Daytona 500 2000 - Frozen moment: Horde of Fords mug Benson

Frozen moment: Horde of Fords mug Benson
by Ron Buck, ESPN.com


	Dale Jarrett (88) makes his winning move on Johnny Benson with two laps remaining in the Daytona 500.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It must have felt like walking down a dark street in a big city and hearing footsteps behind you. Only at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, the sounds were much louder and being made by a gang of Fords.

For 39 laps, each time Johnny Benson looked in the mirror he saw the word "Taurus." Whether it was the blue snout of Dale Jarrett's winning machine, or the red glare of Bill Elliott's car, a Ford was glued to the white bumper of his Pontiac every lap he led the Daytona 500. And behind those two always sat several more Fords being driven by the likes of Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton -- each ready to pounce on Benson's weaker Grand Prix.

Benson may have owned the lead from lap 158 until four remained to the checkered flag. But the 1996 rookie of the year he knew it was only a matter of time before the Fords would mug him of his Daytona dream. In broad daylight, no less.

"We were a Pontiac sitting up there, leading the deal, knowing that the Fords are coming and going to gang up on me. Knowing they weren't going to help me," Benson said. "I knew we were in trouble. What are you going to do? What I thought was going to happen, happened. What can you do?

"We seen it coming. I said on the radio, 'It's coming guys. I'm sorry, but it's coming.'"

The inevitable happened on lap 196.

Sunday, Feb. 20
Johnny Benson is a guy who decided last year to take his career in his own hands, and asked to be let go from his ride at Roush Racing.

Suddenly, he didn't have a ride. Benson was really on the sidelines at the end of last season for a considerable amount of time before hooking up with Tyler Jet Motorsports.

The team came here to Daytona, signed a sponsorship deal late Saturday night, and got Lycos.com on the car Sunday morning. The decals didn't even fit properly on the car.

The team then gambled with a two-tire stop and got to the front. It was just a remarkable run, not only how well they did, but Benson almost got to back up his decision to leave Roush by winning the Daytona 500.

He did not want that last restart. He wanted the race to stay green, because at that point the worse he would have likely finished was fifth. It's a shame he finished 12th. But when they restarted, his could have wound up 25th just as easily.

The Fords tried to team-up on Benson earlier when he was in front. Jarrett tried to go with Mark Martin, that didn't work out. Martin was shuffled back. Jarrett needed help from Jeff Burton to try and get around Benson. And Benson was aware there was a string of Fords behind him. You could hear him on his radio talking about it.

If it stayed green, you never know what might have happened. Benson could have held them off. He did a great job blocking. You assume the Fords would have ganged up on him at some point. And at some point they would have split -- and you can't block two cars. He really was a sitting duck.

But Johnny Benson did very well for himself this week regardless of the outcome. Sunday was great for that team. And things like Johnny Benson's bid to win the Daytona 500 are great for this sport.

Following a caution period, Jarrett made his move in Turn 2 off the restart. And before Benson knew what hit him, he was swallowed up by every Ford in sight. Benson wound up 12th, while Jarrett went on to win his third Daytona 500. Following Jarrett to the start/finish line were Burton, Elliott, Wallace and Martin.

"On the restart, I knew that was gonna be my best opportunity. I had seen before, even though I was fourth or fifth on the other restarts, that Johnny's car didn't get up to speed as good as what mine did," Jarrett said. "I got a good run on him. I knew that he was going to try to block me.

"Burton was backing up to try to make a run on me and I got enough of a push. When I hit high gear it just seemed like my car really took off and his kind of bogged. I faked high and he went up there. As soon as I saw him move up the race track I cut my car dead left. I was committed. If I would have had to go to the apron, which I almost had to, that's where I was going. But I had a run and the 99 helped push me by."

Benson had put himself into position to take his first trip to a Winston Cup victory lane by gambling on just two fresh tires under caution on lap 157. But the pit strategy was a push as far as tires went. The Fords, which were the dominant cars all week, simply had the horses, the numbers, and a champion leading the charge.

"I had a feeling Jarrett was going to be able to get by (Benson)," Burton said. "That car always accelerates well. All you can do at that point is follow the guy in front of you. Had the caution not come out, the 88 car probably still would have won."

His Pontiac sponsored for the first time during Speedweeks -- Benson signed a 11th-hour, season-long deal with Lycos.com on Saturday night -- Benson fought off a few challenges by Jarrett over the course of the laps leading up to the caution period. Still, even before Spencer got into Dale Earnhardt and triggered a six-car crash with seven laps remaining, Benson knew he was a lame duck.

"I knew it was going to come down to the last lap. I knew the Fords were going to gang up, and who's better than Dale Jarrett leading that Ford group?" Benson said. "Dale Jarrett was just feeling the air out back there. There was nothing I could do. Whether it stayed green, or whether the yellow came out, I did everything I could but wreck us.

"I would have liked to have seen it stay green, obviously. But they were going to gang up either way. They were going to wait until the last laps. The caution just made it a little easier for them. Three Fords against one Pontiac? It just wasn't going to happen."

Benson, however, could take solace in his fine showing all week. He took a gamble toward the end of last season and asked out of his Roush Racing contract. He was a driver without a full-time ride until hooking up with Tyler Jet Motorsports this season.

He came to Daytona and was fast all week, posting Wednesday's quickest practice time at over 194 mph. Sunday, he nearly duplicated what Derrike Cope accomplished in 1990 -- breaking his maiden at Daytona. His 12th-place finish was still a career-best in the 500.

"I wish I had a little more car, but that's all I had," Benson said. "We had an opportunity to win the Daytona 500. We can't be ashamed to finish 12th. And we came out of here with a great race team, a great car, and got a sponsor in Lycos for the year. So I'm proud of this team."

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