rpm.espn.com: Benson lands third-place finish

ESPN Network: ESPN.com \| RPM \| NBA.com \| NHL.com \| ESPNdeportes \| ABCSports \| WNBA.com \| FANTASY

Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!

Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!

Monday, August 6
Benson lands third-place finish
ESPN.com news services


	Benson

INDIANAPOLIS -- There is something about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that suits Johnny Benson's driving style.

As a rookie in 1996, Benson led 70 laps in the Brickyard 400 before finishing eighth. In Sunday's eighth edition, Benson finished third behind Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin.

"I think it was a bigger accomplishment today because we started way in the back and the car started off pretty terrible," said Benson, whose best career finish is second at Bristol in March 2000. "With everybody making the changes and the work that they did, this was definitely a good challenge for us to where we finished.

"In '96 when we led 70 laps and almost won, I think we had an opportunity to win the race. We just had a little mess-up there in the pits back then and I stalled the car and it kind of hurt us. But this time, we started 26th. To be able to work our way up -- and it took us all day -- but we were able to keep inching our way forward and making some great changes on the car. I think this race was pretty much all about what the pit crew did and what (crew chief) James Ince and all the guys (did)."

Benson and Ince communicated well throughout the race so that the crew could make adjustments to the car during pit stops.

"We started off pretty tight and it looked like a lot of people were doing the same thing, so we started putting rubbers in the springs, trying to free things up," Benson said. "Then for whatever reason it went from one extreme to the next. We ran really good for about eight or 10 laps. Then the next thing I know, I'm sliding like a dirt track trying to go backwards. We just worked, worked, worked and they started adjusting on the track bars and trying to do other adjustments -- stuff that took a long time to do, nothing easy.

"But the Valvoline team just did a tremendous job and worked hard. James Ince made some great calls. For us to come from 26th and run as bad as we did and then get back up to the front, we were pretty happy with how things went."

When asked why he seems to do so well at the flat Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Benson couldn't come up with one specific reason.

"I don't know if I like the flat tracks as much; I just seem to run well on them," Benson said. "This race track is a momentum track. It's a finesse track. The car has got to have a good balance to it and you've got to like sliding around because there were a lot of people doing that today. It was just who could slide it the best and not hitting anything ended up, up front.

"We have a good program on the flat tracks. It took us a little longer this weekend to get where we really wanted the race car to be, but like I said, outside that, once we got it going the Pontiac was pretty good. We just kept working and kept working. I still wasn't real happy at the end with how the car was driving. But I knew track position was going to be good. We only took two tires and just hung on from there."

The Grand Rapids, Michigan native raced late model stock cars around the flat race tracks of Michigan, which may be one reason why he has adapted well to the low banks of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I think most of us drivers in this series grew up on flat tracks," Benson said. "But the type of track that I grew up on (Berlin Raceway) was, I feel, one of the hardest ones in the country. It's flat, it's kind of round, it's extremely fast and it's a deal where finesse is a thing. And like I said, I think all the drivers are great on these type of racetracks. It just sometimes takes the whole package to get it comfortable and get it to where you can drive it around here."

Hot spot
With temperatures hovering around 90 degrees -- and feeling much hotter in the sun -- the shadow of Pagoda proved to be a popular resting place for weather-beaten fans. Nearly 500 people, many sporting fresh sunburns gathered in the shade of the signature tower and watched the last half of the race on a scoreboard-size screen.

Park upset
Nobody led more laps Sunday than Steve Park. Not that it did him much good.

Park was leading for the third time and pulling away from the field when a caution for debris came out on lap 132. Park joined a majority of the front-runners in pitting, but unlike many of the others, his team elected to change four tires instead of two, dropping the Pennzoil Chevrolet back to eighth. Park wound up finishing seventh despite leading a race-high 39 laps.

"I'm a little disappointed," Park said. "It seems like when we have such a big lead, there's always a debris caution. For some reason, the leader of the race never sees it."

Park, who posted only his second top 10 finish in the last eight races, said he wouldn't second-guess his team's pit strategy.

"It would be easy to sit here and say this is what we should have done," Park said. "We win races as a team and we lose races as a team. We led a bunch of laps and I feel like we're back on track. It's just disappointing. Track position was everything."

Park was asked to identify the debris.

"I think it was the yellow Pennzoil car so far out front," he cracked.

Rusty's day
Park wasn't the only one disappointed to see the yellow caution flag fly. Rusty Wallace said a pair of caution periods in the final 28 laps ruined his bid for a victory.

"It looked like we were gonna win the thing on fuel mileage," Wallace said. "Robin (crew chief Robin Pemberton) just kept stretching it and stretching it and stretching it."

But given that he needed a provisional to start 37th, Wallace said he couldn't complain.

"A fourth place -- going from 37th to fourth -- that's a damn good run," said Wallace, who remained in sixth place in the Winston Cup standings heading into next week's race at Watkins Glen, New York.

Hard work
Mark Martin spent far more time in the pits than he would have liked. Considering the alternative, he wasn't complaining.

Martin got caught up in a second-lap accident involving Matt Kenseth, Andy Houston, Robert Pressley and Dale Earnhardt Jr. exiting turn 2, damaging the right front end of his Ford Taurus.

Martin pitted four times during the ensuing caution period -- and managed to stay on the lead lap -- as his crew attempted to fix the damage.

"I've really got to compliment my guys for doing a great job on the car," said Martin, who finished on the lead lap in 22nd place. "We got caught up in that accident early and they really stepped up to keep us competitive. After that, I just did the best I could, but I guess that's what you get when you start that far back."

Pushed back
Pole sitter Jimmy Spencer spent the first third of the race either leading or running in the lead pack. A bad pit stop on lap 62 dropped his Ford from sixth to 20th and he never was a factor again. He finished 13th, marking only the third time in eight Indy races he was among the top 20. His career best is a 12th in 1996.

"We just pushed all day long and never could get it right," Spencer said. "The longer we ran, the more the front tires would slide and that really, really hurt our car a lot. We just didn't have a good day.

"It's not what we wanted starting from the pole, but that's life."

Top rookie
Kurt Busch was the highest finishing rookie, coming in fifth in his first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"It was just a wonderful treat to even drive here," Busch said. "This is quite a unique race track and it's my pleasure just to even drive here. It was just a great invite by team owner Jack Roush to give me this opportunity and to drive around here testing a few months ago and actually get into race conditions today, it's just a wonderful treat to drive.

"All four corners give you a different challenge and the setup is quite different from most tracks. To get that experience here -- this place is where racing evolved around the early 1900s. It was here where everybody started to race and it evolved down to Daytona and the Charlotte area, of course, but this is where racing started and this is quite a treat."

Defending winner
Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Brickyard 400 winner, finished 15th.

"The car was just pushing and loose all day," Labonte said. "I couldn't really get a hold of the race track. Track position was everything. It just meant so much, like it always does.

"We had track position at one point, but that was just by virtue of the pit stops and we ended up being out front. Then we changed tires and were so loose that we lost a second on the racetrack, so we had to come in and get four tires. Some other guys got track position and we ended up where we restarted."

Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

	Notebook: Rudd out of contention early Gordon overcomes slow start for third Brickyard win Brickyard 400 provides redemption for Gordon, Loomis Marlin's Dodge had more, but not enough to beat Gordon