#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny
Benson likes this weekend’s new night racing schedule at
Lowes Motor Speedway. Benson said the Charlotte race for the
NASCAR Winston Cup race teams is kind of like a high school
or college football team’s homecoming game. The stands are
full of friends and what they see Saturday night will be
talked about around town for several months. Benson said a
win at Charlotte could make a season. He said his team is
targeting the final few races for a victory like they did
last season by winning Rockingham.
Benson was running third Sunday when he was involved in a
collision with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a caution. The
Valvoline team announced today that Jay Guy will serve as
Benson’s crew chief for the remainder of the 2003 season.
Benson On Qualifying at Night:
“That is going to be cool. In
more ways than one. I mean it will look neat for the fans
and on television and the way the weather has been lately, I
think that means you will see some pretty fast times. I
figure you will see a track record. We didn’t test there but
from what I hear the speeds were pretty fast.
“Charlotte will be fun. This is where
most of us live and our wives and families and friends you
see around town every day will all be there. I guess it’s
kind of like wanting to do well in your Homecoming game in
high school or college. This is a big race for us. You can
make a good season great by winning there.”
Do You Like The New Charlotte
Schedule:
“I love the change. I wish we
raced all of our races on Saturday night. That gives the
crew guys an extra day off and for the fans I think night
racing is just a lot more exciting. Somehow, everything
looks faster at night.”
Are Teams As Focused Now As They
Were At The Start Of The Season?
“Yes I know we are. Sunday was
one of our best runs of the season. Sure we are tired and
could use another weekend off like everyone else. But, I can
only speak for our team. We are totally focused. We won at
Rockingham at the end of last year. Finishing off the season
with a win or two would make anyone’s year. It would
be easy to say yeah we are frustrated and let’s just get
through the season and move on to next year. But we are
racers, we would race golf carts in the motor home lot if
they let us. We are focused on winning. Plus, if you do well
at the end of this year it makes the off season a lot better
and you go in sky high for Daytona next season. I’d take a
win at any point in the season. A win is a win no matter
when it comes.”
The audio segment
below is Johnny Benson
discussing the upcoming race at Charlotte
Click Play to Listen
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THE RACE: UAW-GM Quality 500
Winston Cup Race #31 of 36 for the
2003 Winston Cup season
Race: Saturday, October 11, 2003 in
Concord, NC
TV: NBC - 7:20pm/et
Pre-Race Show: NBC - 7:00pm/et -
hosted by Bill Weber
Scheduled Race Re-Air: there will be a
one-hour recap of the race scheduled for: Wednesday,
October 15th at 7:00pm/et and again on October 16th at
1:00am/et; and a full three-hour race show will re-air at
3:00pm/et on Thursday, October 16th
Announcers: Allen Bestwick, Benny
Parsons, Wally Dallenbach
Pit Reporters: Bill Weber, Matt Yocum,
Marty Snider, Dave Burns
War Wagon: Bill Weber and many guests
NASCAR on TV
Purse/Race Awards: $4,264,749
2002 Race Winner: Jamie McMurray,
141.481mph, started 5th
Event Race Record: Jeff Gordon, Oct
1999, 151.952mph
Practice: Thursday, October 9th, 2:20
- 4:20pm/et; and Friday, October 10th, 4:00 - 4:45pm/et
Happy Hour Practice: Friday, October
10th, 5:40 - 6:25pm/et on TV-Speed Channel live.
Qualifying Draw: Thursday, October
9th, 1:20pm/et
First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Thursday,
October 9th at 7:05pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live, no re-air
date/time found.
Race/Event Qualifying Record: Ward
Burton, Oct 1994, 185.759mph
Track Qualifying Record: Jimmie
Johnson, May 2002, 186.464mph.
Last Year's Pole Sitter: none - rained
out; #20-Stewart started 1st based on owners points,
finished 3rd.
Track Specs:
Superspeedway: 1.5-mile quad oval
Banking: turns: 24 degrees; straights:
5 degrees
Straights: Frontstretch - 1952.8 feet;
Backstretch - 1360 feet
Grandstand Seating: 167,000
#10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information
Pit Contact: Jay Guy or Drew Brown
Owners: Valvoline (Jim Rocco)/MB2
Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton)
Crew Chief/Car Chief: Jay Guy
Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports
Spotter (Race Day) TBD
Spotter (Practice Only) Russell
Hoekwater
Engine Tuner John Kendrach
Over The Wall Pit Crew
Front Tire Changer Rick (Fuzz)
Burgdoff
Front Tire Carrier Shane Cooke
Rear Tire Changer Greg Burkhart
Rear Tire Carrier Steve Genenbacher
Gasman Jimmy Watts
Tire Specialist Skippy Johnson
Catch Can Steve Mann
Jackman Brian Perry
Other Crew Members
Truck Driver: Jerry Hess
Mechanic: David Baum
Shocks: Mike Cluka
Tires: Jeff (Skippy) Johnson
Engineer: Tim Turner
Computers & Gas Runner: John Hayes
Scorer: Terry Lane
Pit Stop Coach: Gary Smith
PR Rep: Drew Brown
