| You can read stories about many things that | | | | crewchief Linda Nicholas are the team. Linda does the |
| encompass a complicated racing world. This story is | | | | organizational stuff such as gathering parts or |
| not a feel-sorry story. It's not a put-down story. It's | | | | administrative duties. As she says, "I do whatever it |
| definitely not anything of a negative vein. Actually, it | | | | takes at the time, what we need. I spot, I run the |
| is two stories in one: the story of Norm Benning and | | | | pit, I work on a car if I have to. I go over the wall if |
| how he has gotten the most out of his racing dollars. | | | | I have to--whatever it takes. I do it all." |
| Benning is more than qualified to speak on the | | | | With that small number of full-time team members |
| subject of squeezing racing dollars. It hasn't always | | | | comes a car inventory that is just as small. Unlike the |
| been that way for him. As Norm likes to say, "I've | | | | upper end teams in ARCA, Norm doesn't have the |
| been to the mountain." Quite obviously, he'd like to | | | | $500,000 to $1 million-plus sponsorship pool of funds |
| go back there. In the meantime, he's in the savings | | | | to work with. His sponsorship money works more on |
| mode that got him the shot at that mountain--and | | | | a race-to-race basis, picking up local and regional |
| that keeps him racing. | | | | corporate partners. Again, there's no pity party going |
| Norm does his racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, | | | | on here. Norm wouldn't allow that. It's the story of |
| arguably the most versatile oval track series in the | | | | Norm and Linda, running essentially two cars where |
| world. They race big tracks such as Daytona and | | | | other teams have four, six, or more. Two cars may |
| Talladega, intermediates such as Michigan, Chicago, | | | | not sound too awfully bad to a Saturday night racer |
| Kansas City, and short tracks. They also race their | | | | who only has one. Keep in mind that in any given |
| NASCAR-clone, 3,400-pound cars on dirt. The biggest | | | | ARCA race, there are a number of specialists with |
| difference between NASCAR and ARCA is that the | | | | purpose-built cars just for that track. |
| teams that run ARCA on a regular basis are, for the | | | | Running a national series--even if it's only working on |
| most part, much smaller operations. | | | | as little as two cars--has to require some help, and |
| It's always been tough in ARCA, with one of the | | | | Norm has got that covered. Ask Norm about keeping |
| most grueling weekends happening a number of | | | | a crew on the road and he laughs, "I know people all |
| years ago. Picture this scenario: Teams would race at | | | | over the country. We have four or five people that |
| Michigan International's 2-mile superspeedway on a | | | | are pretty much at every race. The rest of them we |
| Saturday and race the next day in Illinois on a 1-mile | | | | pick up. Out at DuQuoin, I have Jack Greenwood and |
| dirt track. That meant teams like Norm's (that had | | | | family and friends that just can't wait for me to get |
| only one race car) had to turn a superspeedway car | | | | there. They know how to work on the race car, and |
| into a dirt car while inside the transporters on the | | | | they're there. When we go to Daytona, we have |
| road from Michigan to Illinois. The dirt events that | | | | people who work for Caterpillar down there that |
| ARCA runs are not your average dirt races, either. | | | | can't wait for us to get there and race. I have people |
| They race at what former ARCA champ Bob | | | | all over the country, and they just call me and make |
| Keselowski called "The Superspeedways of Dirt." | | | | sure I'm coming because they're going to be there. |
| They are 1-mile flat dirt horse tracks that are in | | | | When I had SoBe, which was a major sponsorship, |
| Springfield and DuQuoin, both in Illinois. How's that for | | | | we had half a dozen full-time people. Now we have |
| versatility? | | | | full-time people, but they're volunteers." |
| That brings us to Norm. Essentially, he and his | | | | |