10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson has two jobs on Sunday.  First is to race in the 500-mile Nascar Winston Cup race on the highbanks of California Speedway. But, before he races, Benson will attend a pre-race ceremony where he will present racing legend Rick Mears with the fourth annual Eagle One-Shav Glick award.

Mears, one of only three four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500, will not be at the track because of his Indy Car duties so his brother Roger, whose son Casey will race Sunday, will accept the award from Benson.

The award, presented by the car-care products division of Valvoline, honors the venerable motorsports writer Shav Glick of the Los Angeles Times and is a symbol of distinguished achievement in motor racing by a Californian. Mears came out of Bakersfield as a champion off-road racer. Previous winners were Dan Gurney, NHRA founder Wally Parks and Parnelli Jones. Other nominees were Craig Breedlove, Chris Pook, Don Prudhomme and Les Richter. Judges were motor racing writers and executives.

Shav Glick, Los Angeles Times Writer, On Mears:
"Rick is one of the greatest oval track drivers in racing history. His smooth driving style and knack for improving his car during a race earned him Driver of the Decade honors, but more important, he is regarded as one of racing's true gentlemen."

Johnny Benson:
On Presenting Eagle One Award to Rick Mears:
“That will be an honor. I've watched the Mears family over the years in their off road racing and then at Indy. These kinds of things are pretty cool. Last year I got to give the award to Parnelli Jones and talked with him a while before the race. I love talking to racers from different series. You know they race different stuff but I think when you boil it all down racing is racing whether it is NASCAR, Formula One, or Indy cars racers are racers and I guess we are all kind of alike.”

On Racing at Fontana:
“This race will probably be a lot like the Michigan races of the past which means there won’t be a lot of cautions and probably a lot of single file racing. James and I and our engine tuner will start working on fuel mileage on Friday in practice and then before the race we will make a call on what gear we will run and stuff like that. (Crew Chief) James (Ince) gets with the Hendrick Engine guys before the race and we come up with a plan. You don’t want to sacrifice power for fuel mileage but at a place like this you don’t want to have a shorter pit window than everyone else. The worst case scenario is you go into the race figuring fuel mileage will be the key and a late caution falls.”

On Two Races At Fontana:
“I wouldn’t mind it. This is a big time market and I know the fans and sponsors out here are really pushing for it. Sure it is a long way away from our homes, but this sport is growing and growing and I don’t think anyone can argue against us being here twice a season. We need to make as many West Coast appearances as we can. There are a ton of race fans out here and they support us pretty well.”

Benson Career At California

Year S F

2002 11 15

2001 8 11

2000 14 23

1999 24 43

1998 5 8

1997 3 13

THE RACE: Auto Club 500

Winston Cup Race #10 of 36 for the 2003 Winston Cup season

Race: Sunday, April 27, 2003 in Fontana, CA

TV: Fox - 3:00pm/et

Pre-Race Show: Fox - 2:30pm/et - with hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

Race Re-Air: April 30th at 8:00pm/et on Speed Channel, May 1st at 1:00am/et and 3:00pm/et on Speed Channel

Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds

Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes, Jeanne Zelasko

Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

NASCAR on TV and Fox Sports

Purse/Race Awards: $? (was $4,419,924 in 2002)

2002 Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson, 150.088mph, started 4th

Track Race Record: Jeff Gordon, June 1997, 155.012mph

Track/Race Length: 2.0 mile D-shaped oval, 250 laps, 500 miles

Pit Road Speed: 55mph

Practice

Practice: Friday, April 25th, 2:20 -4:20pm/et; and Saturday, April 26th, 11:15am - 12:00noon/et

Happy Hour Practice: Saturday, April 26th, 2:10 - 2:55pm/et on TV-FX via tape at 3:00pm/et.

Qualifying

Qualifying Draw: Friday, April 25th, 1:20pm/et

First Round Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, April 25th at 6:00pm/et, TV-Speed Channel live, re-air on Saturday, April 26th at 12:00midnight/et, and live via MRN radio/internet

Track Qualifying Record: Ryan Newman, April 2002, 187.432mph
 

April 2002 Pole Sitter: #12-Ryan Newman, 187.432, finished 14th

Track Specs:

Superspeedway: 2.0-mile oval 75 feet wide with a 15 foot apron

Banking: turns: 14 degrees; frontstretch 11 degrees; backstretch 3 degrees

Front Stretch: 3,100feet

Back Stretch: 2,500feet

Pit Road: 2,200 feet long with 44 individual pit stalls

Grandstand Seats: 92,000

Approx: 1,800 Infield RV spaces

PAST RACE/POLE WINNERS at California

Pole Winners

2002 Ryan Newman, #12 Ford, 187.432mph, finished 14th

2001 Bobby Labonte, #18 Pontiac, 182.635mph, finished 22nd

2000 Mike Skinner, #31 Chevy, 186.061mph, finished 7th

1999 none, rained out

1998 Jeff Gordon, #24 Chevy, 181.772mph, finished 4th

1997 Joe Nemechek, #42 Chevy, 183.015mph, finished 18th

(1997 Greg Sacks, #40 Chevy was the fastest but in 2nd round 183.753mph)

Race Winners

2002 Jimmie Johnson, #48 Chevy, 150.088mph, started 4th

2001 Rusty Wallace, #2 Ford, 143.118mph, started 19th

2000 Jeremy Mayfield, #12 Ford, 149.378mph, started 24th

1999 Jeff Gordon, #24 Chevy, 150.276mph, started 5th

1998 Mark Martin, #6 Ford, 140.220mph, started 3rd

1997 Jeff Gordon, #24 Chevy, 155.012mph, started 3rd

10 Valvoline Pontiac Team Television Information

Pit Contact: James Ince or Drew Brown

Owners: Valvoline (Jim Rocco)/MB2 Motorsports (Tom Beard, Nelson Bowers, Read Morton)

Crew Chief/Car Chief: James Ince

Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports

Spotter (Race Day) Jay Guy

Spotter (Practice Only) Russell Hoekwater

Engine Tuner John Kendrach

Over The Wall Pit Crew

Front Tire Changer Bobby Burrell

Front Tire Carrier Shane Cooke

Rear Tire Changer Greg Burkhart

Rear Tire Carrier Steve Genenbacher

Gasman Jimmy Watts

Tire Specialist Skippy Johnson

Catch Can Steve Mann

Jackman Brian Perry

Other Crew Members

Truck Driver: Gale (Bandit) Wilson

Mechanic: Jerry Hess

Mechanic: David Baum

Shocks: Mike Cluka

Tires: Jeff (Skippy) Johnson

Engineer: Tim Turner

Computers & Gas Runner: John Hayes

Scorer: Terry Lane

Pit Scorer Denise Ince

Pit Stop Coach: Gary Smith