#10 Valvoline Pontiac driver Johnny Benson loved his superspeedway car ##4518. It was the white car he used to lead 38 laps and nearly win the 2000 Daytona 500. It was a car that ran well at most superspeedway races after that. But it was also the car he was racing in the top 10 at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona last year when he was wrecked on lap 8. Benson suffered three broken ribs on his right side in that wreck and missed the Chicago and New Hampshire races. The team retired the car, but Benson didn’t want to let go of his favorite superspeedway car. So what do you do when you are a race car driver who has a car you really likes but its too damaged to race again? Its easy. You make it into a coffee table for your race shop. Last month, Benson took the damaged Valvoline Pontiac up to a salvage yard in Statesville, N.C. and crushed the car into a cube. Now hes going to make it in a table to put it in his race shop. Benson is putting the finishing touches on the table and expects to be complete in a few months.( MBV PR ) See images of the car and the coffee table on my #10 Team News and Links page .(6-26-2003)
