Steady start for Benson and MB2.

Just a week before the Brickyard 400 Johnny Benson and the crew of the #10 Pontiac thought that they had just one race left before financial restrictions would force the team to close down until the start of next year. However at the very last minute a sponsor showed up out of the blue and signed up with Benson for the rest of the year.

The #10 team, formerly known as Tyler Jet Motorsports, had not been expected to cause much of a stir with Benson behind the wheel although a sponsorship deal with Lycos.com pointed the squad in the right direction.

However Benson exceeded all expectations during his first race with the team at Daytona by leading the famous race with less than ten laps to go and giving the team some much needed exposure. Although he didn't win, Benson's performances in the underfunded team, which lost Lycos.com shortly before half season, marked them out as a combination who deserved better.

Faced with an uncertain future as a single car team, the #10 operation was sold to the only other Georgia based team in the Winston Cup, MB2 Motorsports shortly before the thatlook.com 300 at Loudon in July. However MB2 didn't have the finance in place to run an unsponsored team this year and it was expected to shut the #10 team down until the start of next year when a new sponsor would have been found.

It would have been a great injustice if Benson were forced to curtail his campaign as he is currently embroiled in a great points scrap with among others, Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin and Chad Little for a place in the lower reaches of the top 20 in the points standings.

Just days before the Brickyard 400, Atlanta company Aaron's Rents signed on for the rest of the year with the team allowing Benson to complete the season. The firm had their colours on the car for the Indy event for which Johnny ran steadily to a 25th place finish ,one lap down.

"We are the only team from Georgia," said MB2 co-owner Tom Beard. "We looked all over the globe for a sponsor, and darn it if we didn't find one right here in our own backyard."

Benson was simply grateful that he would be allowed to continue driving in what is turning out to be one of his most successful WC campaigns to date. "If it wasn't for Aaron's this team wouldn't race the rest of the season so you better believe we're thankful," said the driver who has notched up one top five finish and two top ten finishes during the first half of the 2000 season.

The company, which deals in supplying office and home furniture, will back the team for the final 15 races of the year before a new sponsor is unveiled for the 2001 season. It is believed that a deal with Valvoline is already in place but it cannot be announced until the firm's relationship with Mark Martin comes to an end.