Johnny and The Fast White Car

what's going to make the difference in winning the 42nd annual great American race a week Sunday would be the difference of no what's kind of that hole that is going on well I don't know I mean you got to have a good car that drafts we did a little bit drafting when we were down here in testing and I tell you what James inch and the guys have done it just a tremendous job with this race car and race team and I'm really looking forward to the erbium of these guys well that's Johnny Benson jr. who for the moment still has the pole position here for next Sunday's running to the Daytona 500 what a story it would be Ken if all those teams with eight figure sponsors should fall in qualifying to a team that doesn't have a full season sponsor and that being Johnny Benson the 2000 ask our Winston Cup season was one of the most competitive in years among the 14 different winners were four first-time winners each of them a face of the sports new generation Dale Earnhardt jr. and Matt Kenseth won as rookies while Steve Park and Jerry Nadeau were each in just their third full time season all of them were among the sports hot new talents each driving for one of the sports top teams with a full-time sponsor but what if I told you that during this same season this car and this driver should have been in victory lane and not just once but several times at the start of the 2000 season Johnny Benson jr. was entering his fifth full time season he was the top rookie in 1996 but had yet to score a single victory no one expected that's a change in the year 2000 he left a fully-funded ride to join a single car team without a sponsor but what results it was one of the most incredible seasons fight under funded driver this is that story Johnny Benson jr. had been involved in racing since he was 7 years old working at his father's race shop Benson speed equipment in their native Grand Rapids Michigan his father John race stock cars and Supermodified and late-model sportsman competition for 28 years John claimed more than 75 victories including the 1966 national Supermodified championship at as we go New York on June 24th 1973 John made his lone Cup start at his home track the current Michigan International Speedway driving a 1971 Dodge John started 36th in the 40 car field and finished 21st 15 laps down in time John would earn a spot in the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame John never pressured his son to get into racing as young Johnny focused on welding and fabricating but it wasn't long before the younger Benson was behind the wheel John steered young Johnny away from the world of Outlaws believing them to be too dangerous instead seared him towards stock cars in 1990 a 27 year old Benson won Rookie of the Year in the American speed Association then took the title three years later the trend continued into the NASCAR Busch Series where he took top rookie honors in 94 than the title in 95 he scored three wins one each at three radically different tracks the Monster Mile in Dover the perfect oval in Atlanta and the tiny bullring in Hickory in 1996 Benson became the clear front-runner to take his third rookie title this time in Winston Cup he signed with Chuck Ryder's single car team bihari racing taking the place of Michael Waltrip Walter had been driving for Ryder since his rookie season a decade earlier the team was still searching for its first victory but enter their sixth season with Pennzoil is sponsor and now had Pontiacs sleek new Grand Prix model at their disposal Benson showed promise early at least in qualifying he timed in third at Rockingham just his second series start and two rounds later won his first pole at Atlanta but he sat just 35th and points after the first five races then failed to qualify at Bristol he then earned his first top ten with a tenth place finish to the spring race at Talladega led his first 17 laps with a 9th place showing it Loudon then ran fifth in the June race at Pocono the high point came in the third annual Brickyard 400 among his crew members was Las Vegas anchorman Ron Ferrell who is on assignment as the team's drink man well your job today is to make sure I get the water and if I don't get the water did you miss your water sometimes we've missed a I meant we've had guys not to get it to us okay and we've had guys that dropped it on the floor Benson had a career day leading 70 laps of the Brickyard 400 [Music] Johnny Benson is having the run of his life he's been able to handle traffic and he's been able to handle all of this pressure mounted Benson was still out front with 40 to go before a late pitstop shuffled up back to 8th place fortunately few trails drink duties didn't cost him those spots very small he did the job and maybe well maybe I'll have you do it out in Las Vegas you make sure to call us and how did it feel leading this race for as long as you did almost 70 bucks I felt great I mean you're the charmer me you want to deal over there at the RCA Dome and brought us a lot of luck we're hoping to get two wins for us this weekend but uh I tell you what top tens to win that's pretty cop a take it you want to refinish eight we're happy and I'll tell you why we're glad to have you on board and and maybe we'll do it again all right yes indeed let's do it again I want to thank Johnny Benson and his crew for letting me go ahead and indulge myself for doing that story there and take time in for the pits I want to mention the most interesting thing guys that I found here is while it was in the pits and he got the first place a number of media ABC sports came over to cover Johnny Benson at that point and they were all staying out of my way because I thought I had work to do there are the pits Jack arute excuse me Jack I've got stuff to do here the run at Indianapolis propelled Benson to Rookie of the Year Benson became more consistent in 1997 climbing from 21st to 11th in points and caught the eye of Jack Roush Roush hired Benson to drive his new fifth team sponsored by General Mills this paired the young upstart with Mark Martin Jeff Burton Ted Musgrave and Chad little unfortunately the 98 season didn't get off on the right foot in his twin 125 at Daytona Benson was collected in a hard crash with Ken Schrader knocking the number 26 team out of the field undaunted Benson qualified eighth for the next race at Rockingham then rattled off seven top tens