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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.
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