Mechanical Troubles End Benson Cup Race In Texas

Johnny Benson has lots of fond memories of Texas Motor Speedway.

In his seven previous Nextel Cup races on the 1.5-mile, ultra-fast Fort Worth track, Benson notched two top-five finishes and four top-15 finishes. He nearly won the 2001 race.

His good runs continued Saturday as Benson drove his Busch Series car from a 39th starting position all the way up to fourth gaining the most spots of any driver.  He hoped those good fortunes could continue on Sunday in the Nextel Cup race.

"I've always liked Texas for some reason," says Benson. "It's fast and can be pretty tricky but we have seemed to run well."

But Sunday's Nextel Cup race provided very few memorable moments.  The #09 Miccosukee Gaming and Resort Dodge fell out of the race at the lap 151 mark after struggling at the back of the pack most of the race.

"We had a vibration all weekend and eventually we broke a rear end," Benson said.

Benson started the race in 38th and held that position in the early going. He soon fell down a lap to leader Kasey Kahne whose blistering pace left only 26 cars on the lead lap just 80 laps into the race. By lap 118 there were only 17 cars on the lead lap and Benson was part of a handful of cars two laps behind the leaders.

In a race where there were more than a dozen cautions in 2003, only three yellow flags fell in the first 250 laps on Sunday giving most teams very little opportunity to make serious handling adjustments.

"We got the car to the point where were pretty decent and then the rear end broke. We were just off and we have some work to do to figure out what was wrong. Our next race is Talladega so we have a little bit of time."

Benson pulled into the garage and was credited with a 40th place finish.