of the next nine races lifting him as high as 10th in the point standings he then settled the 20th at season's end but struggles faced him in 1999 and with just two top 10s he tumbled back to 28th I'm sure jack wasn't happy said Benson that season I know I wasn't happy our performance was basically terrible and somebody needed to do something sure enough on August 30th 1999 Benson out the last two years of his contract with Roush and began his search for a new ride Benson was immediately rumoured to join fellow Ford team Robert Yates racing filling the seat left by Kenny Irwin jr. earlier that month that ride ultimately went to Ricky Rudd who sold his Rudd performance Motorsports team at the end of the season Benson was then and talks with Bill Baumgartner with whom he'd won the Busch Series title four years earlier but Bumgarner wouldn't move his team to Cup until 2002 by September Benson was looking at several underfunded teams including Andy Petree racing AJ Foyt Enterprises and the developing Cal Wells team PPI Motorsports Benson even received an offer from an IRL team to go open-wheel racing while Benson never said which team this was he revealed the team had also contacted Ted Musgrave it was not until November 22nd 1999 that Benson made his choice he would drive for a single car team Tyler jet Motorsports Tyler jet Motorsports was owned by Tim TJ Beverly a businessman out of Texas prior to 1998 Beverly's business was in aviation working his way up from fuelling planes in Chicago to selling aircraft in March 1986 Beverly founded Tyler jet aircraft in a one-room office in Tyler Texas the company would go on to refurbish and sell corporate jets Beverly himself would also branch out into real estate development before he set his sights on racing he drove Formula Fords and sports cars in the Shelby can-am series in 1989 he finished fourth in class during the 24 Hours of Daytona and held competition licenses in both the SCCA and EMSA Beverly got into NASCAR when Rick Hendrick invited him to watch the 1996 Brickyard 400 the same race where Benson led 70 laps looking up and down at all the people in the Grant's and I knew right then how bad I wanted in the sport he said this was why in the spring of 1998 Beverly bought the assets of Darrell Waltrip single car team forming Tyler jet Motorsports he originally tabbed rich Bickle to drive the car but in late April Cale Yarborough hired him away to drive in relief of an injured Greg sacks Beverly then decided to keep Walt on the team though by then he'd fired much of waltrip screw the two plan to debut together at Indianapolis for the team ended up signing napa auto parts for the road course in Sonoma Ron Hornaday jr. recovered from a first lap crash to finish a strong 14th by Indianapolis in August Beverly had purchased yet another struggling team is em racing is em owned by Bob hunter had unsuccessfully tried to expand his IRL team into Winston Cup with Todd Bodine driving the number 35 Tabasco Pontiac at Sonoma bowtie and had just picked up his 8th DNQ in just 16 races and was soon replaced by Gary Bradbury at Loudon with Beverly now acquiring is M he had the sponsorship to back Waltrip for his planned race at Indianapolis with Waltrip now available after his relief driver role for Steve Park ended at Dei he climbed aboard a Chevrolet at Indy with Tabasco as the sponsor the sponsor wasn't happy however Tabasco had signed an agreement with Bodine to run Pontiacs the promotional materials were now rendered obsolete the sponsor at least demanded that Waltrip run Pontiacs instead of Chevrolet's though even then Beverly fought them on which chassis he'd use a canny observer could tell the difference immediately is m's Pontiacs had their roll cages painted red while Beverly and Waltrip's chassis x' were painted grey thus began the infamous tale of the Tabasco fiasco by season's end Beverly was looking forward to a fresh start in 1999 he defended off rumors that he'd planned to sell his team to Dei but he lost Darrell Waltrip to his new deal at Haas Carter Motorsports this opened the door once more for rich Bickle Beverly's test driver on November 25th 1998 Bickle signed with Tyler jet for the 99 season bringing with him his longtime friend Phil hammer as crew chief on January 30th of 99 came word of the team's sponsor AT&T had made their own contribution to the ridiculous collect call wars in late 90s thus Bickle would drive car number 45 representing the collect call number 10 10 3 4 5 dubbed the lucky dog phone company I don't want to run your gig but I don't hit well stick with it maybe someday you will dial Penton three four five the simple way to save on long distance once again Beverly had one of the most distinctive looking cars of the track even when the results weren't necessarily impressive Bickle got Beverly into his first Daytona 500 as an owner but the car was collected in the days biggest accident leaving him 33rd they then failed to qualify for two of the first five races before recovering with a 12th place run in Texas they failed to qualify again at Bristol but bounced back at Martinsville site of pickles emotional fourth place finish a year earlier this time Bickle finished 11th the team's first lead lap finished of the year a tenth place run followed in Richmond where crew chief Phil hammer was replaced by James intz who at 28 was the youngest crew chief in the garage area in self nickel improved through the summer even as an erroneous rumor came out that in Swift join Cal wells at his new team the pair's best run was a season best seventh at Pocono in July but although Bickle agreed to a multi-year agreement with the team on July 30th he was out of the car after the southern 500 in September David Green closed out the season for Beverly finishing a season best 12th at Phoenix and the following week gave the number 45 its first pole position for the inaugural Cup race at Homestead for green now a NASCAR official this was his only pole position in 78 series starts he led seven laps and finished in 22nd David described the emotion of sitting on the pole for today's inaugural Pennzoil 400 well a lot of satisfaction you know for three years of hard work and learning the ropes and Winston Cup now to be able to do it in secondly for six or seven short weeks joining Tyler jet Motorsports in ten ten three four or five finding our team it's been excitement 100% each