Benson Homestead preview

Aaron's Pontiac Aims For Pole At Atlanta, Homestead To Qualify For 2001 Bud Shootout There's only two more chances in 2000 for NASCAR Winston Cup teams to garner a starting spot in the 2001 Bud Shootout. The 50-mile race held Feb. 11 begins the 2001 Speedweeks at Daytona. Not only are teams interested in earning a starting spot for the race's prestige and prize money, but the race can serve as a mini-test session for the qualifying race Feb. 15 and the Daytona 500 Feb.18. Johnny Benson and his #10 Aaron's Pontiac crew would like to make their 2001 racing debut in the Valvoline Pontiac at the Bud Shootout. To do that, the team must win a pole at Homestead this weekend or Atlanta next weekend. Benson almost earned that Shootout starting spot last weekend when he qualified fourth at Phoenix. The team feels it has a chance at Homestead this weekend where it earned a pole last year.

Benson On Trying For Bud Shootout Spot:
"Sure we'd like to be in the Bud Shootout and show the world the Valvoline car in that race. I think we can do it this weekend at Homestead. This team sat on the pole last year with David Green and that was a heck of an accomplishment. But, that was last year. We think we will be good this year but you never know until you get there and qualifying starts. We'd like to get in the Bud Shootout and there aren't too many more opportunities to do that. We had a pretty good car for qualifying in Phoenix and ended up fourth so it would be nice if we can be that good again Friday. But, remember it's the race that pays the most in terms of money and points."

Why Test Homestead:
"We tested at Homestead and Atlanta in the last few weeks. You probably ask why this team would go to Homestead for a test if they won the pole there. Well if you watched the race, you saw Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart drive off from everyone. That might be why there were so many teams down there testing this late in the season. I think everyone is saying they needed to go down there and learn what Bobby and Tony learned. You could have held a race down there those two days all of us were testing there." "Testing with a lot of cars has its advantages. When there are that many cars there you have a lot more cars to compare yourself to. If you were there by yourself you would walk out of there at the end of the day wondering just where you were. You might know the time you ran but you don't know how that compares to someone else who was there doing the same thing in the same conditions. If you were faster than the track record in testing and then you come back and 20 cars break the track record then you weren't as good as you thought you were."

<pre> THE RACE: Pennzoil 400 presented by Discount Auto Parts Winston Cup Race #33 of 34 for the 2000 season a.. Race: Sunday, November 12, 2000 in Homestead, FL b.. TV: NBC 12:30pm/et c.. Posted Awards/Purse: $3,281,151 d.. 1999 Race Winner: Tony Stewart e.. Race Record: Tony Stewart, Nov 1999, 140.335mph f.. Track/Race Length: 1.5 mile oval, 267 laps, 400.5 miles g.. Pit Road Speed: 45mph ------ Practice h.. Practice: Friday, Nov 10th 11:00am - 12:30pm/et and 1:20 - 2:00pm/et; Saturday, Nov 11th 8:30 - 9:45am/et i.. Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, Nov 11th 11:30am - 12:30pm/et, before the BGN race, TV-none known ------ Qualifying j.. Qualifying Draw: Friday, Nov 10th at ?am/et k.. First Round Qualifying: 1 lap for positions 1-25, Friday, Nov 10th at 3:30pm/et, TV-none known and live via MRN radio/internet l.. Second-Round Qualifying: 1 lap for positions 26th-36th, Saturday, Nov 11th at 10:30am/et m.. Track/Event Qualifying Record: David Green, Nov 1999, 155.759mph n.. Last Year's Pole Sitter: David Green, 155.759mph o.. Track Specs: Degree of Banking: Turns: 6 degrees Straight-aways: Length: 1,760 feet, Width: 60 feet, Banking: 3 degrees