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Pennzoil Pontiac Racing Preview: Benson Heads for Atlanta

6 November 1997

     
     Johnny Benson on Atlanta
     
        Pennzoil Pontiac driver Johnny Benson still has unfinished business 
     when he drives in his last race for Bahari' Racing on Nov. 16 at the 
     newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway. Benson's bid to get into 
     the top 10 depends on next weekend's season-ending race. Benson is 
     tied for 12th place trailing 10th place Ted Musgrave by 45 points. 
     
     10 Ted Musgrave         3486
     11 Ken Schrader         3473
     12 Jeremy Mayfield      3441
     13 Johnny Benson        3441
     14 Ernie Irvan          3402
     
     ...Atlanta:
     
        "Man is that track fast. We turned laps right at 29 seconds here 
     last month. We also had our computer equipment on the Pennzoil Pontiac 
     and it showed we were right at 200 mph. That's pretty fast on a 
     mile-and-a-half track with 40 other cars around you. I've heard talk 
     about increasing the spoiler size for this race. If they do that it 
     should slow the cars some, but it also kind of throws out a lot of 
     what we learned during testing."
     
     ...tires at Atlanta:
     
        "Tires are going to be critical at this race. They were lasting 
     about 30 to 40 laps because of the new surface. As the weekend goes on 
     and more rubber gets down on the track they will probably go longer, 
     but I think tires are going to dictate pitstops more than fuel 
     mileage."
     
     ...will points battle on points race effect this:
     
        "No. We are not going to worry about Ted (Musgrave) or whoever else 
     is ahead of us or who is behind us in points. That just gets 
     confusing. We are going to try to run in the top ten or top five like 
     we do every weekend and let the points take care of themselves."
     
     ...on last race:
     
        "I'm going to drive this last race just as hard as I drove in the 
     first race. As far as in the car there is nothing different about this 
     weekend. But outside the car, sure it will be different. I've spent 
     just about every weekend over the last two years with these guys and 
     it's going to be a little sad saying good-bye. But, they are going to 
     be OK, Pennzoil's going to be OK and I'm going to be OK. This is a 
     pretty good team and sponsor and I've had a lot of fun here."
     
     Johnny Benson's Winston Cup Career at Atlanta
     
     Race                 S   F   LC  TL    Status  
     
     1996 Purolator 500   1  38  107  328   Handling
     1996 NAPA 500       16  27  325  328   Running
     1997 Purolator 500  40  11  328  328   Running
     
     For More Information
     Contact: Drew Brown
     Cohn & Wolfe
     (404) 880-5269
                                                        
     drew_brown@cohnwolfe.com