“Auto racing was something I did a lot of since I was about 7,” Benson said. “My dad’s got a business called That’s The Speed Equipment and I worked in the race shops just welding seats and things of that nature. So I was welding when I was about seven. I didn’t start driving until I was 19.

Benson had worked with his father, John, in the shop so much that the driver could have had another career.

“I actually got a journeyman’s card in tool and dye so I worked in the tool and dye business for a while and obviously did a lot of machinery,” Benson said.

With his time in the shop, Benson gained even more skills thanks to his time on the track with his dad — a seven-time track champion at Berlin Raceway.

And with his father’s success, it came as no surprise to the Benson family that even at 19 the driver was already showing signs of becoming a winning driver.

Benson started off in dirt racing and ran those tracks for three years.

“I ran dirt three years, starting in 1982, then in 1985 I took the year off,” he said. “In ‘86 I ran at Berlin Raceway on the asphalt (in the late model stock series). I won the track championship for four years, went to ASA and ran there for four years and won the championship in ‘93 and ‘94.

Along the way Benson has gotten plenty of help including his father, whom he credits for

giving him a start on his career. But it’s former Winston Cup driver Ernie Irvan that Benson credits with really jump-starting his career.

“I ran a car for Ernie Irvan and that was probably my biggest break,” Benson said.

Benson drove an Irvan-owned car in his first Busch event in August of that year at Michigan International Speedway. That race gained him the attention of BACE Motorsports, who signed the young driver the following month for the ‘94 Busch series.

And just as he had done in every other division in which he had competed, it didn’t take long for Benson to get on the road to success.

“In ‘95 I won the championship in Busch and in ‘96 I started Winston Cup,” Benson said.

But Benson realizes that he didn’t succeed on his own.

He knows he couldn’t have done it without his family and without Irvan.

“I’ve been in a racing family for a long time so it was not expected. There was a pretty good chance that I’d be racing so they were supportive,” Benson said.

That support has taken Benson a long way. Especially when it comes to dealing with the grueling schedule that puts drivers through a weekly ritual of testing, practicing and traveling that might make most people run away in horror.

But thanks to his family, including wife Debbie and daughter Katelyn, 4, it’s a job that Benson loves. Even if it’s not a life cut out for everyone.

“The family life and the racing deal is extremely tough because we’re gone a lot. We do a lot of travel, a lot of sponsor stuff...so it’s not a bad life,” said Benson.