Pennzoil Pontiac Race Preview: Benson Ready for Darlington
27 August 1997
Benson Ready For New Darlington=20 =20 Johnny Benson started 36th at Darlington in April and appeared=20 headed for a top-five finish before a late-race brush with the turn=20 three wall relegated the Pennzoil Pontiac driver to 10th place.=20 Another good run at NASCAR's oldest speedway is important in Benson's=20 bid to climb into the top-10 in the 1997 Winston Cup Point standings.=20 He is in 12th place now, but only 65 points behind Ricky Rudd in 10th=20 place. This weekend's race poses a new challenge to all of the=20 drivers. Darlington flipped the frontstretch and backstretch. The=20 first turn is now the old turn three and the old turn three is now the=20 first turn. Benson on: ...Darlington's new configuration: "I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's gong to take some time=20 getting used to everything, but I think I will like the change. I=20 don't know if we are going to have to dramatically alter anything we=20 are doing with the Pennzoil Pontiac. We are certainly going to qualify=20 better this time. I like passing people, but starting 36th at=20 Darlington like I did last time is just way too much work.=20 "Some people really dislike Darlington, but I don't. It's a very=20 challenging place. Each of the turns has a different radius and=20 usually the track gets hot and greasy. I know it's a clich=E9, but you=20 really have to race the track and not worry as much about who you are=20 passing. We have always raced pretty good there and I really hope that=20 doesn't change." ...are you more relaxed in your second year: "A second year has definitely helped. Whenever you go into a new=20 arena there is a certain apprehension, but having run the Busch series=20 for two years I pretty much knew what was going on in the Winston Cup=20 garage. It took some learning of the tracks that I hadn't visited in =20 the Busch series. But, there is still pressure. Pennzoil is a big=20 sponsor and they want to do well, plus you put a lot of pressure on=20 yourself to do well. Everybody in this sport deals with that. ...the Bahari' Team "We have a fairly young team. Most of our guys have about two years=20 experience. So our crew chief Doug Hewitt and engine builder Ron=20 Puryear, who both have a lot of experience, have done a lot of=20 teaching. I think that will pay off long-term for this team. All of=20 them work extremely hard which is important." Benson's Winston Cup Record at Darlington =20 Year S F LC TL Status Money 1996 =20 TranSouth 400 38 24 288 293 Running $ 21,485=20 Mountain Dew Southern 500 27 11 365 367 Running $ 26,440=20 1997 TranSouth 400 36 10 293 293 Running $28,805 For More Information Contact: Drew Brown Cohn & Wolfe (404) 880-5269 drew_brown@cohnwolfe.com =20