Kyle Benjamin will join Venturini Motorsports on Saturday at Pocono Raceway. The Menards ARCA 200 will mark his 16th career start in the ARCA Racing Series since making his debut back in 2013. Benjamin, a native from South Carolina, will pilot a No. 15 Toyota from the team with sponsorship from GreenWorks-Cometic Gasket. The race on Saturday will be the first for the 17-year-old driver at the “Tricky Triangle.”
“I’m excited to be back with the Venturini team for my first speedway run,” said Benjamin in a release. “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.”
Benjamin is a member of the NASCAR Next program. Consisting of 12 drivers, the NASCAR Next program recognizes the next future stars of the sport. Every driver is selected through input from executives within the industry and veteran drivers. They must be between the ages of 15-25 and must have goals of reaching the Sprint Cup Series one day.
The young Benjamin will have some veteran drivers to feed off this weekend as well as an experienced head wrench. Kevin Reed, a former crew chief with Venturini and current NASCAR K&N Pro Series crew chief for Benjamin, will also join the team this weekend. Frank Kimmel and Cody Coughlin will be teammates, giving him championship expertise and guidance.
“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,” continued Benjamin. “The ARCA and K&N Series have both prepared me well – both are extremely diverse and a great proving ground for young drivers such as myself.”
Pocono Raceway will be the first “big track” for the young driver. He previously, due to age, competed on short tracks only throughout his 15 starts in the series. Benjamin has two victories, both for Venturini Motorsports and started on the pole once throughout those starts.
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