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Benson and Ince on 2001 Winston Cup schedule

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Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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The following is #10 Aaron's Pontiac driver Johnny Benson and Crew Chief James Ince responding to today's unveiling of the 2001 Winston Cup Series Schedule by NASCAR. The schedule includes 36 races plus two non-points races with new races in Chicago and Kansas City. The Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis moved from its traditional Saturday date to Sunday Aug. 5.

As part of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series new television package, the 2001 network schedule will offer viewers more than twice the number of races that had been televised in any prior season. The 2000 network television schedule includes 11 events.

Benson On New Schedule:

"I think 36 races is probably more than what we should do. I'd hate to do any more. But, what are you going to do. No doubt, we will run the 36 races. We are going into some great venues in cool markets so from that angle the schedule is really good deal. I understand NASCAR wants to add the races, but doesn't want to cut out any existing races. But I think we have reached our limit. I hope we don't another race without cutting one.

"The fact that the Brickyard is on Sunday now instead of Saturday won't mean much as far as the race is concerned. It does mean we don't get a day off and with the way our schedule is getting those days off are kind of nice. Especially for our crew guys. But whatever they want us to do is fine. I hope they let us come in a day later. If we have to be there Sunday, it will be fine as long as we don't have to be there on Thursday. A Friday, Saturday, Sunday show at Indy makes sense.

"If being on the networks means more people get to see us then it's tough to argue with that. Hopefully this will attract a lot of new fans. I think its great that everyone is finally going to get to see the qualifying races at Daytona live. Those have been some of the most exciting races recently. I was pretty nervous last February when we had problems late in our qualifying race and almost missed the Daytona 500. But we made it in, and then a few days later we almost won the Daytona 500. Those qualifying races are important and it's great they are finally getting televised live."

Ince On New Schedule:

"Hey I'd race every day if we could. I don't see what's holding NASCAR back."

<pre> 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Schedule

Date Track Television

Feb. 11 Daytona International Speedway (Bud Shootout*) FOX Feb. 15 Daytona International Speedway (Gatorade 125s**) Fox Sports Net Feb. 18 Daytona International Speedway FOX Feb. 25 North Carolina Speedway FOX Mar. 4 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX Mar. 11 Atlanta Motor Speedway FOX Mar. 18 Darlington Raceway FOX Mar. 25 Bristol Motor Speedway FOX Apr. 1 Texas Motor Speedway FOX Apr. 8 Martinsville Speedway FOX Apr. 22 Talladega Superspeedway FOX Apr. 29 California Speedway FOX May 5 Richmond International Raceway FX May 19 Lowe's Motor Speedway (The Winston*) FX May 27 Lowe's Motor Speedway FOX June 3 Dover Downs Int'l Speedway FOX June 10 Michigan International Speedway FX June 17 Pocono Raceway FOX June 24 Sears Point Raceway FOX July 7 Daytona International Speedway NBC July 15 Chicagoland Speedway NBC July 22 New Hampshire Int'l Speedway TBS July 29 Pocono Raceway TBS Aug. 5 Indianapolis Motor Speedway NBC Aug. 12 Watkins Glen International NBC Aug. 19 Michigan International Speedway TBS Aug. 25 Bristol Motor Speedway TBS Sept. 2 Darlington Raceway TBS Sept. 8 Richmond International Raceway TBS Sept. 16 New Hampshire Int'l Speedway NBC Sept. 23 Dover Downs Int'l Speedway NBC Sept. 30 Kansas Speedway NBC Oct. 7 Lowe's Motor Speedway NBC Oct. 14 Martinsville Speedway TBS Oct. 21 Talladega Superspeedway NBC Oct. 28 Phoenix International Raceway NBC Nov. 4 North Carolina Speedway NBC Nov. 11 Homestead-Miami Speedway NBC Nov. 18 Atlanta Motor Speedway NBC

*Denotes non-point events ** Denotes Daytona 500 qualifying events

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