and every week well David green will lead the parade this afternoon one reason for green success may have been Beverly's decision to shut down their in-house engine department and instead get their engines from Hendrick Motorsports the day after the season finale in Atlanta were green climbed from 41st on the grid to finish 21st it was announced that Johnny Benson jr. would take Green's place for the year 2000 once again however Tim Beverly was without a sponsor only hit AT&T decided against backing the team but the number 45 have been claimed by the newly reorganized Petty Enterprises for Adam Petty's upcoming Winston Cup debut this time the rumor was that Beverly would pick up sponsorship from a postal service first with ups and then with the US Postal Service On January 26 2000 the USPS deal fell through and UPS would wait another year before signing with Dale Jarrett with now just days until the start of speed weeks 2000 it was all but certain Benson would run without a sponsor in the great American race despite the lack of funding both driver and team were optimistic we think we have the equipment and believe johnnie is the driver to get us on the stage at the NASCAR Winston Cup banquet in New York at the end of next season said Tim Beverly to say we are looking forward to Daytona in February is an understatement it is going to be a great year a great situation for everyone involved we're all looking forward to it it was a fresh start for Benson who even ditched his trademark glasses after he had laser eye surgery performed over the offseason he came to media day wearing a plain red drivers uniform not unlike the ones Beverly wore as driver and SCCA getting on board with Tyler jet Motorsports is a great opportunity for me said Benson before the start of the season they have a solid program in place with good cars and a great engine program there's opportunity for a lot of people there I'm looking forward to that I'm also looking forward to getting back in a Pontiac I had a lot of success in a Pontiac when I was at bihari racing we missed the top 10 in points by just one point in 1997 and I think her return to Pontiac will give me a great shot of getting in the top 10 in 2000 that's something we definitely want to do next season get back into the top 10 in points the fast white car is Benson called it would run the number 10 a number made available after Ricky Rudd sold his team the number had a curious history of pulling up sets at Daytona in 1985 Greg sacks ran the number on die guard racing Zhun sponsored research and development car it wasn't his first choice he'd selected the number one but that conflicted with longtime team owner Hoss Ellington it made no difference Saks took the lead from a dominant Bill Elliott and by 23 and a half seconds five years later the number ten was carried by Derek cope who earned his own first Cup victory in the Daytona 500 after Dale Earnhardt blew a tire entering the third corner for Saks it was his only win for cope it was one of only two Benson's new ride showed speed in three pre-season tests one each at Daytona Talladega and then at Lakeland Florida still few were convinced to the team's prospects I know a lot of teams are discounting us this season Benson wrote for the team's website On February 8th mm the other day a rider didn't even list us in the top 40 teams in the Winston Cup Series that's just like we want it when it came time to qualify for the 2008 ona 500 an associate sponsor had purchased space on the lower quarter panels and also a tiny logo on the very tip of the hood Lykos comm a popular search engine in the infancy of the Internet had two years earlier sponsored Matt Kenseth an up-and-comer in the Busch Series the company then disappeared from the sport before joining the Tyler jet team as an associate sponsor during the 99 season the company returned for 2000 it would immediately earn some exposure as Benson was the first to take time in qualifying for the Daytona 500 Tony Stewart's outside pole last year Scott threw it fast in practice and that new tie dried and here is Johnny Benson in the Pontiac to be the first driver to qualify he comes out of the pits for this warm-up laps to come up to speed and then it's two laps on the clock see Dale Earnhardt jr. back there in 48 play he wants to get a good run here today and Ricky Rudd a lot of people say this is Ricky Ricky Ricky and it could go all the way into the last ban Mike Skinner the 1997 pole sitter for this race true first lap for Johnny Benson 186 point 9 700 miles-per-hour and you see the grill and the lower valence of that Pontiac all taped off but for a narrow way to allow air into the radiator to make that car present a slippery a face to the wind as possible and downforce to keep the car I guarantee you this lap will be at least a mile an hour faster than the first lap checkered flag for Johnny Benson the former champion of NASCAR's Busch Series he had some pretty good laps in practice let's see how it turns out here now in qualifying once he's gone through that inspection station down there all right yeah good lap 48 75 988 for 4-6 miles an hour picked up 4/10 of a second from his first to his second lap I don't think they'll get the pole okay that's a good lap very respectable and if you don't recognize this car it was number 45 last year the tiler jet car so anhu looked for benson and they are searching for a full season sponsor for this team Benson ranked just 19th in qualifying but was fast in practice all week the next day he ran 11th fastest then topped the speed charts on Tuesday with a lap of 194 point zero seven zero miles per hour James is has done a tremendous job on this Pontiac Grand Prix said Benson after the run it's running pretty good and we're consistently good I think the time we ran I'm sure we got a little help of the draft but we were consistently right up there and quick and good in the draft we're looking forward to it like I say it's driving good the guys are doing a tremendous job on this Grand Prix Benson started 10th in the 28 car field for Thursday's first Gatorade twin 125 in the early laps as the potent Ford Taurus swept the top five spots Benson kept pace with the Pontiac Brigade locked between Tony Stewart's and Ken Schrader but the handle soon went away and Benson fell back to a disappointing 14th Johnny he's one of the best chassis men in the business when it comes