Norm Benning Racing

History

Norm Benning Racing opened in 1994, DNQ'ing all attempts by team owner Norm Benning in Cup competition. Benning began fielding the No. 8 and 84 car in the ARCA Racing Series in 1995 for himself and other drivers. Benning ran the team in four Nationwide races from 2003–2004. The team's most successful series has been the Truck Series, after successfully making 7 of the 8 races they attempted in 2008. The team ran the full Truck season making 24 of the 25 races and finishing 21st in points. Benning once again attempted the Daytona 500 in 2010 but failed to qualify. The team attempted to race the 2010 Truck season full-time in the No. 57 and had a good degree of success, gaining locked-in for a few races in owner points. For 2011 the team struggled to make some races early in the year. Later on the team began fielding a second truck, the No. 75 starting at Iowa. In 2012, the team again had problems with qualifying for some events, but finished 21st in points. In 2013, Benning made all but one race, and gained nattonal notoriety after his battle during the Last Chance Qualifier for the innagural Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway, barely finishing in the final transfer position over Clay Greenfield. Benning finished 20th in points. 2014 saw the team make all 22 races. Midway through the season, Benning changed the number of his primary truck from 57 to 6, a number he used earlier in his career. The teams second truck, the 75, became the 57. 2015 started off on a good note as Benning finished 14th in the season opener at Daytona. Sponsorship problems plagued the team and they were forced to start and park several events. Towards the end of the season, the effects of starting and parking, plus the reduced number of trucks allowed to make a truck field, saw Benning and team miss 4 of the final 5 races. 2016 was a dismal year for the team, as Benning missed 7 races in the No. 6. Midway through the season, Benning began leasing the points from the No. 63 MB Motorsports team so he could run certain events. 2016 concluded with Benning missing 8 races, making 8 races, and withdrawing from 5. Benning plans to show up for the season opening event at Daytona with the No. 6.

Sponsorship and number

The team has had little success in finding sponsorship. They mainly function on week by week deals with a number of different companies. However, there is currently an ongoing fundraiser that is attempting to help the Facebook page NASCAR Memes sponsor Benning's No. 6 for the 2014 Talladega race.

In the past few years, Benning has raced the No. 57 in all races he enters under the Norm Benning Racing banner. Starting in the second half of 2014, Norm Benning Racing will field the No. 6 instead of 57. The former 75 is now running as the 57 with multiple drivers.

ARCA

Norm Benning Racing began fielding the No. 8 and No. 84 in the ARCA Racing Series in 1995. Team Owner Norm Benning was the priamary driver, with other drivers filling out the other seat.

NASCAR

Benning began fielding his own equipment in NASCAR in the late 1980s, finding very little success because of lacking sponsorship and mediocre equipment. Benning attempted just about every Daytona 500 from 1994 to most recently in 2011, and was not successful in qualifying, whether it was due to mechanical failures, not transferring in through the duels, or being forced to withdraw from the race because his car did not meet minimum speed. Since 2002, Norm Benning Racing has fielded a truck. Beginning in 2009, Norm has run the full schedule despite having poor performing equipment and little to no funding. Beginning in 2011, Norm began fielding a second truck on a part-time basis to help fund the 57. In the 2013 Mudsummer Classic, Norm Benning and his team gained media attention when he beat Clay Greenfield to qualify in the 30th position. Midway through 2014, Norm changed the iconic 57 to number 6 for the primary truck, while the 75 began running as number 57.