SHOP TALK - Johnny Benson Sr.
by Brian Nelson

Many of today’s racing fans know well the story of Berlin’s favorite son, Johnny Benson, Jr.   A few die hard Berlin disciples may even remember his track championship from 1989.  What most fans do not know is the story of the man who may be responsible for Johnny’s success - his father Johnny Benson Sr. 

As I prepared to interview the Berlin Raceway legend and current Late Model team owner, his crew warned me to have my questions ready and added “John doesn’t say much.”  But upon my visit to the elder Benson’s home on Grand Rapids’ northeast side, I found John Benson was ready to journey through his scrapbook of stories.  

Johnny Benson never watched a race until he became a race-car driver in 1956.  “I had this 1932 Ford pickup truck that I was making a hot rod out of,” he remembers.  “A friend of mine wanted that truck so bad he could taste it.  He finally offered to trade me an old Hudson stock car he had for it.  At the time it seemed like a pretty good deal, so I traded it to him and got the stock car.”   

Using a tow truck from the Standard service station where he worked, (corner of E. Beltline and Leonard) Johnny took his car to the old Grand Rapids Speedrome. 

“It was one of the only paved tracks in the area,” Benson said.  “Asphalt is cleaner, and the track doesn’t change as much from week to week - so the set up is usually the same no matter what.” 

Speaking of set-up, Johnny recalls a pretty unique source for racing tires. 

“Back then, we raced on old ambulance tires,” Johnny said. “ They were extra-wide, extra-large, and were constructed with a more durable side-wall.  Plus, they were only $10 a piece.  Today’s racing tires cost at least a hundred dollars each.” 

Johnny ran his red and white Hudson coupe in the Speedrome’s Jalopy class and won a lot of races!  In 1958, Johnny Benson won a full one-third of the all the races he entered including twelve feature wins and a track championship. 

After getting married in 1959, Benson turned a Ford Model T into a super-modified race car that carried him through three winning seasons.  His “Reliable Special” racer will forever hold the Speedrome track record because the track was closed to make way for construction of US 131. 

Although the new freeway robbed him of his home race track, it did provide him with at least one unique opportunity.  “When they were building 131 and the S-curve, the Grand Rapids Press called me to test drive it,” Johnny said.  They wanted my opinion.”  Before it was open to public traffic, Benson climbed inside an early sixties Corvette and flew through the S-curve.  “When I got out of the car, the reporter asked me how fast I was going and I refused to tell him. Someone could get hurt trying to beat my time.”    

When the Speedrome closed its doors, the Grand Rapids racing scene shifted to the little-used Berlin Fairgrounds raceway - a half-mile dirt track.   Berlin Raceway was paved in 1965, and Johnny soon began to dominate races just as he had at the Speedrome.   

Although he dabbled a little in other classes of racing, Johnny’s first love was Super-modified racers.  Through the second half of the sixties, John dominated at Berlin and wherever he drove the car.  “I made more money racing than I did at my railroad job,” John said.   

Throughout the late sixties Johnny Benson won two Mid-season Berlin championships and one State championship; and from 1970 - 1979, Benson won all but three Late Model championships. 

By the early eighties, John’s son, Johnny Benson Jr. was beginning his racing career, so John hung up his helmet and focused on developing Johnny Jr’s success.   

He recalls the night he first knew Johnny Jr. had what it takes to race among NASCAR’s elite. 

“In his second year at Berlin, he was pretty frustrated.  The car wasn’t performing right, and he needed to see that it could win and succeed.  So I climbed in to see what was wrong with the car and wound up winning the race.   That was the turning point for Johnny.” 

Today, John Benson Sr.  owns the Berger Chevrolet sponsored no. 21 Late Model.  Benson is known for making his drivers work very hard, a reputation some drivers don’t take kindly to. 

“The driver needs to know as much as he can about the car,” Benson said.  Anybody can succeed if they’re motivated and dedicated.  You have to work 10% longer, 10% harder, and 10% smarter than whoever you want to beat.  (Success) is a lot more than driving.  The driver is 10%.  The rest is how much the driver knows about setting up the car.” 

Benson’s investments in young drivers are paying off.   While driving for John Benson Sr., Lee Anderson finished second in championship points twice, and driver Brian Maxim has raced his way to several strong finishes this year. 

John and his wife Judy Benson also operate Benson Speed Equipment, which manufactures racing components for race teams worldwide - including some NASCAR Nextel Cup teams. 

In 1986, Benson was inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame, and his picture hangs in the Van Andel Arena as a member of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame.   

But as willing as John Benson is to talk about the victories of his past, he is quick to add this:  “That was a long time ago.  I want to look to the future first.”