It’s here. The one year anniversary of the biggest win in Mike Benson’s thirteen year career driving winged sprint cars. One year ago this weekend Benson was able to lead every lap of the “Calistoga Cup” and call his father from victory lane with the best Father’s Day gift Bob Benson has every received. All in all it was an incredible and emotional night for anyone who was ever involved with Benson Racing.
Defense of the “Cup” or the prospect of any victory at Calistoga Speedway whips the mostly Calistoga based team into a state of focus and determination that may be hard to understand for some people. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the trophy. For some people who have been involved with sprint car racing most of their lives dreaming about winning a race at Calistoga Speedway has become an obsession that cannot be defined in logical terms. Every member of the Benson Racing Team can be considered to be consumed by this obsession and one victory at Calistoga one year ago isn’t enough to put it to rest.
The entire Benson Racing Team looks forward to competing this weekend at Calistoga Speedway in what will be round five of the California Civil War Championship Series for 360ci winged sprint cars but the first of the year for what will be a very short four race Calistoga Speedway 2008 season. “We’re throwing everything we have at the two 360 races at Calistoga scheduled for this season” said Benson from his Calistoga shop. “We purposely went racing with the 410ci motor the past two weekends so that we could get the 360ci motor ready for this weekend. Winning last year was awesome but it’s just like guys who win their first Knoxville Nationals. It’s a huge deal but you immediately start thinking about how you can get another one. See you in Calistoga!”

410ci Three Race Highlights

The Benson Racing team competed in three 410ci winged sprint car events over the past two weekends on 5/31, 6/6, and 6/7. Here are the highlights:

Full results are here:

• http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com/gsc/2008/results/05/31.html
• http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com/silverDollar/2008/results/06/06-s.html
• http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com/gsc/2008/results/06/07.html

Best Finish in the Main Event: fifth place 6/6 at Silver Dollar Speedway

Best Qualifying Effort: seventh quick 6/6 at Silver Dollar Speedway

Best Heat Race Finish: third at Placerville Speedway 5/31 and Silver Dollar Speedway 6/6

All in all Benson racing transferred directly from their heat race to the main event two out of three times and transferred from the semi main to the main event with a third place finish the night they missed the transfer out of their heat race (Petaluma 6/7). Their worst main event finish of the three races came at Petaluma Speedway on 6/7 when the motor started to stumble early in the race and the team exited the race early after pulling the car into the pits to investigate the problem. Late in the week it was discovered that the 410ci motor had suffered a broken rocker arm which caused trouble they were experiencing on 6/7.

The evening started out on a high note with Mike Benson piloting the Benson Racing number 77 through qualifying posting a time good enough to be thirteenth quick out of a stout field of 48 360ci winged sprint cars. Time trials proved to be, after considering the entire evening’s results, the “easiest” thing the Benson Racing team did all night. Perseverance ended up being the theme of the evening when all was said and done.

With such a good qualifying time Benson faced an inside second row starting position in the first heat race. The first heat race had some pretty heavy hitters in it including previous night’s main event winner Willy Croft and fast qualifier of the evening Kyle Larson. Both Larson and Croft were on a mission to transfer out of the heat race which both were able to accomplish by establishing themselves solidly in the top three. With Benson holding down the fourth and final transfer position to the feature in the late stages of the race Kyle Hirst was able to slip by forcing the team to settle for a fifth place finish.

While having to compete in the Semi-Main event is viewed by many as a setback there are others who view it as an opportunity to get a closer read on what the track conditions are right before the Main event. The team actually had three heat races and the C-Main to gather knowledge about what direction the track conditions were going in. After the twelve lap semi main Benson had secured a third place finish which secured a transfer to the evening’s 30 lap finale.

With twelve laps of knowledge about the track conditions the Main Event field faced and enough time to make the relevant changes to the car the team lined up for 30 laps of battle outside the sixth row. The main event was a marathon with many cautions slowing the pace and one red flag period with eight laps left in the race. Some times race officials make the decision to have an “open” red flag period which allows the crews to make adjustments to the cars. In this case officials made the decision to keep the work area closed. After 30 laps of competition the setup of the car and “never give up” attitude of the entire team was good for an eighth place finish.

