Former Truck Series Champions Join Three Other NASCAR Legends
Southlake, TX (August 29, 2019) – Two NASCAR champions – Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson – have filed entries for Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s (SVRA) Vintage Race of Champions (VROC) Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch at Virginia International Raceway. The September 21 Charity Pro-Am is the deciding round of the VROC series. Previously announced NASCAR stars entering the race are Bobby Labonte, Mike Skinner, and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
“Both of these two champions first raced with SVRA last year at VIR,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “They also joined us in our Charity Pro-Am earlier this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They are terrific race car drivers and we are honored to have them racing with us.”
Benson has a career total of 18 NASCAR race victories with one in Cup, three in Xfinity, and 14 in Trucks. He earned Xfinity and Truck championships in 1995 and 2008 respectively. Benson is one of only 37 drivers to have won a race in all three of NASCAR’s major series – Cup, Xfinity, and Trucks. Just three drivers have won championships in Xfinity and Trucks – Benson, Greg Biffle and Austin Dillon. Early in his career, Benson also scored an American Speed Association (ASA) championship in 1993. As a result of his success, Benson represented the Xfinity series in the 1996 IROC invitational, finishing an impressive third in the season standings. Early in his career, he also scored an American Speed Association (ASA) championship in 1993. He was ASA rookie-of-the-year in 1990, and also won the same honor after stepping up to the Cup series in 1996.
Todd Bodine earned a career total of 37 NASCAR wins, with 22 in Trucks and 15 more in the Xfinity series. He won the Truck series championship in 2006 and again in 2010. In a NASCAR career that extends back to a single Busch series (now Xfinity) race in 1986, Bodine has amassed, in addition to race wins, 21 top tens and five poles in Cup competition, 160 top tens and seven poles in Xfinity, and 124 top tens and seven poles in Truck racing. Currently, Bodine is a NASCAR analyst for FOX Sports. He ranks fourth in the VROC point standings and is clearly in the hunt for the A Production championship, trailing leader Willy T. Ribbs by three points.
Chopard, the Swiss artisan of luxury timepieces, and the Official Watch of SVRA, will present an SVRA-branded watch to the champions of AP and BP, both professional and amateur, at VIR. It is modeled after their prestigious Grand Prix De Monaco Historique Race Edition timepiece. Since 2002, Chopard has served as sponsor and official timekeeper at the renowned Grand Prix De Monaco Historique.
The VROC Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch is a Saturday feature event at VIR and will benefit IGNITE – the Autism Society of North Carolina’s community center for young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome. The cars are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs of SVRA “Group 6” A and B Production. The professionals will be paired with amateur drivers. Amateurs will start the race and be required to drive a maximum of seven laps. In addition to the Pro-Am, the Speed Tour VIR weekend is a festival of other activities, including professional Trans Am by Pirelli series races on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend also presents the Hagerty Insurance “cars & caffeine” car corral, and 300+ vintage racers ranging over 100 years of automotive history racing in SVRA Groups 1 through 12.