DANA Dodge Report from Martinsville
1 October 1997
#18 DANA Dodge Notes & Quotes FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Cornelius, NC (September 29, 1997) =97 Johnny Benson, Jr. piloted the #18 Dana Dodge this weekend at Martinsville Speedway to a 15th place starting position for the Hanes 250 in the 21st race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule. This was the first NCTS race of the season for Benson, a NASCAR Winston Cup series regular and 1996 Rookie-of-the-Year in that series. Johnny Benson has twelve previous starts for team owner Kurt Roehrig, racking up one pole, two outside poles, four top-5 finishes, and eight top-10 finishes. "We were terribly loose in qualifying," said Benson. "We were better in practice. I got loose in turn two on the second qualifying lap and pretty much wrecked without hitting anything. It was driver error." The race start saw a contingent of Dodges in mid pack, with the Dodges of= Tony=20 Ranes and Jimmy Hensley in front of the Dana Dodge driven by Benson. The= media did a double-take during driver introductions as this week's teamm= ates Tony Raines and Johnny Benson, Jr. arrived in matching Pennzoil fire= suits. Benson handles the wheeling duties for the #30 Pennzoil Pontica in= the NASCAR Winston Cup series. Johnny Benson, Jr. took off from his 15th starting position, and quickly manuevered through the Martinsville traffic to place the Dana Dodge in the top ten withing the first forty laps. Drivers saw the Dana Corporation colors passing by as lap after lap, Benson expertly wheeled the Dana Dodge up through the field, reaching a high of fifth place by lap 65. The story changed on lap 75, however, as a cut right front tire shot the Dana Dodge into the outside retaining wall. With the #14 vehicle of Rick Crawford unable to get out of the way, damage to the front and the back of the Dana dodge meant a trip to the garage and on the hauler, done for the day. "We were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time," said Benson. "It was either a tire cut down or the a-frame broke, but there was no reason for the rearend to be wrecked. It was great driving for Kurt (Roehrig) again- he's always had awesome equipment, and I was happy to do it for Dana. It was good practice for tomorrow." Next up for the DANA Dodge... ...is Tom Hubert behind the wheel for the Kragen 151 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Californaia. Hubert has plenty of experience at this 2.52 mile road course, in both the NASCAR Southwest Tour and in the Winston Cup series last May when he piloted the #78 Hanes/Diamond Rio car. In May, Hubert qualified second fastest in second round of qualifying, and finished 28th- one lap down after running on the lead lap most of the day. The Kragen 151 is the 22nd race on the 1997 schedule for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It is 60 laps manuevering around 11 turns, and is one of only three raod courses on the schedule. Television coverage begins at 3:00pm on ESPN2, and radio coverage begins at the same time on Truck Racing Network, a division on Motor Racing Network. For the radio station in your area, check out the affiliate list on NASCAR Online- www.nascar.com. In Dana News... =20 Several people from Dana Corporation enjoyed hospitality this weekend in Martinsville, including a group from Dana Merchandising Services, headed up by Linda Gonyer. The group had the opportunity to tour the pit and garage areas at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday and Sunday, meet Johnny Benson, Jr., and speak with some of the race mechanics on Dana products used in the Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck race vehicles. The #18 Dana Dodge used the new light weight Spicer race ready driveshaft this weekend, and over 80% of the NASCAR Winston Cup teams use many Dana products on their cars, including Spicer driveshafts, Spicer u-joints, and Wix oil and air filters. =20 Dana Dodge On-Board Activity... The next on-board camera event for the #18 Dana Dodge will be the Dodge = California Truckstop 300 at Sears Point Raceway on October 12. In Team News... Roehrig Motorsport teammate Tony Raines posted an 11th place staring position and finished the Hanes 250 in the 23rd place. The #19 Pennzoil Dodge carries associate sponsorship from Dana Corporation. About DANA Corporation... Dana Corporation and four of its major brands- Spicer, Victor Reinz, Wix, and Perfect Circle, comprise the primary sponsorship of the #18 Dana Dodge. Dana is the worldwide leader in the engineering, manufacturing, and distribution of products and systems for the vehicular, industrial, and off-highway markets. A unique aspect of the relationship of Dana Corporation and Roehrig Motorsport is in the product and engineering provided. Many of the automotive components that Dana Corporation manufactures are used on the race truck, including filtration products, sealing products, gasket technology, driveshaft, and drivetrain technology. For more information on DANA Corporation's products and technology, check out the DANA web site at http://www.dana.com.