to driver knowledge of chassis Johnny tells you it's really really tight it must be pretty bad right aggravating to turn the car left to give him the corn and he tries to go to the outside wall it loses so much grip that they walk that way up the racetrack yeah Lykos was still happy with the run somewhere between 9 and 10 p.m. local time the night before the Daytona 500 like.oh stepped up their sponsorship of the number 10 Beverly had reportedly turned away other offers to sponsor his car for a couple races as Lycos reportedly paid 6 million dollars to back them for the full season for the 500 the door numbers were changed from orange to black Lykos logos were added to every corner of the car and the company slogan go get it was added to the C post Benson lined up 27th for the 42nd annual Daytona 500 but didn't enter the top-10 until a round of caution flag pit stops on lap 135 he then climbed his way to 8th just hanging on to a line of single-file traffic led by some fast Ford Tauruses when John Andretti brought out the caution on lap 157 James Ince made a call for two tires and Benson beat everyone else off pit road it was expected that Benson would drop back through the field but quite surprisingly the opposite happened we're back under green [Music] he is still five laps down that problem with the mall they early in the race Betsy's out ahead of the field just a bit here comes Elly and Earnhardt jr. [Music] whoa Elliott to the outside almost got it and almost got Bill Elliott on the outside there here comes Mark Martin on the inside so by Dale Earnhardt jr. to take over second spot like Dale Jarrett right behind him in the 88 got four tires instead of two now a leader with a good run off the turn for those shoots back up there in second quarter Bentsen was still leading when derrike copes blown engine brought out the caution again on lap 170 fulfill Stevens and with James into the crew chief for Johnny Benson you're leading this race it's not over yet now you talk to the Bill Elliott gang about running toward the finish line together well that's where we're getting posted up to the end of this thing it's kind of every man for himself but we may never deal that we can make we feel like we got a pretty good race car if we can get the wait here and get out a little bit I think we'll be just fine remember this crew got here without a sponsor here in Daytona until 10 o'clock last night when like.oh signed on for the rest of the season Darrell he also led the next 18 lap run which ended with the day's biggest accident with seven laps to go if you're late you what that's the safest place on the racetrack of that five months ago Johnny Benson was looking for a ride for the 2000 season and now five hundred but that is such a long time and so much can happen and I've noticed in the back of that head bar dancing just a little bit the center part of the corner would that be a sign maybe that those left side tires might be giving up a little bit buddy well he got it a lot of laps on it now I did notice that car if anything no he does not have a push so that had been a problem all the way through although as car pushing we start to hang the back up to see him dance right there riding with Dale Jarrett Wally Dallenbach is taking his car to the garage joining derrike cope Joe Nemechek and Bobby Hamilton Mike no matter whether Johnny Benson wins or not he's wrote over a piece of history here he's leading the Daytona 500 he's a man to beat right now let's talk numbers the first time a car number 10 ever won at Daytona in Winston Cup race 1985 break sacks won the July 400 my lord turbo Bob turn for Michael Waltrip good spinning in front of the pack and here they come baby John and Freddie they see how it goes down pit road Elvia Sandra gets not offended now they'll race back to the play [Music] before these four races over they'll get it restarted but you want to be in front when you restart because you won't have many laps to go so they're going to race right back to the flag that's right add the leaders taking the caution flag the accident happened behind them here comes Benson up in turn number three Jarrett a car lengths behind him Wallace trying to gain some ground that's Burton in third and then Bill Elliott Wallace trying to gain on them and here they come to the flag for the caution flag with eight laps to go Benson holds them at bay see if we can clear the debris and get this race restarted unfortunately this proved to be one caution too many Jarrett trying to go high get some wet here Jarrett trying to go low Benson comes back down to the inside but Jarrett gets on the inside of it alright here comes Jeff Burton also by the inside that's in try to hold me back that's coming with the free on the inside you got the Ford Lane you got the Pontiac plane too bad for Johnny Benson no defense there here comes Rusty Wallace to take the spot away Mark Martin standing up bowling that Bobby Labonte also move it in here Amani also coming look as Benson gets clothesline hung out to dry outside the draft he finally finds a spot there at 7:00 no they still by itself and he dropping back like rain through a drain well Johnny that was a tremendous run at the end of the race there tell me about when they made the pass on you did you give him everything you had awesome often great job and it was just you know it's just one of those deals that we couldn't I couldn't stay there and I knew the Fords are gonna gang up on us the Fords have been really good all weekend but I'm proud of these guys in this Pontiac I mean we got a sponsor like this for a year I don't you know if we direct on that deal I'm still weighing proud of these guys so I'll tell you what I wish we had want it which the hate of that yellow Benson finished 12th and only once would ever finish better in the Daytona 500 it's almost hard to believe said Benson we came to Daytona as a nun sponsored car and we leave with everyone talking about us a few hours before the race I walked over to our garage just to see what the car looked like James aunts also put the finish in perspective I'd rather have a race car that we can bring back to the shop and polish that a fast one we wrecked I think that if we didn't have that last caution we would have been able to fight them off I told Johnny we need to take our 12th place finish and head on to Rockingham we joked that Daytona was his weakest