Here's hoping Lady Luck shines in Michigan

By Johnny Benson, Special to CNNSI.com
June 5, 2001
11:27 AM EDT (1527 GMT)

Racing can be frustrating -- just look at our last two weeks. At Charlotte we ran out of gas gambling for the victory. Then Sunday was a bummer. It just wasn't our day.

Our whole problem started with somebody leaving tires out on pit road. Dover isn't wide enough to accommodate that type of deal. That just killed our day. I don't know if it put a pinhole in the oil line or what, but it must have gotten air in the system and broke the engine. Up until then we were having a great time.

We were in second place by lap 40. It was a great race car. The Valvoline Pontiac was good. We were fine. Our pit stop was good, but like I said, it was all about people leaving tires out on pit road. They get to rolling around, you're dodging it, you've got people coming out of their stalls and I couldn't do anything about it. What are you going to do? It just wasn't meant to be. We ended up 41st with a great car and that isn't much fun.

This week we go to Michigan. That's home to me. That's always a track where I like to race. Obviously, that's because I grew up a few hours from there. I like to see a lot of friends, family and the people who have helped me in my career.

Racing in front of the home folks is something you always like to do. Is it extra pressure? Not really. I would like to win any race but, yes, winning Michigan would be a wonderful dream. I've had some good runs there but, like I said last year, I think this time I'm bringing the best car and best team I've ever had.

We have had some tough luck in the last two weeks but we have run well. This is as excited as I have ever been about coming home and racing. Sometimes all these tracks start to blend together and you can't remember if that restaurant is on that corner or if it was in Pocono or was that Dover. I don't have that problem when I come to Michigan. I always know where everything is at Michigan.

My Dad raced at Michigan in 1974. That was quite a while ago and I was only 11 years old. I remember watching it, though. I don't think he particularly cared for it. It was a neat opportunity for him, but it wasn't with a particularly strong team. He ran OK, they had a couple problems. They didn't have any tires. There were a lot of things they didn't have.

He thought it was a good experience, but I don't think it was something he really liked. At that point in time, I was used to the Saturday night-type racing. So, I didn't have any real desire to do NASCAR racing back then.

I hope I can give him some good memories this weekend. We are due some luck, so maybe it will all even out Sunday.

Johnny Benson drives the Valvoline Racing No. 10 Pontiac on the Winston Cup circuit. His diary will appear periodically on CNNSI.com.