TEAM YELLOW SEEKS THIRD STRAIGHT WIN AT ROCKINGHAM  Spartanburg, S.C. (February 19, 2004)

For Johnny Benson and Team Yellow, they can't get to North Carolina Speedway fast enough.

The Media keeps the drivers busy during the race weekend.  Here is Johnny and Ralph Sheehen making their way to the BGN garage to tape an interview for Speed Channel. 

And there are a number of reasons why. First, the team will be seeking their third consecutive victory at the track known as "The Rock." Second, they will run the same car that won both NASCAR Busch Series races at the 1.017-mile facility last year. Third, a "lot of neat things have happened" to Benson at the 1.017-mile facility including his first win in a Cup car. And fourth, the team wants to put what transpired in the season-opening NASCAR Busch Series race behind them as quickly as possible.

Benson, who is running the full Busch Series schedule for the first time since he won the series championship in 1995, laughs when it is pointed out that Team Yellow was unbeaten last year at The Rock.

"That puts a little pressure on me," he says as the smile on his face widens. "But we seem to have run fairly well there ourselves. Even when I was running the Busch cars before, we always seemed to do well there.

"A lot of neat things have happened to me there," adds Benson. "I wrapped up the Busch Grand National championship there. We were able to help the track put together the deal where Pop Secret Microwave sponsored the Cup race. And then winning my first race in a Winston Cup, oops Nextel Cup car (in the fall of 2002), so yeah, I definitely like Rockingham."

Because of his fondness for the track and the team's success at the facility, it comes as no surprise when Benson says, "I'm really looking forward to going there. There are always a lot of you-never-knows in any race, but I hope we can continue the success Yellow Racing has had there."

Jamie McMurray drove the car to the two wins in 2003, while sharing the driving duties with David Stremme, as part of a deal Phoenix Racing owner James Finch had with Chip Ganassi. But when Ganassi decided not to continue the arrangement with Phoenix Racing in 2004, Finch was forced to go in a new direction. That is when he decided to hire Benson.

While Benson was surprised to receive the call from Finch, he was elated to get the chance to drive for a team he believes will contend for wins as well as the championship this year in the Busch Series.

Benson is also driving for Finch in 12 Nextel Cup races. "Because this deal came together so late, Rockingham will be a good place for us just to communicate and get a better feel for working together," says Benson. "Daytona (the first race of the year) is a track where the driver doesn't communicate a lot of changes on the car. It is all about aero (aerodynamics) and engine."

With Saturday's Goody's Headache Powder 200 being the first race for the new spoiler rule as well as the debut of the new, softer tire that the teams will be running all season, Benson believes the race will be crucial one for all of the teams on the Busch Series. "It is going to be interesting with the new tires," says Benson. "Rockingham has been a race track that has been hard on tires in a normal situation.

"We've all wanted something a little bit different, and we have to deal with it," adds Benson. "I've always felt I have been fairly easy on tires. The key will be to make them last long enough so we can be in good shape at the end (of the race)." Crew chief Jon Wolfe agrees with Benson that tires, as usual, will be crucial to the team's success at Rockingham. "It is a hard track to get a good feel for," says Wolfe. "The car that we ran there in both races last year really matched the track, and Jamie was good there. It was his favorite place. "Johnny feels the same way, and we are taking the same car back. So hopefully, we can have the same kind of success." Continuing, Wolfe pointed out "Rockingham is a hard track to get a good handle on as you don't have a big of an aero balance as you do at some of the other tracks. You just have to have grip. You have to stay good on the long runs.

"Traditionally, you don't seem to have a many cautions at Rockingham. You need to have the car set up where it will be consistent for 60-70 laps. That is the tough part."

Wolfe smiles as he adds, "After Daytona, Rockingham can't come fast enough."

Benson lasted only 12 laps in the Hershey's Kisses 300 as he got caught up in the nine-car melee that brought out the race's first yellow flag. "A good run at Rockingham would make all of us forget that pretty quickly," says Benson.