Toledo Speedway

(TOLEDO, Ohio – March 26, 2013) – To say Kyle Benjamin is on a roll is an understatement.

He was already one of the hottest late model drivers in the country last year when he won the 2012 ARCA/CRA Super Series Southern Championship, the youngest champ the series has ever had. Then he scored an unprecedented four straight wins during “Speedweeks” at New Smyrna, Fla., further building on his increasingly solid racing resume.

Benjamin has continued on his soaring career path by winning six of the 10 races he has entered. He will be a driver to watch when he steers his Benjamin Motorsports Ford into the 7-Up 150 at Toledo Speedway April 20

He is entered in a race that, for the first time, pits drivers in both the ARCA/CRA Super Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour on the same track in the same race.

Tickets are on sale now for the event.

The weekend kicks off Friday, April 19 with an optional 3 to 7 p.m. practice session, followed by a special dinner at the Toledo Speedway Bar and Grille.

On race day, the pits open at 8 a.m. Saturday with a practice scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon, qualifying at 3, pre-race ceremonies at 4:30, and racing at 5 p.m. The 7-Up 150 is the featured event.

Benjamin, who turned 15 in November, most recently visited Victory Lane when he took the checkered flag at the Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway. The post-race pictures showed him with a rattle snake draped around his neck.

The first-place finish in the Rattler 250 came only a few weeks after Benjamin’s first ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards race in Mobile, Ala. on March 9.  Just by entering Benjamin set the mark for the youngest ever driver in series. But, he did more than just start the race. He qualified fourth, ran up front all day, led 26 laps, and finished second in the race. He will run the next ARCA Racing Series race in Salem, Ind. and has at least six other ARCA Racing Series events on his race calendar – all before he turns 16.

“We are very pleased to hold the first combination race for these two ARCA-sanctioned template late model series at Toledo,” said Ron Drager, owner and promoter of Toledo and the president of ARCA, the sanctioning body. “We are anticipating a very successful event and a large field of cars for the 7-Up 150.”

Another 15-year-old with an ARCA Racing Series background in the 7-Up 150 is Anderson Bowen of Suwanee, Ga. Just a freshman in high school, Bowen finished third at Mobile in his ARCA Racing Series debut.

Some of the other 7-Up 150 entries are Nick Gullatta of North Canton, Ohio, a former ARCA Truck Series and CRA Super Series rookie of the year and Georgia driver Bubba Pollard who recorded a pair of top five finishes at Watermelon Speedway in January. Four former ARCA Midwest Tour champions are expected to battle in Toledo, including defending series champ Jonathan Eilen, who not only won the Midwest Tour last year, but earned a test at Daytona International Speedway in an ARCA car for doing so.

For the ARCA Midwest tour, which conducts races mainly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Illinois, the Toledo race will be the first under the ARCA-sanctioned banner. This year marks the second season for the ARCA/CRA Super Series combination. With races in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio as the base of the Series, Toledo is a centralized location for many of the ARCA/CRA race teams.

The 7-Up 150 will also be taped by the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) for showing on the “Sunday Night at the Races” show at 9 p.m. on the local cable access channel Sunday, April 21. The race can also be purchased through BCSN’s video-on-demand programming at bcsn.tv/vod.html.

SPEED51.com will provide trackside coverage live for all 2013 ARCA/CRA Super Series events, including the 7-Up 150.

Race fans can save $5 per ticket if purchased prior to race day. All tickets for this event are general admission seating. Tickets may be purchased by calling the track at (419) 727-1100.