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By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive
October 11, 2003
1:56 PM EDT (1756 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. -- Johnny Benson said he intends to be back in MBV Motorsports' No. 10 Pontiac in 2004, despite rumors that he could be replaced.
Benson has driven for the team since midway through the 2000 season. He scored his first Winston Cup victory last fall at North Carolina Speedway.
Rumors surfaced this weekend about Benson's status with the team when MBV/MB2 Motorsports general manager Jay Frye said the team has talked to Busch Series driver Scott Riggs.
But Benson said no one at MBV has talked to him about losing his ride.
"I have a contract here with another year on it, and I have a ride for next year, so unless we're going to have three cars, there's too many drivers in the mix," Benson said. "I've heard all the talk, but nobody has said anything to me. Unless they come to the right people, we're going ahead as planned."
The No. 10 team changed crew chiefs recently, as James Ince took a leave of absence at Kansas before being granted his release from the team Tuesday. Ince was replaced by car chief Jay Guy.
Cheating accusations amuse Newman
Ryan Newman and crew chief Matt Borland chuckle when they hear the accusations of cheating by their No. 12 team.
"It's funny for sure that people are saying we're cheating," Newman said. "We're doing what we need to do, and we're doing it the best we can do it. We're within the rules. We do not cheat. We have not cheated and we will not cheat.
"It's funny to hear all this whining. It goes in one ear and out the other. We're focused on what we need to do. We'd like to go out and lap the field, but that's hard to do the way the rules are. We're playing with the rules NASCAR puts out there, whatever week it is."
Said Borland, "If anything, all the talk is kind of funny. We get a kick out of it. You know you're doing good when you get booed or people call you a cheater. It's nice."
Sadler, Stith form Busch team
Hermie Sadler has formed a Busch Series team with former NBA player Bryant Stith. Score Motorsports will run the full Busch season in 2004. Sadler and Stith have been friends for many years, and since Stith recently retired from the NBA, since "he was bored and didn't have anything to do, we're taking him NASCAR racing," Sadler said.
"It's a nice transition from the NBA to NASCAR," Stith said. "I've worn blue, orange and green. The one thing Hermie didn't tell me was that I'd be involved with pink."
That's the color of Sadler's race car. Sponsor Zapf Creations, a German company, claims to be the No. 1 baby doll maker in the world, so there is a lot of pink in their products.
Zapf will be Sadler's primary sponsor for four races next season and an associate for all others. Sadler said he expects to announce further sponsorship and information about a manufacturer at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
Score stands for Setting Children On the Road to Empowerment, the name of a recreation center Stith and his family are building in Virginia. Sadler is also involved with the Autism Society because of his daughter, Halie Dru.
Sadler said Stith will be heavily involved with the team.
"He's got a great vision for the team," Sadler said. "He and I have lots of conversations about what we can do together as a team. He lived his dream of playing in the NBA. He knows that I've been somewhat struggling to achieve what I want to achieve on the race track, and together we have a plan that we feel like we can get back on track and have a successful program in the NASCAR Busch Series."
Stremme to finish season in No. 1 car
David Stremme will finish out the season in Phoenix Racing's Busch Series Dodge, Stremme said this week. He has split time with Winston Cup driver Jamie McMurray in the car this season, with two top-fives and five top-10s in 12 starts.
"We were scheduled to run all of them but Homestead," Stremme said. "With Yellow coming on board full time next year, the last race was going to be with the Miccosukee Indians and Jamie (McMurray), with Yellow as an associate. They decided to have a whole Yellow car.
"And with Homestead being a new track with limited testing, we also figure between the Busch operation with Phoenix and the Ganassi organization if we run another Busch car we would be able to get a lot more information."
Stremme has an outside shot at winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in the Busch Series, as he's third, 45 points behind leader Coy Gibbs.
"At the beginning of the year we really didn't look at it as much," Stremme said. "We just wanted to get experience. Well now, Jamie is trying to lock up Raybestos Rookie of the Year in Winston Cup, and if he got rookie of the year in Winston Cup and if I could get it in Busch -- and we've got another development driver in ASA and he's already won rookie of the year there, that would be three drivers."
Stremme will run the full season in 2004 for Phoenix.
"We're building for next year, and I'm really looking forward to staying in the car every week," Stremme said. "I'm gaining experience this year to go towards next year."
Wallace won't have Sunday off
Winston Cup drivers will have Sunday off -- provided rain doesn't wash out Saturday's activities -- but Rusty Wallace will be traveling, heading to Texas Motor Speedway for the Indy Racing League season finale.
Wallace will be there as a cheerleader for Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran, who like Wallace, drive for Penske Racing.
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