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BENSON ‘LOOKING
FORWARD’ TO
FIRST RACE AT NASHVILLE
Johnny Benson is a
big fan of going to a race track for the first time. In
fact, he uses the word “love” to describe his feelings.
And when that emotion is coupled with how well he and the
Yellow Transportation team are running, Benson is all
aglow about Saturday’s Pepsi 400 at Nashville
Superspeedway. The 225-lap event will be televised live
by FX beginning at 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
“I am really looking forward to this weekend,” says
Benson. “I believe we will have a very good weekend.
I love going to tracks for the first time. It is
something I’ve always enjoyed. And I usually have some
success when we run somewhere the first time.”
Benson had never seen the 1.333-mile facility “except on
TV” until last month when he and the Yellow team tested at
the Tennessee track. “We tested with the Cup car,” says
Benson. “It was awfully cold so we didn’t learn a whole
lot as far as the new tire is concerned. But it was good
chance for me to get a feel for the track.”
What Benson discovered was “it is very different –
especially from the flag stand into turn one. It
basically has an extra corner down the front stretch. It
is a pretty significant dogleg.
“It acts almost like another corner,” adds the driver of the Yellow
Transportation Dodge. “Not so much for handling, but for
being aware of where you are at, if cars are around you
and things of that nature. The distance (between the
flag stand and turn one) is deceiving because the track
has some elevation changes at that point. It is
unique. I don’t think it is bad. It is just something
you need to be aware of.”
Benson was “impressed” with how smooth the concrete
surface was. “I’m really looking forward to racing
there,” says Benson. “It is always a lot of fun to go to
a new place.”
Another reason why Benson expects a “fun” weekend is how
much ground he and the Yellow team have made up in their
quest to become a factor in the race for the 2004 NASCAR
Busch Series championship.
An early-race accident in the season-opener at Daytona
International Speedway left Benson in 41st
place in the point standings. His fourth-place finish
last Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway vaulted him into 15th
place. It also put him over the million-dollar mark in
career winnings for the NASCAR Busch Series.
“We actually could be a lot better off points wise,” says Benson. “I’ve
been really happy with how the Yellow Transportation team
has run so far this season. Our results haven’t always
been what we wanted. Obviously, Bristol was a
heartbreaker for us. We should have two straight
top-fives heading to Nashville.”
Benson was running third with less than two laps to go two
weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway when the Yellow Dodge
was clipped by the car driven by David Stremme. The
contact caused Benson to bounce off the wall and spin down
the track. As a result, Benson finished 13th.
“But we are still real early in the season,” points out
Benson. “We just need to keep running like we have been,
get in the top 10 as quickly as we can, and then try and
get in position to challenge for the championship in the
last third of the season.
Benson and Team Yellow are only 51 points out of the top
10 and 124 from being in the top five
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