June 13, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
NASCAR is coming to Michigan this week but one of Michigan’s favorite sons is not going to be part of the party.
Red Horse Racing announced this week the suspension of the Red Horse Racing #1 Toyota team. This announcement appeared on their website:
“Red Horse Racing regretfully announces the closure of the #1 Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Benson. The decision is effective immediately.”
Benson was quoted in the Grand Rapids Press, "Part of me was surprised. We have had discussions about this before, and we were told that (lack of a sponsor) was not going to be a problem. Apparently, it is. But we have had this before, and we are actively looking for something else. We will mosey on and try to figure out what is next.
"This is not a good situation for anyone involved. It's not good for the owner and it's not good for the driver. It's just one of those deals."
The decision by Red Horse Racing to shut down the Benson team could not come at a worse time for Michigan International Speedway, the site of this weekend’s NASCAR races in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Sprint Cup series.
Benson is loved by the Michigan fans. Local sentiment on the closure announcement was disappointment and anger. Fans were looking forward to watching their hometown boy this week.
Benson maintains a local presence in Grand Rapids, his home town. He races at nearby Berlin Raceway where his career was launched in the early 1990’s. Kyle Busch joined Benson on Wednesday for the Rowdy Busch 125. The Late Model race finished with a 5th place for Kyle Busch and 6th for Johnny Benson.
I am sure Busch’s behavior following last week’s win at Nashville of smashing the trophy guitar added some controversy to the race.
Benson has a rich history at the Michigan International Speedway. He made his Busch series debut there in 1993. In 2006 Benson won his first Craftsman Truck series race there.
Benson’s record is NASCAR shows his skill at winning over the long term as well as his popularity with the fans because of his ‘nice guy’ attitude. His record includes Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1994, Busch Series Champion in 1995 and Winston Cup rookie of the Year in 1996.
His popularity with the fans is still high shown by being Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver for three consecutive years from 2006 – 2008.
Benson raced for Bill Davis Racing in the 2008 season but left after winning the Craftsman Truck Series championship when the Bill Davis team hit hard times. Benson and his crew chief Trip Bruce joined the Red Horse Racing tem to drive the #1 Toyota Tundra for the 2009. The season seemed to be progressing well for the team.
The folding of Benson’s team leaves several questions in my mind-mainly about Red Horse Racing’s thinking. They kept the team of T.J. Bell that has no wins this season while releasing Benson who is currently 7th in points in the Truck Series. Team owner Tom DeLoach’s answer to the press was, "It hasn't been for a lack of effort. We had several people working on finding a sponsor for the #1 and Johnny Benson. I've been working on it myself. We gave it our best shot, and we tried as long as we could, but nothing materialized. I am saddened that we were unsuccessful in accomplishing our goal but this is a tough economic climate and the cost of fielding a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team with essentially no support other than our manufacturer is too much for Red Horse Racing to bear alone."
But those words did not ring true. My suspicions grew on Thursday when Red Horse Racing announced that Timothy Peters was joining their team and would be driving the Strutmasters.com truck at Michigan this weekend.
As a long-time fan of Johnny Benson and a Michigan International Speedway follower, this week’s changes at Red Horse Racing seem like a step in the wrong direction.
I’m sure we will hear more explanation in the future but we may have to wait because Benson is such a gentleman and he may not be bashing RHR.
Benson expressed his frustration. "The decision to close the team is a bit surprising; because they told me they wanted to build a championship-caliber race team. They hired a champion driver and a champion crew, and then decided to close the team instead of building the organization around it. So I am a little confused."
Benson isn’t the only one who is confused. We fans are too.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
