Benson Racing Kicks off 2008 season

The racing season finally began for Calistoga’s Mike Benson this past weekend in what was expected to be a busy two days for his race team. To start out the weekend Benson Racing’s silver number 77 sprint car was on display at an open house Friday afternoon for a Santa Rosa distributor of main team sponsor HASA Inc.’s products. Additional appearances are planned throughout the 2008 season for the team as they are actively involved in representing HASA both on and off the racetrack.

Saturday March 29th at Petaluma Speedway became the first competitive event of the 2008 season for the team. Prior to Saturday the team had participated in a practice session at Petaluma and attempted to compete in the “Civil War” series opener at Placerville Speedway on March 15th before mother nature stepped in to rain out that event. Fourteen 360 c.i. winged sprint cars signed in for what was Petaluma Speedway’s season opener and first event of their weekly series for 2008.

The night started off on the wrong foot due to circumstances the team had no control over. Speedway officials cut short “hot laps” (practice sessions for competitors) and additionally decided against allowing competitors to make qualifying laps known as ‘time trials” to position the cars in the evening’s events. A simple pill draw was used to line up the heat races which there were two of. Benson ended up starting and finishing third in the second heat race of the evening.

The twenty-five lap A-Main event (the final event of the evening) found Benson starting on the outside of the third row. As the race progressed Benson was able to challenge for fourth and it appeared the team would start off the year with an encouraging top five finish. When the checkered flag fell, however, the team had to settle for seventh as the car’s setup was clearly a better match for track conditions present early in the race.

The next stop for the team headed by veteran crew chief Mark Porter heads to the Gold Country Foothills for an event at lightning quick Placerville Speedway. It is a venue that Benson has many competitive laps at going all the way back to his 1993 rookie effort in a class of cars called “minisprints”. Minisprints are a smaller version of the cars Benson competes in now powered by 1200 cc motorcycle engines. Because of the tight confines of the quarter mile speedway less emphasis is put on horsepower and more on the quick reflexes of the driver. The fast time at Placerville last weekend was just 10.023 seconds.

The 2008 season for Benson Racing features a schedule of their own design with a mixture of competition in both the 410 c.i. and 360 c.i. winged sprintcar divisions at a variety of Northern California dirt ovals. You can keep track of the team at http://www.bensonracing.com/ as well as team sponsors and supporters. The 2008 season would not be possible without the generous support of sponsors HASA, Stadelhofer Construction, Calistoga Beverage Co., Downing Paint, Fulton Auto Body, Calistoga Chiropractic and Diamond Quality Water Features Inc. Every effort on the track is also the result of the dedicated members of Benson Racing:

Crew Chief Mark Porter has been a key part of Benson Racing since 1995 and is also part owner of the team

Dave Moore has been with the team since 1999 as both a sponsor (Moore Brothers Racing) and a team member. Dave now resides in the Lake Berryessa area but grew up in Iowa not far from the famed Knoxville Raceway

Kenny Flynn has been with the team since 2002 and is in charge of Chassis tuning and fabrication. Kenny started working on sprint cars when he was 16 years old for Calistoga driver Don Meyer who Benson also helped during the early 1980′s

Kyle Vella has been with the team since 2004 and is in charge of engine performance in addition to driving the race car hauler. The 360 c.i. engine that powered Benson racing to victory at the Calistoga Civil War race last year was the 1^st sprint car engine that Vella ever built

Benson’s brother Chris Benson has painted every car he has ever driven and did another fine job this year

Phil Seavey of P.C.S. Specialties has been a big help in various aspects of the team. Seavey is one of Benson Racing’s main sponsors as well as a team member.

Cody Thomas started in 2007 and came aboard as our team cook but also works on the car as well as helps with race day operations.