An additional positive on the evening was a five position improvement in the team’s position in the 2008 Civil War Championship point series standings. Benson racing entered the evening in fifteenth position but their perseverance paid off by allowing them to enter the top 10 in the ultra competitive series. With just four races in the books out of the scheduled fifteen the team hopes to continue to improve their place in the standings.

The 410 is Back!:
After receiving the parts back from the engine shop and putting everything back together the team is ready to compete again in the top California series for 410ci winged sprint cars which is the Golden State Challenge Series. The GSC is making a stop at Placerville Speedway this weekend May 31st which was the scene two weeks ago of the team’s best run so far of the 2008 season. Hopes are high to use this event as a positive start to a solid 410ci program to compete in upcoming events scheduled for the division this season.

Great run in the Gold Country Foothills:
The team made their second appearance at Placerville Speedway this past weekend and did so in fine fashion. The event was round seven of the lightning quick red clay quarter-mile facility’s seventeen race speedway championship series. It turned out to be the best outing of the season for the team thus far.
Time trials started off the evening with Mike Benson turning the fifth quickest lap out of 25 cars entered in the evening’s events. Benson’s time was notable when you consider that he turned the lap going out 23rd in the qualifying order. In contrast the quickest time of the evening was posted by the driver who was the third driver to qualify.
Another strong performance was turned in during the second heat race when Benson was able to pass two cars en-route to a fourth place finish. A fourth place or better finish is key since only the top four cars transfer directly to the evening’s 25 lap main event finale. The direct transfer also meant that Benson would be “in the inversion” which refers to the top 10 drivers by qualifying time that transfer directly into the main event guaranteed to start in the first five rows of the event.
A little luck led to Benson starting the main event outside the first row. The “inversion” is determined by a blind pill draw so the team benefited from similar luck that had them starting in the pole position (inside first row) in last year’s Calistoga Cup in which a historic victory was posted. After 25 laps the Benson Racing #77 finished out a successful evening with a third place finish.

410 Program Woes:
The team’s 410ci motor made what was expected to be the first of three scheduled appearances in the car at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico on May 9th. The night started out looking good with the motor running strong in hot laps. Benson turned two quick and smooth laps with the quickest one being good enough for tenth quick out of 21 cars entered.
Unfortunately the night took an unfortunate turn during the first heat race when Benson noticed while idling under caution that the oil pressure gauge had dropped to zero. Benson made the quick decision to shut off the engine as the team arrived on scene to get the car back to the hauler and assess the damage. It was quickly determined that the oil filter had imploded which potentially could have sent metal shards into the oil circulation system. As a result the night was over pre-maturely.
An early start to May 10th found the team tearing down the 410ci motor to further investigate the extent of the damage. At first there was optimism that there would be little to no damage when the team found most of what they would expect to find in the engine’s oil pan. Upon further inspection, however, it was determined that there was damage to internal engine components that necessitated them being sent to the team’s motor shop for repair.

Fair Time up next:
The team will make a rare Sunday race appearance in round four of the California Civil War Series which occurs during the annual Silver Dollar Fair in Chico. Since both the 410ci motor and 410ci division racing in general are taking Memorial Day Weekend off the team will be competing with the 360ci motor under the hood in what is a 360ci series.
Like all auto racing fans the team will begin the day with eyes glued on the annual running of the Indianapolis 500. The entire Calistoga based team will break with tradition somewhat by watching the “500” and having breakfast away from home probably for the first time in many of their lives. Long time Benson Racing Team supporters Chris and Kristine Lovett recently moved to Dayton, CA. which is minutes from Silver Dollar Speedway. The Lovett family will be hosting the team for breakfast / lunch / Indy 500 race viewing before sending off to the speedway to compete in the evening’s events.

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.

2008 PROPOSED RACING SCHEDULE

[Map] Print Race Schedule | Subscribe

[Map] Print Race Schedule | Subscribe