Pennzoil Pontiac Race Report: Benson at Bristol
26 August 1997
Benson Dodges Cars, But Not Caution Flag August 23, 1997 Bristol, Tenn. Pennzoil Pontiac driver Johnny Benson survived 500 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night as he dodged several spinning and even one flipping car. But, Benson's biggest nemesis at the world's fastest half-mile track turned out to be an untimely yellow flag that dropped the 1996 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year two laps behind the leaders. Benson posted an 18th-place finish -- four laps behind the leaders -- but remains 12th in the point standings. "It was a rough weekend," Benson said immediately after the race. "We are still searching for the right setup here. We seem to always struggle here, but we worked hard tonight and stayed out of trouble. And, we avoided a lot of wrecks." Benson began Saturday's race in 22nd position and struggled with handling in the early part of the race. A few stops during caution periods enabled his Bahari' team to improve the car allowing Benson to race in the top 20. As the race wore on Benson reported a push condition that made the car difficult to turn in the high-banked corners of Bristol. New tires were almost a half a second faster at Bristol, so the team decided to pit a bit early on lap 183 to take on new tires and correct the push condition. Because it takes only 17 seconds to make a lap at Bristol, Benson fell down two laps to the leaders while making his green flag stop. He would regain the laps when the leaders pitted, unless a caution fell -- which it did. The leaders pitted under yellow and Benson never regained the laps. "Man, that killed us," Benson said. "But there is really nothing you can do about that. We had to pit and that is the risk you take in short track racing." But luck and skill enabled Benson to dodge several wrecks throughout the evening. The most spectacular occurring just past the halfway mark in the race when 10 cars careened down the front stretch blocking the track and forcing Benson to stop. The wreck included David Green whose car flipped before landing right-side-up. The scary accident didn't injure Green. Late in the race, Mike Skinner slammed the turn one wall and slid inches from Benson's Pennzoil Pontiac. Benson and his Bahari teammates return to action on Sunday in Darlington, S.C. For More Information Contact: Drew Brown Cohn & Wolfe (404) 880-5269 drew_brown@cohnwolfe.com
