Fourteen-Year-Old Garrett Benson Taking on Full ASCS National Tour Schedule
CONCORD, NC (March 7, 2025) — While his fellow high school classmates are spending their summers vacationing, hanging with friends and playing stick-and-ball sports, Garrett Benson will be on the nightly grind racing against the best 360 Sprint Car drivers in the country.
Benson, 14, of Concordia, MO, will join the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) National Tour roster for 2025, driving the Nathan Benson Motorsports, SPEC Racing Engines-powered J&J Chassis No. 2B. Fourteen years of age is young to be doing anything at the national level, but it’s a challenge Benson has no fear in taking on after showing strong potential in his first career starts with the Tour last year.
“We had a lot of speed and that has encouraged us to take on this next big step,” Benson said. “We know it’s going to be a challenge, but we’re just trying to gain as much experience as possible.”
In three appearances with the Tour in 2024, Benson improved each time, culminating with a starting spot on the outside pole for the main event at Arrowhead Speedway in September. Though he completed only the first three laps after a rollover crash in Turn 4 ended his night, he was pleased with how competitive he was early in the night, and took away several lessons that he’ll use in his rookie campaign this year.
“It was very encouraging to have the speed at Arrowhead, especially the second night,” Benson said. “But it was also disappointing when got upside down there, tore up our equipment and some of the other drivers’ equipment. That was unfortunate, but it gave us a lot of hope, and we’re definitely not discouraged from that wreck. It just encouraged us because we obviously have the speed, it’s just gonna take some time to put all the pieces together.”
Benson is a graduate of the Micro Sprint ranks, having worked his way through the Junior, Restricted and 600cc divisions in the late 2010s through the 2023 season. 2023 also marked his debut in a 305 Sprint Car, which paved the way for his 360 Sprint Car debut with ASCS last season.
“We kinda started out slow, we got our feet wet, and we had a lot of people come together to help us,” Benson said. “We bought a couple old engines and just kinda got racing around locally. Toward the end of the season, we ran with ASCS. We didn’t know what to expect going in, we just wanted to complete all the laps and earn the respect of the other competitors and have a good run.”
Three races with ASCS was all it took for the Benson team to pick out their new home for racing in 2025. Now under the new direction of World Racing Group (WRG), the benefits and resources WRG brings to the organization also played a role in their decision.
“In the past years with Micros, we’ve ran with a national tour that we really enjoy, and it’s really nice to have the structure of a schedule to follow,” Benson said. “That’s another reason we’re going with ASCS — to have that structure of tow money and a points fund, and also the [exposure] from DIRTVision is very important, and led us into the decision of jumping on the Tour.”
While joining the full-time 360 Sprint Car ranks is his newest venture, it is not his final destination. Like several ASCS stars who graduated to the World of Outlaws, Benson has goals of climbing the ranks of Sprint Car racing.
“I’ve always dreamed of racing with the World of Outlaws, and that’s still my dream,” Benson said. “Running with our family team, we’ve had a lot of great people behind us that have led us to the spot we’re at now. I think we can have a good year and get some more [attention] and hopefully pick up some sponsors along the way and keep building up our program.”
For now, Benson will turn to racing some of the heroes he watched growing up around Western Missouri, including Series champions Seth Bergman, Blake Hahn, Sam Hafertepe Jr. and Jason Martin and try to gain respect from all of his new competitors.
“It’s crazy to think growing up, you watch the World of Outlaws or 360 racing, we have quite a few local tracks around us, and when the National Tour would come into town, we’d always watch them,” Benson said. “It’s just cool to race with those guys, and it’s a dream come true. You’re racing with the best 360 drivers in the country, so it’s a challenge, and I think we’re up to it.”
Benson begins his rookie ASCS National Tour campaign in the next event at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK on Saturday, April 12, with additional support from Engler Machine & Tool, Don’s Diesel, Quality Traffic Control, Helt’s Turf Farms, DDI Fabrication, Schure Built Suspension, Porter Steel Buildings, and S&W Line Contracting. Tickets for the event will be on sale at the gate on race day.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
FAN 101: https://about.dirtcar.com/
The American Sprint Car Series was founded in 1992, comprised of regional races primarily in the Southwest region. It then went national in 1993 and has become the premier 360 Sprint Car Series in the country, while still sanctioning nine regional series that include 360 Sprint Cars, 410 Sprint Cars and Non-Wing Sprint Cars. ASCS is supported by DIRTVision, Hoosier Racing Tire, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Smith Titanium, SIS Insurance, and VP Racing.
Sources:Jordan DeLucia, American Sprint Car Series PR