Johnny Benson Jr. returns to Berlin Raceway

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ADECADE... OUR ZACH ARHIG HASMORE WITH THE FORMER NASCARDRIVER.Zach Harig 0:01 He's a man thatreally needs no introduction, aracing legend and alegend here in Grand Rapids aswell 1995Busch seriesh campion in NASCARand the 1996 Cup Series Rookieof theYear, Johnny Benson Jr, you'erback inBerlin Raceway, this weeked,nwhat is itlike to be back a place that'svery special foryou.

Johnny Benson Jr. 0:17Well, it's pretty fun you knowit's probably been 10 yearssince I've raced here so inprobably five years since I'vegot intoracing are my boys are greatracetrack.

I lovecoming here the fans are alwaysgreat.

Andso you know it's my home trackis where Icall home.

Zach Harig 0:31 Whatare the first memories that youcan remember from what the 1980sWhat can you remember frominbeg out here.

Johnny BensonJr. 0:36Well I grew up here, it's my dadracing for many years is six orseven time championhere.

And so I grew up at thisracetrack.

Ofcourse when I started racing, itwas prettytough.

It's one of my top fivehardest tracksI've ever run out, and it tookme two yearsbefore I want to feature that Iwant a lotof uh once I got it figrued out.It's atough, tough place got a lot ofgreatcompetitors he erbut, but reallyjust, just tocome home and raise here issomething thatyou always wanted.

And it wasjust theopportunity to do it, you know,it's one of the first times I'veever raced without my owncar... Zach Harig 1:10 A lot ofaccolades foryou, you NASCAR career here aswell, what means the most to youand yourcareer?

Johnny Benson Jr. 1:16I've been fortunate enough towin a championship at this trackand when AFC Championship wasgreat answer championship in atruck series championship andthey're all great.They're all great in their ownwasy.

The only difference is iswhen I started hree, ittook me four years to win one.One day I sayit took me four years, the onethat surprisedme is, which is now the XFINITYseriesthat we won in our second yearso thatthat to me is very special.

Ican't pickone better than the otherbecause they'reall special in their own way."Zach Harig 1:42 "how does thistrakchelp prepare you for the nextlevel in ingetting into NASCAR?" JonnhyBenson 1:47 This track is aperfectplace in it just because it'shard it's you know,you can spin the wheels down andstraightaways here so mentallymanipulatethe gas pedal and make sure thatdoesn'thappen.

It's a momentum track sokeeping your corner speeds up istexremely important, and thatreally adapts to most everyracetrack.

Maybe, maybe not somuch for the supre speedways orthe mileand a half, but for anythingelse that yourun out.

This is why I cnosiderthis trackwhen the hardest ones that I'veever run out inthe top five anyways and, andI've run outprobably 175 different tracksthroughout ymcareer, Zach Harig 2:19 "we'veseen it timeand time again and Ithink maybeyou're anexample was like Kenny Wallace,youcan take the man out of racing,but you can'ttake the racing out of the manso aeftr thisweekend in Berlin, what's nextfor you this summer?" JohnnyBenson Jr. 2:30"probably not racing, not at allbut it's hardto say, you know, my friends, upin Canadarun a suit modified with, theyactually didbuild a new car, but with allthe pandemicand stuff like that.

They're notallowed toeven raise in Canada right nowand of course I can't go overthere to do anything soI'm not sure if anything'gs onnahappen this year, I probablygoing to point I shouldn't bedoing any of it anyway so it'sit's a it's such a great sportdiamond I'm gladto have been a part of it, youknow, since I'vebeen five years old." ZachHarig: 257 "Johnny Benson Jr.Thank you so much for your time.Johnny: "Thank you." ZachHarig; "Alright guys, Let's goback tothe studio."