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SIXTH-PLACE FINISH AT
DARLINGTON POINTS
TEAM YELLOW IN RIGHT DIRECTION
DARLINGTON, SC – Even though
the finish wasn’t what he had envisioned in Saturday’s
Diamond Hill Plywood 200, Johnny Benson left Darlington
Raceway in a good mood. "I really feel good about
the direction of the Yellow Transportation team,” said
Benson after rallying to finish sixth. “After the
problems we had with the car at Rockingham and Las Vegas,
I believe we have found what we need to really run well
the rest of the year.
“The Yellow Transportation Dodge was real good early in
the run, then it would fall off a little bit as the car
would get a little tight,” added Benson. “But then at
end of the run, we would be really good.”
Because of how well the car was performing, Benson and the
Yellow team felt they had an excellent chance of winning
the Darlington event. And when Benson took the lead on
lap 84, they all thinking “Yes We Can.”
And even when Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle got around him
to drop Benson to third with 55 laps to go in the 147-lap
event, everyone was still very optimistic as Benson had
told the team via the radio “I’m going to save the tires
and let the 9 (Burton) and 60 (Biffle) go. On a long
run, I think we’re going to be okay.”
But a major problem to the team’s victory aspirations
developed during the fourth and last yellow flag on lap
101. As Benson got ready to make what everyone knew was
going to be the team’s final pit stop, Benson told the
crew “Just give me a stop like the last one. That was
great (as he got out in front of Biffle and Burton).”
But the lug nuts on the left rear tire would not come off
as smoothly as they are supposed to do. As a result, the
team had a long, long pit stop – 25.37 seconds – to drop
Benson from third to 14th. There
were 42 laps to go when the green flag came out for the
last stop. With 30 laps remaining, Benson had moved up
to tenth. Ten laps later, he was eighth. But he told
crew chief Jon Wolfe, “I’ve burned the tires off, but,” a
determined Benson quickly added, “I’m going to keep
burning.”
On the last lap, Benson attempted to get around David
Stremme. “He was determined I was not going to pass him,”
said Benson. “He put his left side tires on the apron,
forcing me to go even lower. We hit, and I felt we were
both going to spin and wreck so I had to back out of it.”
This forced Benson and the Yellow team to settle for sixth
place. "Great job, Johnny” said Phoenix Racing
general manager Marc Reno and the team’s spotter. “You
drove the wheels off. We’re sorry about the pit stop.
But we’ll get them next time.”
"Don’t worry about it,” replied Benson. “Those things
happen. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. We all know we had a
great car, and we can leave here knowing we had as good a
car as anybody out there.”
The next race for the Yellow Transportation team is the
Sharpie Professional 200 on March 27 at Bristol (Tn.)
Motor Speedway
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