Berlin Raceway
Bummer! Berlin Raceway was rained out on
Saturday night. The CRA race is rescheduled for
Saturday, October 8th.
Brian Campbell Crowned Champion
Johnny Finishes 4th
The final race of the night was the 100-lap Premier
Boyne Machine Super Lates with #20 Brian Campbell on the
pole and #55 Chris Anthony on his outside. Campbell and
Anthony took off with the rest of the top six in tow,
they set off riding single file. The next pack of cars
were racing very hard for position. On lap
11, the #37 of Jordan Dahlke was working on #10 Josh
Hobson for fourth and after battling side by side for
two laps, Dahlke cleared him.
Lap 17 saw the top 2; Campbell and Anthony; shake off
the #21 of Terry VanHaitsma and they started pulling
away, nose to tail. On lap 24, the battle
for seventh was heating up, the #23 of Chris Koslek was
pushing his way forward, making contact with both #12
Tim DeVos and #10 Josh Hobson. DeVos was able to get
back by Koslek and they continued on. The
top three, Campbell, Anthony and VanHaitsma, ran nose to
tail as the battle for fifth was getting exciting
between #99 Ross Meeuwsen and DeVos.
Just five laps later, the leaders caught the tail of the
field and in traffic, VanHaitsma was able to get by
Anthony for second. The first caution of
this race came on lap 45. After the field was reset and
it was VanHaitsma who got past Campbell on the restart.
Campbell was battling back while trying to hold
off the hard-charging DeVos. Campbell and DeVos both
got past VanHaitsma on lap 47 and the field went back to
single file at the half-way point. Lap 56
saw a change for the lead, DeVos got around Campbell,
but Campbell was battling back.
They raced side by side for four laps before Campbell
made the pass and cleared him. Now it was
Meeuwsen on the move, he was challenging DeVos for
second and took the position. Meeuwsen had just 25 laps
left to catch Campbell. With 20 laps to
go, Meeuwsen was closing in on Campbell and the pair was
back in traffic. While trying to maneuver past Hobson,
Hobson slowed in front of Campbell and Meeuwsen was able
to blow by both of them on lap 84. Campbell was unable
to make up the time that he lost until the last lap when
things got wild.
With the leaders in heavy traffic and coming to the
checkers, it was Meeuwsen who prevailed. The rest of the
top ten were Campbell, DeVos, #21 Johnny Benson, #6
Brandon Hermiller, Anthony, #37 Jordan Dahlke, #32 Gabe
Ensing, #44 Tim Steele and #82 Tom Thomas. Though
Campbell finished second, he was crowned the Premier
Boyne Machine Super Lates Champion.
Saturday, September 24th -
Berlin Raceway
CRA Race - 125 Laps
Johnny will be racing the #21
Perfect Circle Racing late model sponsored by
www.racingawareness.com for 125 laps.
www.berlinraceway.com
Berlin Raceway
This Saturday, September 24, the Berlin Raceway will
feature CRA Super Series Night!! The night will
feature 125 action packed laps from the CRA Super
Series along with VROA Championship Night!! A
Run-What-Ya-Brung race will also be part of the fun
filled night!! Tickets are just $13 for adults and as
always, kids 11 & under are FREEEEEE!!! Come out for
the final night of racing at the Berlin Raceway for
the 2011 season.
Russ Wood Wins at Star Speedway
Johnny Finishes 19th
ismasupers.com
A huge throng of fans turned out to watch the rebirth of
the traditional Star Classic and they weren’t
disappointed. It was a classic race! And, it was a
perfect day for Russ Wood at Star Speedway Saturday. He
led all 150 green flag laps, collecting the lion’s share
of the over $10,000 in lap money and bonuses, plus the
$5,000 winner’s share of the purse.
Sixteen cars were locked in from time trials with the
top twelve handicapped by ISMA rules. The consi finished
lined up the rest of the field. With some bad finishes
in the past few races, veteran Russ Wood and teammate
Rob Summers made up the front row in the 24-car field.
It was Wood taking the point from the green, a spot he
would not relinquish.
An
early caution for Ben Seitz slowed the pace but green
flowed after as Wood and Summers tried to shake off
Eddie Witkum, Johnny Benson and quickly up from tenth,
Chris Perley.