track because his results haven't been real good there in the past but if that was his weakest track that we are going to have a lot of fun at Rockingham where he really has done well in the past TNN gave Benson an added boost prior to the second race of the season at Rockingham his number 10 would also feature a new paint scheme as Lycos adopted a distinctive black and blue look to replace the Daytona scheme James in short pitted Benson all day and he finished 14th two laps down he then ran six than the rain-shortened race in las vegas lifting him to 11th in points Benson is like a driver with new life so far this year in three races can't fill out if this year have been you know just seem to be head and shoulders above last year you know Benson last year thought and stuff out of a contract at the Jack Roush so he could become a free agent and look around and he chose the kid run sponsored Park in Beverly and he wondered was that very wise but he went to Daytona almost won the Daytona 500 picked up a sponsor and it looks like that was a very wise decision Benson however did establish his best career finish at this facility in 1998 finishing in fourth position he finished 28th in the point standings last year with the Jack Roush team and with the new team this year well earlier in the week here in Vegas some of the sports books had Johnny Benson at 75 to 1 and 60 to 1 not that I would know personally but I heard from good sources but you've had another outstanding day I'll tell you what these guys here Tyler Jeff Motorsports team we're just doing an awesome job and the cars are great good quality good driving man a tight James inches all the guys here the light goes priming our car just doing it man I'm a great job and let's make it like a lot of fun right now are you were doing a great job out there on the track tell me about your day I only hit one guy I think was yeah I mean I got pretty slippery there when it was raining and just sliding around a little bit and I don't like to seem to go another eight eight ten more laps if we're gonna get an orange spoiler on this car but uh you know we'll take six right now and if it rains out fine and we'll go to Atlanta obviously the top five eligible for the noble million when we get to Charlotte well you talk about Gamble's you took a big one you walked away from a successful organization came over to a team that had no sponsor and really a very limited past and you guys have gotten out of the gate in fantastic shape yeah we have I'd like to say James into all the guys man I mean I couldn't ask for them guys to do a better job than what they're doing and you know good quality race cars and I saw that first time I walked through the shop and I said man if I can make this happen this where it needs to be and I say Tim Beverly took a chance on throwing me in the car and we're just glad that like us come onboard and looking forward to the next 31 race Gamble's that have paid off if we go back to green best of luck otherwise we'll see you at Atlanta all right thank you Johnny Benson currently six as we sit you know rain delay here in Las Vegas unfortunately Benson wouldn't start the race in Atlanta he failed to qualify joining four other teams after a strong start to the season he tumbled out at the top 20 in points the DNQ confirmed one of Benson's few concerns about the team as he believed the team's intermediate program wasn't as strong as their efforts on super speedways and short tracks Benson returned at Darlington but early damage from a lap eight crash left him twenty-fourth his worst finish of the young season but things turned around once more when the series headed to the next race in bristol benson started 33rd which meant he had to pit on the dreaded backstretch costing him track position with every stop he still entered the top ten near the halfway point and had four fresh tires in the final hundred laps running around 13 at a time Benson began a spirited charge toward the front here is Johnny Benson who was in fourth position and knocking on the third place Johnny's best short track finish at Bristol and 98 where he finished in 52 as in the best short track finish going and you can see 13 just 13 laps to go [Music] and Benson is gonna get the opportunity here as Mayfield slides up the track a little bit at Benson takes the third spot we had a few more laps to be interesting to see what he could do Johnny Benson running in and 1/4 seconds behind in he too wishes that were about 20 or 25 more laps to go to see what he could do if anything with Rusty Wallace but rusty has been so good here this afternoon the half-mile at Bristol [Music] becoming the tenth 50 benson's finished second to Rusty Wallace a new career best a very very happy guy in fact Benny yesterday in happy hour you pointed out how Johnny Benson was able to keep his car down on the line in the turns and you knew he was going to have a good run today and Johnny what what a fantastic finish for you guys I'll tell you what he said a couple people come down said I go man you got to be kidding me you know it was pretty good James ants did a tremendous job with a set up Gary Putnam all the pit stops are awesome man I just can't be any happier you know the cards really did draw pretty good it wasn't perfect but I'd like say it drove pretty good drove better than most cars out there today and this gotta be real happy for Lycos all the guys at the shop man they build a brand new race car to come here to Brisco a lot of places so but it end up good like it's a deed they did an awesome job all day long and I'm real happy to be here at Tyler Jeff Motorsports but you know we saw you're working your way through the field throughout the race but there at the end it was like all of a sudden to quote Benny Parsons that look like you've been shot out of a canyon there where'd you come from there James would beat me up all night all day he's like okay 80 percent all I wanted it's 80 percent out here today and I'm looking at him you don't tell the driver eighty percent you know I don't like him ninety so we we kind of hung out I mean for Brisco it wasn't hanging out but um just was patient all day long you know and he says man we'll get in the top ten and and be ok and and then little pressure later he goes you know I've never finished out of the top ten in this pit tall it's tall he's got and but it was good they made some great