10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny
Benson has pleasant memories of last year’s race at the
North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham race. It
resulted in Benson’s first career victory. The day included
a meeting of the Johnny Benson Fan Club that saw about 100
of the 6,700 members visit with Benson in a hospitality tent
before the race.
Benson plays hosts to his fan club
meeting again on Sunday and hopes he can put on the same
type of performance during the race. Rockingham might be
Benson's favorite track and with a productive tire test at
Homestead last week he hopes to end his tenure in the #10
car on a high note at the final two races.
Rockingham:
“Last year’s win was great, but with
what has been going on here lately another win at Rockingham
would be even better. We have had it circled on the calendar
for a while. Heck, we have even talked about how we would
celebrate if we were lucky enough to win again. It will be
something you have never seen before. We are motivated. We
want to win. This team has been together for four years and
we want to win Rockingham or Homestead just as much as we
wanted to win Daytona when we first started. That would be
going out in style.
“I like Rockingham. Obviously, part of
it is that it’s fast and kind of medium banked which fits my
driving style. The other part is something I can’t explain.
I just feel comfortable there. We clinched the Busch Series
title there in 1995 and then to get our first Cup victory
makes Rockingham a really special place to me.”
Fan Club Meeting At Rockingham:
"Yeah we started a deal two
years ago where we invited everyone in the fan club to
Rockingham. Last year it worked perfectly. They had a
hospitality tent so I hung out there Sunday morning and then
we won the race with all of them sitting in the stands. My
sister Barb runs the fan club and does a really good job. If
you are ever feeling down or frustrated with what is going
on at the track you go to one of those type of things and
walk out of there feeling a lot better. I think that is true
with all drivers. The fans can really lift you up
sometimes."
How Has Your Life Changed Since
Rockingham Last Year?
“It hasn’t changed much. I
sure get asked about it a lot and that’s great. I got tired
of people asking when I was going to win. Now it seems like
everyone asks when are we going to get that second one."
What Are Your Memories?
“I just remember racing hard
there at the end and then the party we had afterward at the
track and then back at our #10 shop. We had come so close so
many times and the guys deserved that win. We say it all the
time, but the fans need to know just how hard and how many
hours those guys who work for these teams put in every
week.”
Only One Rockingham Race in 2004:
“I’d run ten races a year at
Rockingham were it up to me.”
Benson At Rockingham
Date S F
2/23/2003 2 13
11/3/2002 26 1
02/24/2002 3 23
11/04/2001 39 3
02/25/2001 8 6
10/22/2000 14 11
02/27/2000 34 14
10/24/1999 21 28
02/21/1999 37 16
11/01/1998 2 41
02/22/1998 8 30
10/27/1997 20 36
02/23/1997 21 27
10/20/1996 38 40
02/25/1996 3 20
THE RACE: Pop-Secret Microwave
Popcorn 400
Winston Cup Race #35 of 36 for the
2003 Winston Cup season
Race: Sunday, November 9, 2003 in
Rockingham, NC
TV: TNT - 1:00pm/et
Pre-Race Show: TNT - 12:30pm/et -
hosted by Bill Weber
Scheduled Race Re-Air: on Speed
Channel
a one-hour recap of the race scheduled
for:
Wednesday, November 12th at 7:00pm/et
and again on November 13th at 1:00am/et; and a full
three-hour race show will re-air at 3:00pm/et on Thursday,
November 12th
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: (was $3,868,755 in
2002)
2002 Race Winner: Johnny Benson,
128.526mph, started 26th
Race Record: Jeff Burton, Oct 1999,
131.103mph
Most Wins - Active Driver: Rusty
Wallace, 5
Most Wins - All Time: Richard Petty,
11
Most Poles - Active Driver/All-Time:
Mark Martin, Kyle Petty, 5
Most Top 5s: 20 - Richard Petty
Most Top 10s: 29 - Darrell Waltrip
Slowest Race Record: Richard Petty,
1977, 97.860mph
Oldest Winner: Bobby Allison, 46
years, 3 months, 1 days, 3/4/84
Youngest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 23
years, 6 months, 22 days, 2/26/95
Most Cautions: 14 - Twice, most
recently 10/22/89
Most Caution Laps: 118, 3/13/1977
Fewest Cautions: 2 - 3 times, most
recently 11/4/2001
Fewest Caution Laps: 12, 10/25/1992
Most on the Lead Lap: 19 - twice, most
recently 2/24/2002
Fewest on the Lead Lap: 1 - 15 times,
most recently 3/28/1982
Most Running at the Finish: 42 -
2/27/2000
Fewest Running at the Finish: 13 -
Twice, most recently 10/29/67
Worst Starting Spot to Win: Neil
Bonnet, 1988, started 30th
Most Lead Changes: 36 - Twice, most
recently 10/30/1983
Fewest Lead Changes: 2 - 3/18/1973
Most Laps Led by a Race Winner: 491 -
David Pearson, 3/181973
Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 13 -
Darrell Waltrip 3/1/1981
Practice
Practice: Friday, November 7th, 11:20
- 1:20pm/et; and Saturday, November 8th, 9:30 - 10:15am/et
Happy Hour Practice: Saturday,
November 8th, 11:10 - 11:55am/et on TV-TNT tape delay at
2:00pm/et.
Qualifying
Qualifying Draw: Friday, November 7th,
10:20am/et
First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for
positions 1-36, Friday, November 7th at 3:05pm/et, TV-TNT
live
Track Qualifying Record: Rusty
Wallace, Feb 2000, 158.035mph
Event Qualifying Record: Mark Martin,
Oct 1999, 157.383mph
Last Year's Pole Sitter: Ryan Newman,
132.655, finished 18th
February 2003's Pole Sitter: #12-Ryan
Newman, 155.836mph, finished
Track Specs: North Carolina Speedway,
know as 'The Rock':
Track/Race Length: 1.017 mile oval,
393 laps, 399.68 miles
Degree of Banking: Turns 1-2: 22
degrees; Turns 3-4: 25 degrees; Straightaways:
8 degrees
Width: Turns 55 feet wide;
Straightaways: 50 feet wide
Number of Pits: 45 on front straight
(1,436 ft. long) pit road
Pit Stalls: 30 feet long; 16 feet wide
Length of Front Straight: 1,300 feet
Length of Back Straight: 1,367 feet
Length of Turns 1 & 2: 1,256 feet
Length of Turns 3 & 4: 1,437 feet
Grandstand Seating: 60,113
Pit Road Speed: 45mph
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#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) Mark Green
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
