Benson: Darlington is NASCAR.

#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson believes tyres and history will be the two main topics of conversation when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series races this weekend at Darlington Raceway.

"It will be the same old Darlington," smiled Benson. "I think this race will be just like the race in the Spring. I know we keep talking about it, but the new tyres that Goodyear has come out with should make it a better race."

The tyre compound Goodyear brings to Darlington this weekend is the same it used at Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and North Carolina Speedway.

"I think the difference between Darlington and other places where this tyre is used is that at Darlington you are still going to come into the pits whenever a yellow comes out. You might not do that at other places where this compound was raced," explained Benson.

Darlington is the site of NASCAR's first 500-mile race won by Johnny Mantz on Sept. 4, 1950. Darlington also marks the beginning of the end of the 2001 season when teams starting to pay a bit more attention to the points race.

"We'd like to be part of the domination like those other guys," Benson admitted. "Darlington is NASCAR and full of history. That track hasn't changed much since they started racing there. Yes, it would be pretty cool to be part of the history if we could get our first win there."

Benson's team has set sixth place as a goal for the 2001 season. It is currently 11th only 124 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. in sixth.

"We are always looking at points but we aren't ready to points race yet," said Benson. "You are always looking to win. Our race strategies are designed to get us the victory not to accumulate points. This team has rolled the dice a few times going for the win. Sometimes it has worked sometimes it hasn't."