Johnny Benson's Hometown Time Capsule: Inside The Benson Family's Backyard Race Shop!

Johnny Benson Jr became a fabricator before the age of 10 by working with his father John Sr, who is a local racing legend himself. The whole Benson family fabricated race cars and parts in the garage behind their house in Grand Rapids Michigan. Johnny Jr ran late models and the ASA series before going to NASCAR where he became a Busch Series Champion in the BACE Motorsports car. He raced in the cup series for several years before going to the Craftsman Truck Series where he won a championship in 2008. The entire time Johnny's parents continued to make race car parts in the shops right here!

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[Stapleton]

Which car (or truck) do you think of when you hear the name Johnny Benson? If you like these videos hit thumbs up and subscribe to see the next one sooner!

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[dougderby]

Johnny is the most down to earth. Much like Kenny Schrader.

[jlanducci]

Johnny Benson hasnt aged a day. Still looks the exact same as when i watched him as a kid. Great video Mitchell and Logan!!!

[christopherweise]

Proof that all the veterans weren't just drivers.

My Midwest B....Dick Marcis....Alan Kulwicki.

[sbcbuilder]

DON'T STOP doing videos like this. People like Johnny Benson Jr are very rare these days. He had no problem giving you a tour of his family's legacy and telling it like it was for him from a very young age. Many people of that era just loved to built things because it was the thing that people loved to do. My dad taught me how to weld at age 10. He said: "Go find some junk out back of the garage and I will teach you how to weld." I took that pile of car parts, painted it and took it to school for "art class". I won first place beating the local university art professor. He offered to buy my "art" for $25. For a kid in 1965 that was a fortune. Ten years after that I had a business building headers for the local stock car guys. You are never to old to learn.

[KnollMountain]

My dad won the Berlin super modified championship in 1963 and had many battles with Johnny’s dad throughout the years. The Bensons are a great family

[bryonkidder]

One of the smartest drivers in NASCAR history...imo
Good to see Johnny living his best life!

[flyjarrett]

Always liked Johnny Benson. Seemed super humble and a clean racer, never getting into any controversies. Thanks for the video.

[BradMezei]

Grew up 2 miles from the Benson's, same grade school, high school etc. His sister Barb and I were good friends (same grade). John Sr. would weld up our dirt bikes when we busted them up. Up until late teens spent every Saturday at Berlin Raceway watching his dad then Johnny. Then, of course, cheered him on through his ASA and NASCAR career. Very proud of our hometown kid!

[Dave-mtqt]

I always liked Johnny Benson. I wished he ran longer in cup than he did. The speed show he did with Waltrip and Shrader was my favorite show.

[KeithSkiba]

Johnny was the 1st guy I knew to make it big in Nascar from Mich. Always pulled for him in every series he raced. Always joked that Johnny was to nice of a guy, he could of won a hell of a lot more if he'd just give a guy a little bumper to get by but thats not how Dad raced and thats not how Johnny races. Class act family thru and thru. Awsome video! Thank you MUCH👍

[mikechurch]

Johnny Benson has always been a very nice guy

[RobertEMuir]

Awesome visit. I always admired this man. He always handled himself with honest integrity. Great job.

[Steeledawg]

Absolutely the backbone of the history of short track and NASCAR racing

[rexer]

Absolutely one of the nicest guys you will ever meet at a race track! Great to see him still doing well!

[QuietDriver]

Johnny's win at Rockingham is a feel-good clip that always brings me out of a funk. He's another case of the stats not reflecting the talent at least at the Cup level. That #10 Valvoline Grand Prix always stood out in a crowd. This video is a stellar follow up to the IROC festivities. Thank you guys for another golden nugget of racing history!

[mikekenyon]

Thank you, long time Johnny Benson fan!

[RobertGilbert-yy]

I wish Johnny was still racing. True racer in his day.

[carlbrooks]

I grew up about 5 miles from the Benson speed shop. I used to ride my bike over to the shop just to catch a glimpse of what was going on there. I was a John Sr fan having watched him at Berlin for years. Later in my teens I was on a pit crew for a local racer who Sadly lost his life at Auto City speedway. We ran against Johnny Jr but I always admired him. I watched a NASCAR race at Richmond from Johnny's pit stall. Great video and great memories

[raykaufman]

This was absolutely FASCINATING. Im a supermod guy, so a lot of those stories "fill in blanks" of things I'd heard about for years.
And that Charlie Swartz story is PRICELESS.
Great job!