Ten-year-old Kyle Benjamin had a host ofproblems to overcome in Saturday’s season-opening Winter Heat seriesrace at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Running his black No. 81 Wrangler Bandolero car on the fifth-miletrack behind the Speedway, Benjamin started ninth and worked his way
to the lead, passing cleanly in traffic. While leading, he got spunout twice by the same competitor, who seemed more at home in a
demolition derby than a race.
“I was leading the race and then got wrecked two times,” thedisappointed youngster said. A restart from last in the field on a green-white-checker finish saw him make a series of fast, cleanpasses to score a fifth-place finish at the flag.
“We were pretty fast,” in practice, he commented, “but we were fasterin the race.”
Benjamin plans to return to the Speedway’s fifth-mile again Saturday,where he hopes he can overcome the hurdles posed by aggressive drivers.
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