NASCAR Cup

Fontana: Johnny Benson preview

...

Edited: Apr 23, 2003, 3:47 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson has two jobs on Sunday.

First is to race in the 500-mile Nascar Winston Cup race on the highbanks of California Speedway. But, before he races, Benson will attend a pre-race ceremony where he will present racing legend Rick Mears with the fourth annual Eagle One-Shav Glick award.

Mears, one of only three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500, will not be at the track because of his Indy Car duties so his brother Roger, whose son Casey will race Sunday, will accept the award from Benson.

The award, presented by the car-care products division of Valvoline, honors the venerable motorsports writer Shav Glick of the Los Angeles Times and is a symbol of distinguished achievement in motor racing by a Californian. Mears came out of Bakersfield as a champion off-road racer. Previous winners were Dan Gurney, NHRA founder Wally Parks and Parnelli Jones. Other nominees were Craig Breedlove, Chris Pook, Don Prudhomme and Les Richter. Judges were motor racing writers and executives.

Shav Glick, Los Angeles Times Writer, On Mears:

"Rick is one of the greatest oval track drivers in racing history. His smooth driving style and knack for improving his car during a race earned him Driver of the Decade honors, but more important, he is regarded as one of racing's true gentlemen."

Johnny Benson:

On Presenting Eagle One Award to Rick Mears:

"That will be an honor. I've watched the Mears family over the years in their off road racing and then at Indy. These kinds of things are pretty cool. Last year I got to give the award to Parnelli Jones and talked with him a while before the race. I love talking to racers from different series. You know they race different stuff but I think when you boil it all down racing is racing whether it is NASCAR, Formula One, or Indy cars racers are racers and I guess we are all kind of alike."

On Racing at Fontana:

"This race will probably be a lot like the Michigan races of the past which means there won't be a lot of cautions and probably a lot of single file racing. James and I and our engine tuner will start working on fuel mileage on Friday in practice and then before the race we will make a call on what gear we will run and stuff like that. (Crew Chief) James (Ince) gets with the Hendrick Engine guys before the race and we come up with a plan. You don't want to sacrifice power for fuel mileage but at a place like this you don't want to have a shorter pit window than everyone else. The worst case scenario is you go into the race figuring fuel mileage will be the key and a late caution falls."

On Two Races At Fontana:

"I wouldn't mind it. This is a big time market and I know the fans and sponsors out here are really pushing for it. Sure it is a long way away from our homes, but this sport is growing and growing and I don't think anyone can argue against us being here twice a season. We need to make as many West Coast appearances as we can. There are a ton of race fans out here and they support us pretty well."

-mbvm-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Fontana: Tony Stewart preview

Next article Fontana: Todd Bodine preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

8 h

Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors

Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

9 h

Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss

IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 9 h

IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing

Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

9 h

Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts