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Benson 21st at Dover
#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny
Benson’s 21st-place finish Sunday at Dover International
Speedway might not seem all that impressive compared to his
fifth-place finish there in June.
But Sunday’s race posed a lot more
obstacles just for the Valvoline team to get to the finish.
Before the first ten laps were complete, the Valvoline
Pontiac had sustained heavy rear end damage when Dave Blaney
hit Benson while the pair raced in traffic. By the half way
mark, Benson had completed a long green flag run with a tire
going flat. In the final third of the race, Benson ran over
debris on the track heavily damaging the front valence
forcing the Valvoline team to bring Benson to pit road
several times.
“We fought something all day today,
but we made it to the end,” Benson said after the race. “A
couple of the things that happened to us that usually end
your day at a racetrack but we were able to keep going and
get a respectable finish.“
NASCAR set Sunday’s field based on the
season point standings after hurricane Isabel cancelled
Friday qualifying. Benson lined up 26th on the grid.
He appeared to have a fast car on the long green flag runs,
but spent most of the race in traffic trying to regain the
lap he lost in the first 90 laps.
“The race started with us getting hit
in the back then a long green flag run and we were just
tight and got down that lap,” Benson said. “We never got a
shot at making it up.”
On the next run, Benson again
complained of handling problems only to find out a tire was
losing air pressure. But the day’s most frustrating moment
came when debris from Ken Schrader’s car flew off on the
backstretch.
“There wasn’t much I could do,” Benson
said. “The car in front of me swerved at the last second and
I ran over it.” The debris caved in the front valence,
which is critical to the aerodynamics needed to drive
through the turns on the high-speed mile oval. Benson
made several pit stops as the crew repaired the damage but
those stops forced Benson to the back of the field.
“We pretty much struggled after that
happened,” he said. “We were just at the wrong spot at the
wrong time.”
Ryan Newman won the race holding off a
charge by Jeremy Mayfield.
The Valvoline team returns to action
Sunday in Talladega.
Race results and points awarded
1. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 180 - 5
bonus points
2. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 170
3. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 170 -
5 bonus points
4. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 170
- 10 bonus points
5. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 160 -
5 bonus points
6. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 150
7. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 146
8. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 142
9. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 143 - 5
bonus points
10. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 134
11. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 130
12. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 127
13. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 129 -
5 bonus points
14. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 121
15. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 118
16. (43) Jeff Green, Dodge, 115
17. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 112
18. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 109
19. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 106
20. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 103
21. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 100
22. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 97
23. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 94
24. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 91
25. (0) Jason Leffler, Pontiac, 88
26. (30) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 85
27. (4) Kevin Lepage, Pontiac, 82
28. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 79
29. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 76
30. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 73
31. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 70
32. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 67
33. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 64
34. (1) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 61
35. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 58
36. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 55
37. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet,
57 - 5 bonus points
38. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 49
39. (02) Hermie Sadler, Pontiac, 46
40. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 43
41. (01) Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 40
42. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet,
37
43. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 34
Average speed of race winner: 108.802
mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 40 minutes, 35
seconds.
Margin of victory: 1.152 seconds.
Caution flags: 7 for 63 laps.
Lead changes: 13 among 7 drivers.
Lap leaders: M. Kenseth 0; K. Harvick
1-11; R. Newman 12-44; K. Harvick 45-166; S. Marlin 167; J.
Gordon 168-180; D. Earnhardt Jr 181-198; T. Stewart 199-212;
D. Earnhardt Jr 213-237; M. Kenseth 238; D. Earnhardt Jr
239-243; J. Gordon 244; T. Stewart 245-327; R. Newman
328-400.
Points
1. Matt Kenseth, 4158
2. Kevin Harvick, 3722
3. Jimmie Johnson, 3685
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3668
5. Ryan Newman, 3578
6. Jeff Gordon, 3542
7. Bobby Labonte, 3393
8. Kurt Busch, 3372
9. Terry Labonte, 3294
10. Tony Stewart, 3291
11. Michael Waltrip, 3206
12. Robby Gordon, 3189
13. Jeff Burton, 3173
14. Rusty Wallace, 3096
15. Bill Elliott, 3073
16. Mark Martin, 3037
17. Sterling Marlin, 2973
18. Jamie McMurray, 2969
19. Greg Biffle, 2893
20. Elliott Sadler, 2877
21. Ricky Rudd, 2825
22. Jeremy Mayfield, 2821
23. Ward Burton, 2816
24. Ricky Craven, 2745
25. Johnny Benson, 2742
26. Joe Nemechek, 2704
27. Dale Jarrett, 2619
28. Dave Blaney, 2601
29. Jimmy Spencer, 2501
30. Kenny Wallace, 2378
31. Steve Park, 2376
32. Todd Bodine, 2348
33. Jeff Green, 2091
34. Casey Mears, 2084
35. Kyle Petty, 1976
36. Ken Schrader, 1953
37. Tony Raines, 1941
38. John Andretti, 1690
39. Mike Skinner, 1600
40. Jack Sprague, 1284
41. Larry Foyt, 921
42. Mike Wallace, 903
43. Jerry Nadeau, 844
44. Christian Fittipaldi, 717
45. Derrike Cope, 607
46. Jason Leffler, 546
47. Johnny Sauter, 356
48. Kevin Lepage, 348
49. Brett Bodine, 308
50. Hermie Sadler, 260
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