Youth likes life in the fast lane> Belfast’s Benjamin gaining experience

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During the winter months, Travis Benjamin had to negotiate traffic on the basketball court as the talented point guard for the Belfast High School basketball team.

He negotiates a different type of traffic the rest of the year, the kind that zips around racetracks.

The 18-year-old Benjamin is the youngest regular on the Northeast Pro-Stock Association tour and has decided to try to follow in the footsteps of his idol, NASCAR Winston Cup driver Ricky Craven, a Maine native.

“I remember watching him race. I’ve got a picture of him racing against my father. I used to watch him all the time,” said Benjamin. “That’s what I want to do someday. Hopefully, things will work out.”

Benjamin was born into a racing family. His father, Ron, raced for 15 years before passing the steering wheel to his son three years ago.

“Once I told Dad I wanted to race, he got out. I respect him a lot. He still works on the race car every night with me,” said Travis, the youngest of three children raised by Ron and Sharon Benjamin.

He has two older sisters, Torey and Tara, who watch him race regularly.

“The whole family has been involved in it ever since I was born. I was sitting in a race car a month or two after I was born. I’ve always enjoyed it. It takes a lot of time but it has been really great for me. It has kept me out of trouble,” said the youngest Benjamin. `I’ve always spent time in the garage instead of going out partying and stuff like that.”

During the school year, he has kept up a hectic schedule that includes his class time at Belfast High, basketball practice and/or work at his father’s two stores, Belfast Variety or the Morrill General Store, and work on his race car from 7-11 p.m.

Travis began racing GoKarts in 1994 and has progressed up the ladder every year. He has been Rookie of the Year at Unity Raceway in two different divisions and he would like to add NEPSA Rookie of the Year honors to his resume.

He has been hovering around the middle of the pack in the NEPSA points race, running 14th or 15th.

“This year, he’s just trying to gain the respect of the drivers,” said Ron Benjamin. “He doesn’t want to make too many enemies. He’s racing guys a lot older than him and he needs better equipment. He’s running a limited [sportsman] car. He has nothing compared to what they have.”

“My car is a class lower than the pro stock cars,” acknowledged Travis. “We need a sponsor, big time.”

Ron Benjamin, his son’s primary sponsor, said a motor is currently being built for his son’s Chevy Cammaro which will help.

In the meantime, Travis has been getting an education.

“I’ve been learning a ton. Nobody realizes how much I’m learning,” he said.

In addition to learning the ins and outs of racing, he has been getting a feel for a variety of different tracks he has raced for the first time in his career.

However, being the competitor that he is, Benjamin is not satisfied with his performance.

“I’m not happy with the way things have gone. Sixteenth is the highest we’ve finished. I could have finished higher but I ended up in a wreck. I want to run a lot better. It’s going to get better once I get used to these tracks,” added Benjamin.

One of the many benefits of racing the NEPSA tour is the fact the NEPSA races are 150-lappers. Most of the other races around the state’s tracks are 35-lappers.

“If Travis had just raced Unity or Bangor [Speedway 95], he would get a thousand laps all season,” said Ron Benjamin. “He’ll get 5,300 laps on the NEPSA tour. That’s like five seasons in one.”

Veteran driver Ralph Nason agreed, saying Benjamin’s NEPSA laps and other laps he can rack up on the regular race card at Unity Raceway are beneficial.

“Travis is coming along pretty good. What he needs now is more seat time,” said Nason. “He needs to be put into situations in which he has to react. If you react wrong on the NEPSA tour, you’re going to wind up in a mess. Your learning is magnified when you race at Unity against other drivers with limited experience.”

It has been quite a year for the younger Benjamin.

He was named to the All-Eastern Maine Class B Tournament team after averaging 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the Lions’ two tourney games. He had 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in a thrilling 66-63 double overtime loss to Camden-Rockport in the semifinals.

He was also a second team All-KVAC Class B selection.

“That Camden game was an awesome game. I’ll never forget it,” said Benjamin. “You didn’t want to lose but, after the game, you couldn’t really be mad or upset because everybody who played gave it all they had.”

Benjamin drew comparisons between stock car racing and basketball.

“Both are team sports and it takes a great team to win. You’ve got to play basketball to become good at it and you’ve got to race and work on cars to be good at that. The only thing different is the age level,” said Travis.

Benjamin was known for his aggressive, hustling style of play in basketball and he said he has yet to become that kind of stock car driver. But it is coming.

“I haven’t learned how to be aggressive yet in racing,” said the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Benjamin, who is saving his money so he can buy a new race car and hopes to dent the top 10 in the NEPSA points race next year. “Once I get the confidence in myself, I’ll become a lot more aggressive, just like I was in basketball.”

Ron Benjamin feels strongly that his son has the instincts and burning desire necessary to become a top-notch driver.

“He’s going to be a good one,” predicted the proud father. “It takes a lot of money and a lot of patience. It might not be easy but with the desire he has for this, he’s going to make it.”

Benjamin will return to the NEPSA circuit on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Speedway 95. He and the other NEPSA drivers will be gunning for Nason, who has won the last five NEPSA races in his Ford Thunderbird.