Pennzoil Pontiac Racing Preview: NHIS

Name: North American International Auto Show Returns to Detroit
Uploaded: 2023-03-02T00:39:09+00:00
Duration: T0H3M37S
Description: 2022 Overview report by Mark Ducker and Wild Road Pictures.
8 September 1997

Benson Says Modifieds, Top-10 Bid  Highlight  NHIS Weekend

   Pennzoil Pontiac driver Johnny Benson said watching the fast 
modified cars race around New Hampshire International Speedway is one 
of the highlights of  visiting the mile oval in Loudon, N.H.  Benson's 
crew chief Doug Hewitt is a former modified driver and several crew 
members have experience working in the ultra-fast open wheel cars 
predominant in the Northeast.

   While watching the modified race on Saturday promises excitement, 
the Pennzoil team knows its there to work on Sunday. Benson hopes a 
good run will propel him into the top 10 in the point standings. 
Benson is 12th trailing 10th-place Ricky Rudd by 69 points and 
11th-place Jeremy Mayfield by 60 points. 
Benson on:


...on watching Saturday's modified races:

   "One of the neat things about racing in New Hampshire is watching 
the modified cars. We don't get a chance to see the modifieds, but 
only a few times a year. A lot of the guys on our Pennzoil team used 
to work on those cars so they are all interested and they have told me 
lots of stories about that series. My Dad drove supermodifieds back in 
Michigan, but he wouldn't let me drive open wheel cars out of his 
garage because he said they were too dangerous. We laugh about that 
now because little did he know I would be driving a car at 200 mph in 
NASCAR someday."

...this race vs. the July race:

   "I think this weekend's race will be better than the first. We 
learned from the first race and apply it to the Pennzoil Pontiac for 
this race.  Everyone will do that and the competition will be ever 
stronger. The guy who learns the most from the first will do the best 
this weekend. "

...New Hampshire International Speedway:

   "I like New Hampshire because it's a flat, mile track like the 
tracks I drove on in the ASA series and it's like some tracks on the 
Busch Grand National Series.  Flat tracks are more my style because 
it's fast and takes a lot of finesse. For some reason the Pontiacs 
tend to run a little better at these kinds of  tracks, so that's 
another reason as well."

Benson's Winston Cup Record at New Hampshire

                           S   F  LC  TL   Status    Money

1996  Jiffy Lube 300      38   9  300 300  Running   $ 27,825 
                                                 
1997  Jiffy Lube 300      32  18  299 300  Running    $32,150
                                           


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Cohn & Wolfe
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