Kyle Benjamin will reunite with Venturini Motorsports (VMS) for Saturday’s ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards ARCA 200 at Pocono Raceway – making his first intermediate race track start of his career.
Benjamin, already a two-time ARCA winner, made his series debut at 15 years old (2013) with Venturini Motorsports – at the time, setting the record for the youngest winner in ARCA Series history with victories at both Madison International Speedway and Salem Speedway.
In eight career ARCA starts with Venturini Motorsports, Benjamin has two wins, one pole position, four top-5, and six top-10 finishes – all coming during the 2013 season.
Benjamin, a native of Easley, SC, is confident and expects to pick up where he left off with his Venturini Motorsports team. Benjamin will pilot the No.15 GreenWorks-Cometic Gasket Toyota during his first trip to the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway.
“I’m excited to be back with the Venturini team for my first speedway run. I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of guys behind me. We’ve had a lot of success together in the past and I’m confident we’ll continue where we left off,” said Benjamin.
Benjamin, who is currently contending for the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title, earned his first NASCAR series victory earlier this season at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Adding to a successful Pocono formula, Kevin Reed, Benjamin’s current NASCAR K&N and former VMS Crew Chief, will also rejoin the team for this single race event. In 2014, before parting from Venturini Motorsports to spearhead Benjamin’s own NASCAR team efforts, Reed was the winning crew chief for both of Benjamin’s 2013 ARCA victories as well as his K&N Pro Series East victory earlier this season at Bristol.
“Pocono is a unique track and a place I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. With Kevin (Reed) and Venturini Motorsports’ success at the track, I feel very comfortable going into the weekend. The ARCA and K&N Series have both prepared me well – both series are extremely diverse and a great proving ground for young drivers such as myself,” added Benjamin.
In preparation for his Pocono debut, Benjamin will join Venturini Motorsports teammates’ Frank Kimmel and Cody Coughlin on Wednesday, June 3rd for ARCA’s scheduled open test date at Pocono Raceway.
Earlier in the season Benjamin was named to the NASCAR Next Class of 2015, a group of up-and-coming drivers that joins the industry program aimed at spotlighting NASCAR’s emerging stars. The NASCAR Next team of 12 drivers was selected through an evaluation process that included input from industry executives and veteran racers. Drivers must be between the ages of 15-25, have tangible and expressed goals in eventual competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and demonstrate the potential to realize that goal.
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