Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000 | 4:29 a.m.
The future is so bright for Johnny Benson, his team is sometimes scared by it.
After struggling without sponsorship for part of this season, it heads into next year with few worries.
That's the problem.
Successful despite fiscal adversity this year, the team knows the stakes will be even higher in 2001. There's a new, lucrative sponsor - a partner in the car no less - conditioned to victory celebrations.
That's something Benson has never had in five seasons on the Winston Cup circuit.
"The expectations will definitely be higher next season, and in a way it's a little scary," Benson said. "We've been able to do well this season despite everything that's gone on. Now, if we don't do well next year without the distractions, people will wonder why and maybe even think we've gotten lazy."
One thing Benson and his team haven't been this season is lazy.
After parting ways with Roush Racing at the end of last season, the 1996 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year started 2000 without a sponsor.
Still, he nearly won the season-opening Daytona 500. A late caution hurt him, and he faded in the last few laps to finish 12th.
That performance netted a sponsor, but the checks stopped coming. Tim Beverley eventually sold the team to MB2 Motorsports, which lined up a deal with Valvoline for sponsorship in 2001.
But that was for next year, and Benson needed help this season.
At first it was a case of reaching into their own pockets to pay the bills. Then the rental company Aaron's signed on, easing the financial problem.
Now Benson, coming off an eighth-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway, heads to Talladega, Ala., where he starts Sunday an astonishing 14th in the standings.
But the 37-year-old driver and his team face a huge burden in trying to continue their success next season.
The deal with Valvoline means money won't be an obstacle and the team can focus all its energy on winning.
"That actually worries me a little," crew chief James Ince said. "I want to make sure the race team doesn't start neglecting stuff. Right now, we are very conservative in the way we spend money.
"That changes next year, but we have to make sure we do the right things with the money. And if we start out next year in a slump, we know what the perception will be."
But Ince is confident the crew he has assembled will keep that from happening.
"There are no egos on this team, and if there was a clear definition of team, this would be it," Ince said. "Every member of this team is scared to death of being the weak link in the program and is not going to allow himself to be the weak link."
Failure was met with a vow not to repeat an error.
When rain washed out second-round qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and Benson didn't make the field, Ince swore they would improve their qualifying efforts.
Benson hasn't missed a race since.
When the team's finances reached their most critical stage, Ince advised crew members to look for other jobs. He says nobody did.
"I just think that everybody has the same goals," Benson said. "If you radio in that something needs to be done, it's not unusual for half the team to try to do it instead on just one guy. And all of them will be running to do it.
"They just want to make sure things get done, make sure things are right and nothing falls off the car, and to win races."
It's the kind of attitude Valvoline is looking for. The longtime sponsor of Mark Martin is used to winning and competing for Winston Cup championships.
Although he's a former Busch Grand National champion, the closest Benson has ever come to NASCAR'S elite title was finishing 11th in the standings in 1997.
Now, despite lucrative sponsorship, Benson says a top-10 finish next year is no given.
Because of its money problems this season, the team is behind on research and development. But there won't be a lowering of goals.
"We've made it through so much, we know we can make up any lost ground," Benson said. "And that confidence can help us with our goal - to finish in the top six in the points."
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