Bend 'em like Benham

Brent Benham vividly remembers every detail of his first race at Roseville's All American Speedway."I qualified sixth fastest, started in the third row on the outside and took the lead on lap three," the driver from Auburn recalled. "I can still hear the announcer — 'Here comes Brent Benham. He's going to thread the needle. He's got the lead!'"I won that race."Not bad for a beginner — and he's got the video to prove it. Auto racing has been a lifelong passion for Benham, one he finally got to indulge in last year after years away from the sport. Now 50, he races in the Street Stock division at All American, driving a 1975 Camaro that he purchased on Dec. 31 and loving every minute of it."I literally don't sleep the night before a race because I'm anticipating it," Benham said. "I literally don't sleep the night after because I'm reliving it."Benham fell in love with auto racing as an eight-year-old child whose neighbor, Skip Matlock, drove a race car. Benham eventually got to work on Matlock's pit crew as a teenager and started racing street cars on the drag strips at Sacramento Raceway in his late teens and early 20s.Then, as Benham puts it, "life happened." He got married, had children and put his racing dreams on hold.At one point he found himself raising two boys as a single father for 16 years.Still, Benham's racing dreams never died.While visiting Roseville's Galleria Mall, Benham learned about Spectator Racing, a company that gives racing fans a chance to try the sport they love at All American Speedway. A week after participating in a "lap day" in April of last year, Benham purchased a package that would allow him to compete in actual main events at All American as part of the Spectator Racing Series.Benham won the first time out."Then I ate humble pie for a month," he said.Benham said his first race made him a tad cocky."I was thinking, 'Yeah, man, this is easy — I'm as good as I thought I was,'" he said. "That was the wrong attitude to take."Fortunately for Benham, he found a willing mentor in Spectator Racing's owner, Greg Rayl."He told me I was trying too hard and being impatient, and that I needed to let the race develop," Benham said.Benham also switched cars, from the No. 3 — which he drove in honor of Matlock, whose last car also bore that number — to one that was a better fit. That car bore the No. 49, Benham's age at the time, and was sponsored by the business Benham owns and operates, Placer County Process Servers.Under Rayl's tutelage, Benham won 11 more races, placed second five times and finished third three times, missing the Spectator Racing Series championship by three points.At one point Rayl even put Benham at the back of the pack in an SRS race despite the fact that Benham had posted the fastest qualifying lap. Benham still won, taking the lead on the 14th of the 15-lap main event."He was testing me," Benham said of Rayl. "He wanted to see what I could do."Sensing that Benham's SRS dominance was "bad for business," Rayl asked Benham to move up to the more advanced Street Stock division after the season ended. Benham was leading in his first Street Stock heat race last week at All American before he got "tangled up with somebody" and had engine problems the rest of the night.Benham said he owes much of the success he's had in his return to auto racing to what he does for a living. As a process server, he's found himself in a number of high-speed chases with drivers who didn't want to be hauled into court."I've driven over 2 million miles pursuing people who were trying to evade me," he said. "Time is money, so you're always in a little bit of a hurry, and you learn techniques and maneuvers. I've spent so much of my life in a car, I think that's why I'm so comfortable on the track."I really, truly believe (being a process server) has added to my driving ability and skill. When you do something day in and day out six days a week for 20 years, you're going to pick it up."Benham also said he's learned a lot from fellow drivers Phil Wilkins and Roy Smith; Robin Smith, who helped build an air box that alleviated a heating problem in Benham's car; and Bill McAnally, owner of Bill McAnally racing."Phil and Roy are both extremely intelligent and have a lot of knowledge about race-car set-up and handling," Benham said."Bill's been a big inspiration for me — he told me, 'I enjoy watching you because you remind me of when I was young.' He told me, 'Through effort comes results,' and that's a big inspiration because he's sort of a big dog. He's donated a lot of time and help and parts to help me get started in the racing world."Benham's goals this season are to break All American's single-lap track record of 14.85 seconds in the Street Stock division and to win the division championship."I feel like a kid on a playground out on the track," he said. "I feel like I belong."