Benson takes Open win after Newman engine trouble

By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com
May 20, 2001
1:43 AM EDT (0543 GMT)

CONCORD, N.C. -- The Winston Open is supposed to be a rock 'em, sock 'em affair in which drivers throw caution to the wind and do everything within their power to win in order to qualify for The Winston.

Johnny Benson

While it wasn't that, Saturday night's first race wasn't without drama.

But when Ryan Newman, sitting atop a two-second lead on Johnny Benson and seemingly en route to an improbable win in his first Open, blew an engine on lap 27, Benson was able to coast across the line under yellow.

"We were in second place and he blew up," Benson said. "Hate to take advantage of that, but we're going to."

By winning The Open, Benson advanced to The Winston, NASCAR's marquee event run later Saturday night, for the first time in his career.

"I think it will be a great experience for us," Benson said. "We're going to go out there and do the best we can. We're with an elite group. On Sundays, we're pretty competitive, but these guys have got a lot of experience in this deal, so we're just going to do the best we can."

Newman, a rookie making his first appearance in The Open, was philosophical about his bad luck.

"I knew for about five laps it was going," Newman said of his balky engine, "but it was just a matter of not swaying anything and hoping it would hold out for two more. I guess things happen the way they happen."

Benson was followed across the line by the Ricky Rudd, who started 18th. Craven, who started fourth, finished third.

Though by virtue of finishing second to the fortunate Benson, Rudd should have started The No Bull Sprint in first place, his team erred in not bringing him into the pits after Newman blew up. As a result, he once again found himself at the back of the pack and Mike Wallace and Robert Pressley started The Sprint first and second.

However, neither Wallace nor Pressley could do much of anything with Todd Bodine, whose No. 66 car was the class of the field in the second race. Bodine finished 1.5 seconds in front of Jimmy Spencer -- a gap too big even for Mr. Excitement -- and thus advanced to the second Winston of his career. Robert Pressley finished third.

"This is my second time," Bodine said after winning the 16-lap sprint. "I won the Open last time to get in. We had the fastest car in the last one I was in. I don't think that's going to happen in this one, but we're going to be competitive."