Benson ponders elusive first victory

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- At some point down the long and winding Winston Cup road, Johnny Benson will find a bridal gown that suits him.

	Credit: Autostock

But for now, he'll have to make do with the bridesmaid's garb.

Following a fierce 10-lap duel with Kurt Busch, in which he admittedly put the bumper to the No. 97 Ford in a last-gasp attempt at victory, Benson finished second for the third time in his Winston Cup career.

"I have a hard time with (Martinsville)," said Benson, who posted runner-up finishes at Bristol and Dover in 2000. "I've been a little inconsistent, so I'm real happy with the run we had today. This place is pretty tough."

Benson is as victory-starved a driver as you'll find in the Winston Cup ranks. None of his 224 career starts have yielded a victory.

He could easily have achieved that Sunday. Benson had multiple opportunities to wreck Busch, but chose to race him clean rather than win with a spin.

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"I'm not going to wreck a guy," Benson said. "I tried to move him out of the way and that was about it. I don't know if that is the best way to do it. I raced him hard -- a little bump here and there. I've seen (Busch) do it, so you kind of race the same way. He did a great job."

Back at Bristol, in Busch's first career victory, he moved Benson out of the way en route to victory. Some pondered why Benson didn't return the favor.

OLD DOMINION 500 Kurt Busch celebrates his second Winston Cup victory. Play video Jeff Gordon makes contact with the outside wall. Play video Johnny Benson finishes second at Martinsville Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

"I don't wish I had hit him any harder," Benson said. "That was about all you could do without getting a guy real upset. I don't think he was upset with that. I just trying to let him break traction. I didn't hit him real hard. But I couldn't do anything with it anyway."

Considering where he was earlier in the year, he's done plenty.

Benson missed three races after injuring his ribs during the Busch Series event at Richmond. He then re-injured the ribs during an accident in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Since returning to the car at the second Pocono event, Benson has posted two top-fives and four top-10s.

Sunday's effort was his best of the year.

"I have like for there to have been 10 more laps, but that doesn't matter," Benson said, laughing. "We ended up second. I didn't everything I could to get around Kurt -- even bumped him once. But it just wasn't enough."