.(10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 138
10. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 144 - 10 bonus points
11. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 130
12. (09) Mike Wallace, Dodge, 132 - 5 bonus points
13. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 129 - 5 bonus points
14. (1) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 121
15. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 118
16. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 120 - 5 bonus points
17. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 117 - 5 bonus points
18. (01)Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 109
19. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 106
20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 108 - 5 bonus points
 21. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 100
22. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 102 - 5 bonus points
 23. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 94
 24. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 91
25. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 88
 26. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 85
27. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 82
28. (0) Jason Leffler, Pontiac, 84 - 5 bonus points
29. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 76
30. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 73
 31. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 70
32. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 67
33. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 64
34. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 61
35. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 58
36. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 55
37. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 52
38. (4) Johnny Sauter, Pontiac, 49
39. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 46
40. (02) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 43
41.(41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 40
42. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 37
43. (43) Christian Fittipaldi, Dodge, 34

 Average speed of race winner: 94.945 mph. Time of race: 3
hours, 9 minutes, 35 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.159 seconds. Caution flags:
14 for 76 laps. Lead changes: 20 among 12 drivers. Lap leaders: M. Skinner
(Pole winner); M. Martin 1; G. Biffle 2-3; J. Gordon 4-64; R. Newman 65; J.
Leffler 66-84; M. Wallace 85-91; J. Gordon 92-120; J. Burton 121; K. Harvick
122-144; T. Labonte 145-151; B. Labonte 152-156; T. Labonte 157-159; J. Burton 160-163; D. Earnhardt Jr 164-196; S. Marlin 197; D. Earnhardt Jr 198-213; J. Gordon 214-242; D. Earnhardt Jr 243-269; J. Gordon 270-276; R. Newman 277-400.

Point Standings
1. Matt Kenseth, 3864
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3446
3. Kevin Harvick, 3423
4. Jimmie Johnson, 3363
5. Jeff Gordon, 3271
6. Ryan Newman, 3255
7. Bobby Labonte, 3208
8. Kurt Busch, 3205
9. Terry Labonte, 3082
10. Michael Waltrip, 3079
11. Tony Stewart, 3018
12. Jeff Burton, 3009
13. Robby Gordon, 2990
14. Mark Martin, 2861
15. Rusty Wallace, 2812
16. Bill Elliott, 2787
17. Sterling Marlin, 2768
18. Greg Biffle, 2713
19. Ward Burton, 2694
20. Jamie McMurray, 2685
21. Ricky Craven, 2653
22. Elliott Sadler, 2629
23. Johnny Benson, 2554
24. Jeremy Mayfield, 2521
25. Ricky Rudd, 2520
26. Joe Nemechek, 2505
27. Dale Jarrett, 2470
28. Dave Blaney, 2389
29. Jimmy Spencer, 2289
30. Kenny Wallace, 2244
31. Steve Park, 2225
32. Todd Bodine, 2178
33. Jeff Green, 1976
34. Casey Mears, 1917
35. Ken Schrader, 1837
36. Kyle Petty, 1836
37. Tony Raines, 1804
38. John Andretti, 1502
39. Mike Skinner, 1463
40. Jack Sprague, 1284
41. Larry Foyt, 921
42. Mike Wallace, 903
43. Jerry Nadeau, 844
44. Christian Fittipaldi, 647
45. Derrike Cope, 549
46. Jason Leffler, 376
47. Brett Bodine, 308
48. Johnny Sauter, 289
49. Kevin Lepage, 266
50. Scott Pruett, 236