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Johnny Benson was optimistic going into the 2001 season. The first quarter
of the season underlined that optimism. But despite being united once again
with crew chief James Ince and backed by a solid ownership group that
includes the team's primary sponsor Valvoline, tying his career best 11th in
the point standings was a disappointment.
More than the other Pontiac teams, Benson's seemed troubled by Goodyear's new generation tires and a NASCAR rule change early in the season that outlawed bump stops in the cars' suspensions. After hanging in the top-five in the points through the first 12 races of the season, Benson slowly spiraled out of the top-10 permanently with eighth races remaining. He ended up with six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, but was badly hurt by eight DNFs. His best finishes were a trio of thirds at widely spread points in the season, at Texas, Indianapolis and Rockingham. Still, he won a career best $2,894,903 and led in 10 races. Benson, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., starts the season once again paired with MBV Motorsports and teammate Ken Schrader. He hopes it is enough to give him to his first top-10 finish in the Winston Cup Series points. His career-best finish in the standings is 11th, which he achieved in 1997 and 2001. Benson was the victim of unrealized expectations with owner Jack Roush. It wasn't all bad for Benson at Roush Racing, where he toiled in 1998 an 1999. He scored 12 top-10s in two seasons and managed a pair of front-row starts in his tenure. In addition, he piled up more than $1.5 million in prize money in his second season in the No. 26 Ford. He is a three-time rookie of the year, winning the honor in the ASA ACDelco Challenge Series (1990), Busch Series (1994) and Winston Cup Series (1995).
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