calls pit stops are great all day long real smooth consistent and you know we didn't come in there at the end and Oh rusty numb guys took on - we did take on four and we stayed out and reason why we were pretty good at the end a lot of guys took on two tires and there again James made a great call on taking forward we lost a couple spots but it paid off and long-run Johnny Benson very happy after a second-place run at Bristol the next race was Texas Tim Beverly's home track where the number 10 carried still another variant on the paint scheme the team had also acquired additional sponsorship from another calm this time elearning start-up learned frame calm unfortunately things didn't go well in the race as rush slows down a little bit it looks like and then under the 43 looks like you just got loose Betty's he came off of there or Benson had a hard hit into the wall it's right along with him how you could hear the RPM for really get up there as the back started around on the result was a forty second place finish and Benson's first DNF of the season Benson bounce-back at Fontana on April 29th when he entered his first and only career Winston West Series race driving car number 50 with learn frame and lycosa sponsor Benson led 57 of 103 laps finishing second in the race was Ken Schrader who is also driving a former Tim Beverly owned car three to hundreds and waves at the California Speedway in Winston West let's go to Victory Lane great crowd reaction here for Johnny Benson very first time to run in the Winston West series and you get the victory what a great run not too bad for a rookie huh I'll tell you what a lot of guys weren't really strong today but uh andis learn Frank calm Pontiac went pretty good and uh James into all the guys Tyler jet just really good job gotta think you know Winston Winston West racing series got a great series it's just a lot of fun and straighter being trainer been going back at it he did saying he was gonna come do this I say how come bother ya know we had a good time like you say a lot of guys ran really strong and now it's pretty good series and you got past a bunch of times by a bunch of young guys that got some good experience - yeah Desai engine that we gotta nice things like three years old sitting in a garage out of one of the trucks over there and it ran really good but it's probably 15 20 horsepower down but cars awesome through the corners and I'm a little nervous with three to go I says man we're gonna get beaten uh and and we're just fortunate that as long as I got to the corner I knew I'd be okay cuz car was pretty good food for his very first Winston West race Benson would run the same car at Michigan in June qualifying eleventh and finishing 24th in the seven Cup races that followed his Texas crash Benson finished no worse than 25th and climbed his way back to 18th in the point standings that 25th place finish came at Richmond where Benson clawed his way back from 38th after a lap 43 incident with Todd Bodine [Music] Benson also finished six than the nobles sprint qualifier for the Winston all-star race at Dover where NASCAR introduced a new rear bumper cover for Pontiac teams he was running tenth when a tire went flat with 25 laps to go and at Pocono he was running seventh with 22 laps to go just where rich Bickle finished at the track the previous summer but the engine let go and the Lycos car tumbled to 34 to the garage area what a heartbreaker for the Lycos team while Benson continued to knock on the door of his first Winston Cup win there was trouble afoot for his team owner on May 31st came a rumour that Cal Wells had talked to both Benson and intz about working together on a new Cup team by July Michael Hall again the sponsor of Jerry Naidu's car at Hendrick Motorsports inquired into buying the team Beverley stepped in saying quote our commitment now is to stay together as a team right where we are this did nothing to dispel yet another rumor which arose On June 26th Nelson Bowers whose georgia-based mb2 Motorsports team fielded the number 36 M&MS Pontiac for Ken Schrader was looking to buy Beverly's team to expand to a two-car operation Beverly had himself been planning to expand to two cars in 1999 but the deal had fallen through Bowers had another bargaining chip a full-time sponsorship from Valvoline which would end their nine-year partnership with Mark Martin and Roush Racing at the end of 2000 Jeske reported the deal between Beverly and Bowers could be done by July 1st but the question remained why was the steel being made at all after all Beverly had a multi-million dollar sponsor in a fast race car the Bowers rumors surfaced the day after the Sonoma race where I took this picture of Benson pitting the Lycos car on Gilligan's Island Benson finished 18th that day and was looking forward to some unfinished business at Daytona the following Saturday two days after that the Tyler jet team said they would run the white Lycos car again making it easier for spotters to find it under the lights but one day after that it was revealed that Lycos had never paid Beverly for the sponsorship and so at 5:30 p.m. in the Daytona garage the crew pulled the Lycos decals off Benson's car curiously learned frame comm would stay on as an associate sponsor in the race once again crew chief James Innes called for a two-tire stop late in the race and with 50 laps to go Benson made his move Benson around Steve Park that yellow car one lap down warm up in the outside lane here goes Benson for the lead and Jeff Burton drops down in 24 car they're in the draft with him and here Benson Brandon took the lead to share Pontiac in a Chevrolet snookered the Ford of Jeff Burton who gets clothesline and rescue Wollaston a two car their third and Jimmy Spencer up to fourth now all of those drivers just have to well I should say to fresh tires they all have four tires on them look at Earnhardt on the inside making his own way down on the bottom he ate last time bye and he has a good drafting partner there just behind him there in the 20 car Tony Stewart Domenic car and then he got up on the outside down the inside Johnny be good Johnny Benson leading his first race since the Daytona 500 sponser hunting I'd say this is a pretty good audition here's Ralph Mike with dougie Benson and his sister Barbara growing up in Grand Rapids Michigan their father John Benson senior was racing cars when Mark would get in trouble she used to love to go to the track her dad would make her stay home on the weekends but when Johnny would get in trouble his dad would make him go to the racetrack and go to work but once again Fords and cautions conspired against him on a car that shouldn't leave with Johnny Benson driving is the ultimate underdog team without a sponsor you cannot run successfully in Winston Cup racing I asked him how long he could go without one he said the plan is to go at least to Indianapolis Benson likes his team so much he wants these guys to stick together even if they have to quit racing before then one of the crew members just came up to me and said you tell that CBS audience that somebody can get a whale of a deal on sponsoring a racecar in about 40 or 50 laps these guys don't even have uniforms with sponsored logos on it they're all plain Mike he is in the leader Johnny Benson this is still his race this is a two and a half mile chess board all the squares are black the pieces are big ones here we go we're back under green Jeff Burton down on the inside making the three wide Benson hung up on the outside Earnhardt Gordon with that returns the favor of the last restart when Benson drop think they could do that here this place is ten feet nearer than Talladega Benson finished 13th almost exactly the same spot as his 12th place run in February's Daytona 500 [Music] Grand Rapids Michigan I have won championships in the American speed Association in the NASCAR Busch Series and this is my first year driving for Tyler Motorsports I know you know me [Music] one week later Benson finished 14th in the tragic that look calm 300 and Latin the team still didn't have a sponsor and with two races to go until Indianapolis this would turn out to be Tim Beverly's final start as an owner from there Benson and Beverly's careers would follow two very different paths one towards triumph the other toward infamy do you know me I was the 1995 NASCAR Busch Series champion and almost won the Daytona 500 this year I am Johnny Benson you know me is brought to you by your neighborhood Citgo Donnie's running him 16th right now and you see that quarter pound somebody out there needs to look at that because he has been so close to winning this year and they're looking for sponsorship at the problem look at the nose of that guard he has already put it in the back of one of these racecar that here is pretty well beat up there and that will hurt him just a little bit on July 23rd when the series returned to Pocono for the Pennsylvania 500 Nelson Bower as it completed the purchase of Tyler jet Motorsports Benson and his number 10 were now teammates to Ken Schrader's number 36 though there was still no sponsorship on the car even learned frame had pulled out after Loudon the team still planned to run at least through Indianapolis but beyond that nothing was guaranteed a good run at Pocono were Benson had run so strong before the engine let go in June would be a big step toward extending their season Benson didn't disappoint he qualified ninth and once again had a fast car [Music] the other cars get it up in third position go to Marty Snyder and what a terrific run for Johnny Benson he is running in eighth the cars a little bit tight they make a wedge adjustment that should help him both getting in and off the corners matt kenseth to to knock behind also a little bit tight he is running in the ninth spot good run to both these guys from Mariano Mostafa Johnny they wonder [Music] he ran third near the halfway point following Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton Johnny Benson the plain white number 10 we've touched on the story a little earlier want to get into it a little deeper now Benson's team and sponsor for the season had an agreement to disagree there were some financial difficulties involved the team owner Tim Beverly the sponsor decals off the car as they told her basically and then sold the team on Thursday to NV to racing room that owns the Ken Schrader's car and they will become the second operation for Schrader's group next year 2001 they already have a sponsor lined up for Benson in that car the problem is one of everything on it for the rest of this year and don't want to hurt Schrader's racing effort I tried to run two cars on one sponsors money so if they can't find some backing for the rest of this year for Benson's car they may not run any farther than the Indianapolis race one week one week from this coming Saturday a fly the general manager of the team this morning he said they're working on some things they're hoping to have something they would hate to shut this team down and not finish the year because they're running so well but they already have a sponsor in place for 2001 just need to find something to help us see the rest of this year Allen and if somebody really wanted to find out right now wouldn't right respond to a good rested umpteen they could get on there for a couple days find out whether there by clapping so this car has out in the racing world is almost won the Daytona 500 leading back down to the end stuff horse stuff on the restart several times a year third position now Marty Snyder is at his fit and this team has been impressive all year long 17th in points from the third right now James into dispute James what he said on this front part looks pretty good right now the car is pretty good I think the old trouble until we got right now so with the cars white we have a fun so we're trying to be patient at the moment and to keep ourselves in a position at the end where gas windose with the ghost ring we're pretty happy for weekend and remember in June he ran in the top 10 most the whole day and then he had a blown engine there at the end of the race but Johnny told me this morning he want we're gonna surprise some people today Johnny Benson having a great run here but as the race war on the alternator failed and the team had to ready a replacement battery for an unscheduled pit stop fortunately they got the caution they needed on lap 163 oh we have some bad news report for Johnny Benson we reported earlier that the alternator was going bad it has now gone away they're losing all power he could get the battery ready and if he thinks he's going to come in and get a new dryer on Johnny Benson's car caution is out there is the reason it has gone up in smoke for Billy Elliot Jenna there's Johnny