After racing respectably for an underfunded team, Morrill’s Travis Benjamin realized he and his team needed help after a three-race stretch last year on the Pro All-Stars Series Super Late Model North tour.

“In the first race at Thompson (Conn.), I was running top-five when I got a flat tire and hit the wall and destroyed the car. The next race, in Antigonish (Nova Scotia), I was going for the lead and got wrecked. Then, in the third race at Groveton (N.H.), I hit the wall by myself because I was so tired I couldn’t see straight,” said Benjamin.

“After that, we sat down and decided we needed to do something. We had to make it so I could go to a race and enjoy it,” said Benjamin who consulted team members including his father, Ron; his uncle, Bruce, and crew chief Corey Reynolds.

Benjamin used to have to spend a lot of time helping his team get his cars ready in time for race day.

His father, who owns two variety stores in Belfast and co-owns Morrill General Store with his brother, has been his primary sponsor and Irving Blue Canoe has also been a sponsor for several years.

They decided to hire Kevin McDaniels to oversee the race team and do the fabricating on a full-time basis. McDaniels, who used to work for Busch North driver Tracy Gordon of Strong, helped Benjamin finish strong and post a sixth place finish in the points.

“We had always run well but we never finished [well]. Stuff would break or I’d be so tired I’d do stupid stuff on the racetrack like last year,” said Benjamin who is in his fourth season racing full-time on the PASS tour after running eight races apiece in 2003 and 2004.

He finished sixth in points in 2006 and ninth in 2005.

The race team has added another full-time employee, Buster Bean, for this season to maintain the cars and Benjamin is “excited” and optimistic about the season.

He finished a close third to Mike and Ben Rowe in the season-opener at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough last month. Last Sunday’s race at Hermon’s Speedway 95 was rained out.

Benjamin led over 90 laps at Beech Ridge.

“We have all the pieces to the puzzle now,” said the 29-year-old Benjamin, who has two Ford Fusions including a new one. “Having two full-time people is what we’ve always been missing. We should have an awesome year. We should be able to contend for the championship this year.”

The pursuit of the points title will continue at Wiscasset Raceway on Sunday afternoon when the Ray Haskell Ford 125 will be run. The PASS Mods and Wiscasset Mini-Trucks will also race.

The heat races begin at 2.

Benjamin has several top three finishes but has never won on the PASS tour and would love to break through Sunday.

He ran at Wiscasset in their weekly pro stock series last weekend to get a feel for the track.

“It’s a good track. You can pass on it. There will be a lot of side-by-side racing. I think you’ll have 10 to 15 cars that can win it,” said Benjamin, a former Busch North driver.

Spud opener pushed back a week

Spud Speedway’s scheduled opening day on Sunday has been pushed back a week.

“We have a lot more work to do on the grandstands than we had planned on,” said track owner Greg Veinote. “The snow pack we used to have slowed us down. It’s a safety factor. We want to make sure the grandstands are in tip-top-shape.”

He said inspectors will check the grandstands next week.

He said Sunday’s races were scheduled to be non-points races but when the season does open in two Sundays, they will be points races.

Veinote said they had an excellent turnout of “30-40 cars” at practice last weekend and expects 60-70 for opening day in nine days.

In addition to the regular four classes, there will be a 50-lap Sportsman feature sponsored by Sitel.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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