Shout Out To Norm Benning

 

Most people, inside and outside of NASCAR probably have never heard of Norm Benning and before tonight, I neve rhave either.
But Norm and his Camping World truck came away with more new fans than anyone rcing tonight and it wasn't because of his fast truck or superior driving skills.  He got his fan support for having the slowest truck on the track, not just a little slower but a great dealer slower.  On restarts, by the third lap of the restarts, Benning was almost 3/4 of a lap behind.  He probably was going about 25 MPH slower than anyone and for most of the night, he ran completely by himself.
There is no sponsorship for the truck, except Norm, himself.
Norm had the pit box right in front of our seats and when he pitted, the most crew members I ever saw out there was three, when they changed tires, which I think only happened two times during the entire race.  I think Norm is also the crew chief.  Most of the time, he only came into the pits for gas.  Benning doesn't have any fancy equipment like the other high financed teams have- gas can, jack, air wrenches and another wrench is all I saw being used.
But Norm persevered and continued running the entire race and ended up beating several good teams and drivers, like Johnny Sauter and Parker Klingerman.  In fact, he finished 18th out of 34 drivers and ended up winning around $10,700.  If he had been a start and parker, he would have won around $7500.
While Norm never was in competition to get a top ten finish and even though he drove slowly, he did not affect the race but he did make other drivers use their skills when they passed him.
But Norm isn't a start and parker and most fans appreciated it.  By the time the race was 27 laps into the race, 10 cars were already out of the race, with most being start and parkers.  And with about 100 laps complete, there were numerous fans in our section and others cheering him on by waving and cheering just about every lap.
Right now, Benning is 22nd in points and has won about $111,000 so far this year.
Here is his web site: http://www.normbenningracing.com/
Norm seems like he is one of those drivers who drives for fun and excitement and cares about the integrity of the sport, unlike the start and parkers.  It would be nice if other drivers and teams from Sprint and Nationwide would learn a thing or two from Norm and drive the entire race and then maybe they will pick up fans like Norm did on Saturday night.
Thanks Norm for the racing and good luck in the rest of the season.