Thu, 23 Oct 2008, 09:24 PM That Would Make My Day!

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2008 Auto Imagery, Inc. & Robert Grice

Benham and team celebrate win.

A couple times over the past few months I have done stories on the status of the championship races in the Lucas Oil sportsman series. Some were rather clear cut with the winners all but determined, if they weren't already. Others included scenarios that included a number of different drivers, and I mentioned who had the upper hand, or at least who I thought had the upper hand. Others were a little tougher to handicap, especially when you consider all the factors that go into determining the Lucas Oil World Champions. One of those classes was Competition Eliminator where Dan Fletcher and Craig Bourgeois seemed to be the leaders at the time. Oh sure, I remember saying, there are others with a chance but they would have to have everything fall into place if they wanted to overtake the leaders. Scott Benham, for example, had a shot, a long shot at winning the championship but he needed to go to the final round at all of his remaining races. Still, as I always say, since we don't award the championship until all the racers have exhausted all their possibilities, we had to keep Scott's name on the list. Well, guess what? Scott won the Division 4 race in Noble, Oklahoma last week and he is headed south and then west in an effort to try to win the championship. It certainly won't be easy, but then, that's par for the course for Scott.

Crawford Benham

Scott Benham is a forty-three year old father of three and a second-generation racer. His father, Crawford, was one of the pioneers in the Modified Eliminator field and he's the reason why Scott is in drag racing. "I remember going to the track with my dad when I was eight years old," he said. "And at the end of the day, if he had to work on the engine, I would sit on the fenders, reach into the engine compartment and loosen the valve covers for him. He was my inspiration." Crawford, who passed away a few years ago, was an inspiration to a lot of racers, so much so that they have named an award after him in Division 4. "Crawford was a great racer," said Craig Hutchinson, the Division 4 director. "He was so well liked and he would do anything to help out his fellow racers." With that as a background, the division instituted an award several years ago to honor Crawford. "It goes to a racer who has gone above and beyond to help the other racers in the division," Craig said. "We give it out every year at our banquet and it's the one award that every racer wants to get." Scott said that he was the recipient of the award in 2005 and that it still remains one of his most cherished possessions. "I've been very fortunate in my racing career," he said. "But the night I won that award was the highlight of my career." Well, as honored as he was to get that award, if he finishes strongly this year it may become the second most cherished award in his possession, second to the world championship. Scott added that one of his best memories of racing with his dad came back in 1989 at the division race in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That's where his dad went to the finals in Super Stock and he went to the finals in Super Street. "We both came so close to winning, but it was still a good weekend even with two runner-up finishes."

Crawford and crew celebrate Indy win.

Scott is having a career year in 2008, and that's saying a lot for a guy who won the Division 4 championship in 2001 and finished ninth in the national points that year. But with divisional wins in Dallas, Memphis and last week in Noble, Oklahoma to go along with his final rounds at the national races in Dallas and Belle Rose this year, it's easy to see why he is still holding on to his title aspirations. "I know it's a long shot, but I'm going south this weekend and then I'm heading west and we'll just see how it goes. I figure that I need to go to the final round at all of these events but if I don't go I'll never know how it would have ended." He added that even if he doesn't do well this weekend in Georgia he will still go to Vegas and Pomona. "I'm having the best year of my career and I need to finish it. I know the odds are against me but I just don't want to think about it, because if I dwell on it too much I know I'll mess up." Scott says that from experience, recent experience. Last year he was in a tight battle for the Division 4 championship with Craig Bourgeois and he let the pressure get to him. "I had two races still to claim and improve and I needed to get to one final round," he said. "But I lost in the third round at both races and Craig won the championship. I just need to put winning rounds, money and the championship out of my mind and just race. Whatever happens will happen, but I don't want to let the pressure get to me."

Scott Benham

When he is not racing, Scott runs his own business, Race Engine Development along with his partner, Brian Self. "We're doing a lot of Comp motors right now for people like Clark and Dennis Smiley, George Supinski, Keith Mawhee, Steve Kent and others. We're also building engines for Rodger Brogdon and his Pro Stock efforts. In fact, Rodger will have one of our engines in his car when he goes to Las Vegas next week." When I asked him what he expected out of the first-ever Pro Stock engine out of his shop Scott said, "Well, we don't expect to set the world on fire at the first race. We know how really tough Pro Stock is and there are a lot of smart people in the class, so we just don't want to look like dummies. We're confident that we'll be competitive, maybe not at our first race, but down the road." And when I asked him what would he rather see in Vegas, Rodger in the Pro Stock field or himself in the finals he said, "Wow, that's a tough question. Either one of them would make my day." Since Scott's shop makes the engines for Rodger's very strong Comp car, too, Scott said that the team will bring both his regular ride, the 2005 Pontiac Sunfire that he affectionately calls "Big Bird," and Rodger's car to Vegas and Pomona. "We'd like to give ourselves every chance," he said. "My car runs in E/SM and Rodger's is a D/SM car. We'll take a look at the track and weather conditions and go from there. When you get this close you want to do all you can to win." With the "Brogdon-connection" it's interesting to note that at that 1989 race in Tulsa, the one where both Benham's made it to the final round, Crawford lost the Super Stock final to Rodger Brogdon.

Scott Benham

Scott realizes that his title run is a long shot, but in a year when the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series, anything can happen. "My dad had a great career and I'm proud to follow him. Plus, I have a son, Christopher, who won the Division 4 Jr. Dragster championship this year so there's a lot of pressure on me just to do as well as my son, let alone my dad." he said. "Actually, like I said, I don't want the pressure to get to me, I just want to race and enjoy the moment." Regardless of how the next few weeks play out, Scott wants to thank his wife, Donna, for "Standing behind me even when the light comes on in the other lane." Also, thanks to Fred Simmonds at GM, Eric at Diamond Pistons, Brad Horton at VP Fuels, David Cook Jr. at DC Carbs and Terry Hoefling and David Cook Sr.. Thanks, too, to Dwayne Prejean, David Prejean and Jason Roberts for all of their help at the track and, last but not least, to Steve Kent and all the guys from Team Kent Racing.