Benson who's had a great day that's going bad here in the final laps Marty Oh indeed Alan the alternator finally did go on Johnny Benson's car they've been having a top five run all day long and they use that caution flag to change the battery because once the alternator does go it immediately starts draining on the battery it changed the battery they kept him on the lead lap he is the last car on the lead lap but nonetheless he should be fined at the end of the race he still has a very fast race car Benson back in 27th position actually the next-to-last car the lead lap Kevin LePage justice he had done the previous caution stayed out for a couple of circuits led a couple of laps then ducked into the pits and now he is in 28th position with the new battery Benson climbed all the way up to 12th in the final 32 laps matching his finish in the Daytona 500 the gutsy performance couldn't have come at a better time when Benson lined up to qualify for the next race at Indianapolis his number 10 had a radical new paint scheme as Aaron's rents and RCA both signed his sponsor curiously just like 10 10 3 4 5 before them Aaron's would later require the lucky dog as part of their branding as it was Benson's Pontiac would fly the Aaron's colors and one of the biggest races of the year about 15 practice I just hope we can hold it there maybe a little bit better but real happy that Aaron's come onboard and then we were gonna run this race either way but then pretty much go on vacation and say we're extremely thankful for everybody at Aaron to come on board and we're gonna run the rest here Thank You Benson started 13th then finished 25th Aaron's would stay on the number 10 for the rest of the season and James ins would sign an extension to remain as Benson's crew chief through 2002 with all that settled Benson began another string of impressive finishes he ran 5th at Michigan on the outside pole at Darlington finished 7th at Richmond and a Dover enjoyed another strong run from the outside pole these slap number one 212 raciest topher but Johnny Benson's gonna come challenging him work in the back straightaway and Benson will take over the top spot [Music] four races in a given Jeff Gordon didn't face six [Music] scared few you know this guy Johnny Vince I've got to tell you something Johnny Benson turned it up but not but Ricky Rudd's whatever they made as far as it came he's drop it back now he Bentsen put a full race together this time and followed Tony Stewart to the checkered flag [Music] here in the 2000 season Vincent have a career-best second place to cap off the season Benson bounced back from his loan DNQ in the spring race at Atlanta to make the season finale and Bob Johnny Vincent won the pole here in the spring of 1996 but missed the field here in March and JB when you missed the field you and James in Scent when we come back in November we are going after the pole pretty good in practice so far do you have any shot at the front couple you know Benson took the green flag in 21st and finished in 10th and despite missing that one race he finished 13th in the point standings so impressive was Benson's 2000 season that 12 drivers who did qualify for all 34 races finished lower end points than he did among them were were Keys Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt jr. but still that first win continued to elude him but even this wasn't the end of the story it was only the beginning win and again in the championship he's right on the bumper as they come and since teammate penny straightened out of [Music] protects the bottom in water too so far so good on hill Martin diamond down [Music] this day would never come the 1996 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year get a trophy your first win stuff have a long time coming James into the guys but we're we're terrible happy Howard James says well rotate stock arms are contained Springsteen stock seats suede burn uh all the confidence in a world that it was going to be ok and then what sir you know I mean he said after I come back Herbert says we're gonna win four of these we back close just have been able to win it and I was glad I was able to get by abalone record him you know that's my biggest thing I'm not gonna I'm gonna race everybody clean and like race my Kurt mark Barton those guys just commander the third great racers and they run me clean and hopefully I can do the same and because I felt like I have all the time you were teammate with more court and I know that means a lot to you to beat him in that fashion well the field he got to be to feel this not anyone driver Amana you can name the whole list and it's it's great to be in front of him Valvoline Pontiac was awesome well mr. Smith spies 0xm and everybody is this done a tremendous job but I got a got to say hi to Megan or one of the guys on the team here at got her hair caught in uh in the lift gate yesterday and got her pretty good so hopes he's doing good like tough sitting here to find a good one for you know dis everybody else uh my mother-in-law she's hurt so everybody's been hurt this year I've been taking time off and hey how long we got max I could talk all night I'm sure you could but I just want you to talk about you were on the bench twice this season with rib injuries a lot of people were surprised when he came back but you came back determined to get this team to victory well I was determined before that we just you don't just have been our year this year my last year's a pretty good year real real optimistic coming in this year feeling that we could run in top five in points and it was just it's been pretty dismal but all the guys back at the shop Hendrick motors they've been great with us all year and just um just a great win I can't I can't tell you how I am for this crew Ahmet not so much myself winning but these guys these guys deserve it to work hard and a lot of guys that were with me up a harder race and we've almost won some and in man this one sink in until tomorrow I'm sure congratulation thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Brock Beard

Views: 116,716

Keywords: johnny benson, johnny benson jr., nascar winston cup, nascar 2000, tyler jet motorsports, tim beverley, james ince, mb2 motorsports, unsponsored, lycos, aaron's, 10-10-345, daytona 500, 2000

Id: rBsQo_X1L_A

Length: 56min 8sec (3368 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 17 2020