Johnny Benson

Johnny Benson junior

status	active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	11. - (1997, 2001)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 274 1 2 58
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	1st - (1995)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 91 3 1 35
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
Best placement	1st - (2008)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 138 14th 5 90
Data status: April 10, 2011

Johnny Benson junior (born June 27, 1963 in Grand Rapids , Michigan ) is an American NASCAR racing driver. His greatest achievement was winning the championship in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2008.

Career

Early years

Johnny Benson junior was Late Model Champion at Berlin Raceway in Marne , Michigan . In 1990 he joined the American Speed ​​Association (ASA). As a rookie in the ASA, he secured a pole position, completed 174 laps and secured eight top 10 finishes. Before Pat Schauer he was named “Rookie of the Year”. In 1991 he finished fourth in the ASA AC-Delco Challenge Series . In 1993 he won the ASA championship with the Valvoline-sponsored Chevrolet with starting number 21 for Throop Motorsports .

In 1993 he made his debut in what was then the Busch Series . At Michigan International Speedway he drove the number 41 Chevrolet for Ernie Irvan . After an early accident, he dropped from 20th to 40th place. At BACE Motorsports , he drove three more races in the number 74 Chevrolet. His best result came in eighth at the Atlanta Motor Speedway .

In 1994 he was employed as a full-time driver at BACE Motorsports. He won his first race with the SplitFire 200 at Dover International Speedway . He was also in this series "Rookie of the Year" and finished the season in sixth. The following season he drove early wins in Atlanta and Hickory and was NASCAR Busch Series champion. In the same season he also started to drive in the Craftsman Truck Series . There he finished second at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Silverado-sponsored Chevrolet with starting number 18 . The following year he drove a pole on the North Wilkesboro Speedway .

1996-1999

Benson's Winston Cup vehicle in Pocono , 1997

In 1996 he rose to the Winston Cup Series . His father, John Benson, took part in one of the series' races back in 1973, finishing fourth. Johnny drove the number 30 Pennzoil car for Bahari 'Racing . Although he was unable to qualify for the Food City 500 , he still secured the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year title. At the Atlanta Motor Speedway , he started from pole position for the first time. In August 1996 he dominated the Brickyard 400 , but had to admit defeat at the pits. He finished the season with seven top 10 results and in 21st place in the championship. As the reigning Busch Series champion, he was invited to the International Race of Champions that same year . He finished third behind the winner, Mark Martin . In the 1997 Winston Cup season , he drove nine top 10 results, but no placement in the top five. During the season he announced his move to Roush Racing . In 1998 he didn't even take part in the Daytona 500 . His best result was a ninth place. In 1990 he drove only two top 10s, changed the crew chief several times and finally left Roush Racing.

2000-2003

Johnny Benson's number 10 car at California Speedway , 2003

The Winston Cup 2000 season went for Benson Tyler Jet Motorsports . He drove the car with the number 10, in which it was still uncertain whether he would have to drive the season without sponsorship money, because the Lycos Group only announced its financial participation on the morning before the Daytona 500 . With four laps to go, he led the race from Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton . Burton overtook him at Turn 1 and in the end it was only enough for twelfth place. In the third race of the season at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway , he was third. For the Pepsi 400 , he ran again without a sponsor. There were rumors that Lycos never paid for the advertisement. Since no new sponsor was found, the team was sold to MB2 Motorsports . In August, Valvoline announced that it would be the sponsor. Benson finished 13th in the championship. In the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup , he achieved 14 top 10 results, six of them in the top five.

The 2002 season started with a tenth place finish in Daytona. In the Busch Series, he drove a race for Marsh Racing at Richmond International Raceway . Due to an accident, he broke his rib, which made him unable to drive for three cup races. At the Pepsi 400, he clashed with Michael Waltrip and broke his ribs again. After a two-race break, he started second in Loudon and led 53 of 207 laps. He crossed the finish line in fourth. At Martinsville Speedway , he achieved second place, the best result of his career in the Cup series to date. Two races later, he won his first cup race with the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 , but it was also his only win in the Winston Cup. At the end of the season he was 29th with 1668 points. After four races in the 2003 season , he was sixth. After top five results in Dover and Homestead, he was 24. After the end of the season Scott Riggs took his place on instructions from Valvoline .

2004-2008

Benson behind Erik Darnell at the closest finish since the introduction of electronic timing in 2008.

Benson (# 23) with Jack Sprague , 2007

The 2004 season Benson drove for Phoenix Racing in the Busch Series. He achieved his first pole in Rockingham , but had to start last due to a rule violation. He had a good chance of winning the race of the season in Bristol , but an accident between Kevin Harvick and David Stremme ruined it. In Nashville was also involved in an accident. For the same team, he also drove car number 09 for four races in the Nextel Cup . His best result was a 27th place in Daytona.

For the next four months he drove a bush race for Matt Kenseth . In August he was offered a cockpit with Bill Davis Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series . In 13 races he made it into the top 10 ten times. In the Craftsman truck season 2005 he was tenth in the championship standings. For FitzBradshaw Racing he drove four races in the Busch Series and one for Smith Bros. Racing . He also drove three races in the Nextel Cup: two for Michael Waltrip Racing and one for Bill Davis Racing. He turned 28 in Atlanta.

In 2006, he won his first truck race at the Con-way Freight 200 . This made him the 17th driver to win a race in all three national NASCAR series. He immediately won the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 on the Milwaukee Mile . With the Toyota Tundra 200 , he won his third race of the season on the Nashville Superspeedway . The next win came in New Hampshire. At the Phoenix International Raceway, he was able to record the fifth victory of the year. He finished the season in second behind Todd Bodine . He also received the 2006 Series Most Popular Driver title .

He finished the 2007 season with four wins in Milwaukee, Bristol, St. Louis and Homestead in third place. He has repeatedly been recognized as the Most Popular Driver . In the 2007 Cup, he drove the Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 for Wyler Racing and the Checker Auto Parts 500 and Ford 400 for Bill Davis Racing. In the Busch Series he only drove the AT&T 250 for Phoenix Racing. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season 2008 he won his first race of the season with the Camping World RV Sales 200 in Milwaukee. On July 19, he won the second race of the season at Kentucky Speedway after he overtook Michael Annett and Dennis Setzer , as well as the lapped Chad Chaffin, at the same time with a "super run out of Turn 2" . In the Power Stroke Diesel 200 , Benson won ahead of Ron Hornaday and thus held the championship lead. Benson won his third race of the season in a row on the Nashville Superspeedway . Ultimately, Benson won the title and became the second driver after Greg Biffle to win the title in both the Truck and Busch series. After him, Austin Dillon would win that too .

Web links

Commons : Johnny Benson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info
• Johnny Benson on NASCAR.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Trucks: Benson wins - Kyle Busch sixth