Traffic soon came into play on the famed bullring as
Wood began to lap cars by lap ten as Summers followed.
Perley was third a distance behind the lead duo when
yellow fell again on lap 22 for Dave Sanborn in the Lane
9.
The
slowdown allowed Perley to close the gap on Wood and
Summers as Benson, Witkum, Justin Belfiore, Mike Lichty
and McKennedy threaded through the traffic left by the
leaders as the race stayed green for a long spell.
Just
before the lap 50 mark, Perley moved up on Summers as
Wood was struggling with a trio of slower cars ahead. On
lap 49, Perley became the nemesis for Wood and it would
be all their ballgame for the next 100 laps.
Yellow
flew again on lap 56 when Dave Duggan’s 51 was into the
wall in four. Justin Belfiore pulled the 98 pitside at
this juncture, not to return. On the restart of his
mishap, Johnny Benson stopped the Lichty-owned 74 coming
out of turn one and he too was out for the night.
Complete PR
Saturday, September 10th
Star Speedway in NH
Johnny returns to New Hampshire to race the #74 Supermodified owned by Brad Lichty.
www.star-speedway.com
Johnny Returning to Truck Series in 2012
By: Steve Kaminski
After losing his NASCAR Camping World Trucks ride in
2009, Johnny Benson Jr. announced that he wasn’t going
to return to the series full-time unless he found a team
capable of winning on any given weekend.
It has taken more than two years, but
it appears that Benson has found the right opportunity.
Benson, of Grand Rapids, said Tuesday
that he plans to return to Trucks in 2012 with Turn One
Racing, which features NASCAR veteran driver Stacy
Compton as the team’s owner. Benson will be backed by
the Pure Michigan campaign, with its logo to be carried
on the hood of its Silverados.
“Our goal is to run the whole season
and compete for the championship,” Benson said. “We are
not quite there yet, but we have sold a lot of races.
Pure Michigan has come on board, and we have been
talking with many great companies in Michigan who have
shown a lot of enthusiasm in joining us.
“Pure Michigan has done a great job
with its national campaign. I have seen it as far out as
Vegas, as well as other parts of the country. I’m
excited to have Pure Michigan on the hood. I know
Michigan is a great place to vacation, and you know it.
Hopefully, this will help push other people to come here
on their vacations.”
Benson won the 2008 Trucks
championship for Bill Davis Racing before joining Red
Horse Racing the following year. However, Red Horse
folded five months into the 2009 season and left Benson
without a ride.
Benson has spent the past two seasons
competing in Late Model and Supermodified events. He
will be back at his home track, Berlin Raceway in Marne,
to run in Saturday’s Premier Boyne Machine Super Lates
division for the Racingawareness.com team.
Compton’s team features Cole Whitt,
an impressive 20-year old rookie from California who is
eighth in the Trucks points standings. Benson, 48, said
he is hoping to join Whitt in the field for a race later
this season. If not, look for Benson to be ready to go
for the season opener at Daytona in February.
“If I am going to run races, I want
to have an opportunity to win races,” Benson said.
“Stacy has shown that they can do that. They have had
great runs with Cole Whitt. The team shows it has a lot
of promise.
“It is a young team, and I have done
well with young teams. Stacy is a racer who I have raced
with in Nationwide and Trucks, and we have run together
many times. His desire is no different from mine. He
wants to win. This will be a good situation.”
Labor Day Weekend - Oswego
Speedway
September 2nd, 3rd and 4th
Johnny returns to New York to race the #74
Supermodified owned by Brad Lichty.
Friday night - Winged 50 laps and Sunday - the
Oswego Classic - 200 laps.
www.oswegospeedway.com
Otto Sitterly Wins the Classic
Johnny Finishes 13th
It was Sitterly’s
second career Classic win, and his 20th career Oswego
victory. Lichty hung on for second, with early leader
Randy Ritskes in third. It was also the first time in
the 55 year history of the Classic that team cars
finished first and second.
Complete Story
Oswego Photos
By: RG Design
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| Johnny
practicing at Oswego |
Johnny
and the guys who
worked on his
wingless supermodified |
