JOHNNY BENSON
WINS HIS FIRST!
Rockingham, NC - A late charge by the #10 Valvoline Pontiac takes Johnny Benson to Victory Lane for the first time in his 7 years as a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. There were just 27 laps left when Johnny took the lead away from Kurt Busch who was on his way to a 3rd win in as many races. But Kurt could not keep the #97 Rubbermaid Ford in front as Johnny powered his way past. After moving into 1st, Johnny could not relax as a fast approaching Mark Martin made a bid to take the win for himself. While Mark took the low line, Johnny took the high line which enabled him to prevail and win the Pop Secret 400. Johnny was the 5th driver to win his 1st race in the 2002 season.
Mark Martin, still seeking the lead in the championship standings gathered points throughout the day. He led the most laps in the race and put on quite a show at the end as he made an attempt to win. Was that actually the word "fun" that he used in the post race interview? Yes, it did appear that the #6 Viagra Ford provided Mark with some good humor as he was able to close the gap on Tony Stewart by cutting his lead in the points by almost half.
The remainder of the top 5 contenders had an extremely bad day. Tony Stewart qualified the #20 Home Depot Pontiac in 24th. He struggled throughout the day, dropping as far back as 32nd. He was able to move forward at the end of the race, finishing in 14th. He still maintains 1st place in the championship standings.
Rusty Wallace had a difficult day in the #2 Miller Lite Ford. He fought to stay on the lead lap, but could not hold back the leaders. Later, he got into a bumping contest with Jeff Gordon in the #24 DuPont Chevrolet. NASCAR had to warn both drivers to back off.
The pole sitter, Ryan Newman, jumped out to a big lead right out of the gate. But following the 1st pit stop during a caution on the 23rd lap, the #12 Alltel Ford became hard to handle and quickly faded back.
Jimmie Johnson had the worst day again as he was haunted by a small mistake that occurred during a pit stop. Jimmie noticed a vibration and was forced to pit while the field was running under the green flag. The right rear lug nuts were loose. He changed tires and went back onto the track 2 laps down. However, a larger problem was discovered and Jimmie took the #48 Lowes Chevrolet behind the wall. There was no hope of him gaining any points on Tony Stewart or Mark Martin.
Several drivers did experience good days at The Rock. Jeff Green lead much of the race in the #30 America Online Chevrolet. Mike Skinner finished the race in 6th with the #4 Kodak Chevrolet. Bobby Labonte flirted with the top 10 for most of the race and the #18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac finished in 7th. But the Roush drivers had a magnificent day. All of them finished in the top 10. Mark Martin 2nd, Kurt Busch 3rd, Jeff Burton 4th in the #99 Citgo Ford and Matt Kenseth 8th in the #17 DeWalt Ford.
Did you enjoy the race or did you feel Johnny Benson provided a little excitement in an
otherwise lackluster race? Send us an email. We'd like to hear from you.
Article by S. Kipple
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