Michigan Native Johnny Benson to Replace Paul Tracy at Berlin in the SRX Series

Michigan Native Johnny Benson is set to fill in for the Suspended Paul Tracy in Thursday's SRX event at West Michigan's Berlin Raceway. 

Benson celebrating his Craftsman Truck win at Kentucky in 2008. Image: Twitter original credit not found

In the long and storied history of Berlin Raceway, it has never hosted an event like the SRX Series. From Jeff Gordon to Dale Earnhardt, the track's list of competitors is long and distinguished. Track GM and MRN lead anchor, Jeff Striegle predicted back in December that it would be the biggest night in the track’s history.

“What makes SRX unique is while those guys were here they raced against our locals, not one another. Now you take guys like Tony Stewart, Bill Elliott, Marco Andretti, and Helio Castroneves and put them on the same track in identically prepared cars and that’s what we’re going to have.” Striegle said. 

Among those drivers is Michigan native Brad Keselowski, along with Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Hailie Deegan, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Tony Stewart, Marco Andretti, Bobby Labonte, and Ken Schrader. One driver missing from the field is Paul Tracy, who was suspended due to an incident that took out several competitors during the July 27th event at Motor Mile Speedway.

The SRX needed a replacement for the upcoming event at Berlin Raceway on August 3rd. Berlin Raceway has several drivers who could come as substitutes. This could be a great opportunity for a driver like Evan Shotko, Brian Campbell, Tim DeVos, or even current NASCAR driver and former Berlin track champion, Carson Hocevar, to spread their wings in the national limelight. SRX CEO Don Hawk had a better idea: bring in Grand Rapids native, Johnny Benson, Jr

Benson, 60, has a list of racing accomplishments that’s as long and distinguished as Berlin's history. The son of the Berlin all-time win holder, John Benson, Sr., and is also the 1989 track champion at Berlin. However, unlike his dad, Benson did not pursue a career of short tracks despite John Sr. running the 1973 Michigan race in Cup, Johnny took to the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1990, winning Rookie of the Year and the series championship in 1993, later joining BACE Motorsports and Bill Baumgartner in 1994, winning Rookie of the Year in the Busch Series and the series championship in 1995. He would move to Winston Cup in 1996 with Chuck Ryder and Bahari’ Racing, capturing yet another Rookie of the Year title, nearly scoring a win in the 1996 Brickyard 400 and an 11th-place points finish in 1997. He moved to Roush Racing in 1998 and 1999, before making what would be his best career move at that point, driving for Tyler Jet Motorsports in 2000, replacing the not-so-well-liked Rich Bickle.

Benson would nearly win five races that year and acquired his Valvoline sponsorship for 2001. He would have a series of rib injuries plague his 2002 season but would capture his first (and only) career Cup Series victory at Rockingham in November. Benson left Cup full-time after an abysmal 2003 and raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series full-time beginning in 2005. He scored his first win at his home track, Michigan International Speedway in 2006, and nearly won the series championship, however, Todd Bodine had a better year. Benson shined in the truck series, continuing his dominance in 2007, and capturing the 2008 series championship.

Benson would only race part-time in 2009 until a scary accident in an ISMA Supermodified race at Berlin Raceway (his home track) in June left him hospitalized and took him out of racing for the remainder of the year. Benson last competed in NASCAR in 2010 at Texas in the truck series and since then, Benson has been racing sporadically and helping Carson Hocevar with his development through the truck series. Benson has decided that he wants to win an ISMA championship before retirement as well as run his final career race at Berlin.

“I’ve raced at probably 150 tracks, and (Berlin) is definitely in my top five hardest tracks,” Benson said. “This track is the perfect place (to develop skills for NASCAR). It’s hard, you can spin the wheels down the straightaway, you really need to manipulate the gas pedal, and you need to keep your corner speeds up. That really adapts to most tracks.” 
Benson previously served as the SRX pace car driver in 2021, the series’ inaugural run and the SRX race at Berlin will be held on August 3rd, three days before the NASCAR Cup Series makes their lone stop at Michigan International Speedway.

By: Alex Wood