James Ince earned a great degree of respect in 2000 for overachieving with a team in disarray due to a change in team ownership and sponsor uncertainties that lasted most of the season. Ince, who left the powerful Roush Racing conglomerate due to philosophical differences, teamed with another Roush castoff, driver Johnny Benson, to form a combination that was on the verge of getting to Victory Lane as the 2001 season opened.