When Benny left that original Edelbrock test session, he continued on a racing career that spanned twenty-one years, culminating in one Dayton 500 victory (in ’75, complete with CHA heads and “revamped” Scorpion intake manifold), a 1973 Winston Cup
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His numbers show Benny completed more than 11,000 laps on the “high banks” out of a possible 13,000-plus. He was “Mr. Consistency”…and on and on.
As he drew near the end of his driving career, I recall a conversation he and I had in the garage area of the now-defunct Riverside Raceway. Benny was lamenting about what he’d be able to do when he parked his helmet. I remember him saying, to the effect, “I don’t know what ‘retired’ race car drivers are supposed to do, Jim. I can’t afford to own a team, I’m really bad at public relations (although he wasn’t at all) and I still have a family to feed.”
However, through persuasions extended by some of his friends, he was coaxed into trying a hand at “color commentating” with one of the NASCAR television networks covering Winston Cup events. Eventually, he stood before the camera for ESPN and TNT. He once said he’d never forget the feeling that overcame him the first time a microphone has placed in his hands and the camera swung in his direction. “It was worse than pulling out of a single-file draft and getting no help at all.”
But he sufficiently impressed the program’s producer to continue appearing on camera, his intermediate and post-race commentaries quickly becoming what landed him a highly-respected and long-standing job in the TV booth. In time, he became not only a fixture but the “track experienced” elder statesman of trackside analysis.
I spoke with him a final time last December. He was on his cell phone, heading home after having filled yet another prescription in his cancer battle. “Jim, this is getting to be pretty rugged now. I don’t plan giving up, but it’s tougher than any race I’ve ever run. Somehow, I hope I can get there before it beats me. There’s nobody out here I can draft now.” He passed away, a victim to lung cancer on Tuesday, January 16, 2007. I really do miss you, B.P. You didn’t lose the race.
