Maine native, Travis Benjamin resides in the small town of Morrill. Travis is the driver of the number 17, for Irving Oil in the super late model of the Pro All Stars Series (PASS). Like most drivers, Travis followed in his father’s foot steps. He started racing at the age 14 when he got behind the wheel of a Go Kart and hasn’t looked back since!  
 

Travis is one of 4, first time winners this season in the PASS Tour. In the Atlantic 250, at Scotia Speed World, Nova Scotia, Canada he took the checkered flag. After the race he had this to say, “It has taken a long time to get into victory lane in the PASS series and to do it at one of our biggest races of the season was awesome.” Though Travis doesn’t usually prefer flat tracks, Scotia Speed World has become his favorite track to race at. This may be to due to his finishing in the top 4, five times out of the last 6 races that he has entered there.   
 

   One of the changes this season that The Pro All Stars Series has made has been to put a limit on tires.  In this respect, Travis stated, “I think the tire rule is great. It eliminates a lot of the bigger teams from buying a ton of tires.”  The other major change is the 2 throw away races where teams can drop 2 of the lowest scoring races toward the point’s championship. Travis had this to say, “The throw away deal is ok.  I think it may hurt the team that is the most consistent that runs all the races.  I feel that we have been the most consistent team and I may get beat by it, but I understand why they are doing it.  I also think it should only be one race you can throw away.”  Going into the last race of the season at Wiscasset Raceway the top 5 drivers are separated by only 38 points.  Where in the 2007 PASS season, the top 5 were separated by 124 points. 
 

      The one thing that has affected Benjamin Motorsports and the rest of the racing community has been the rise in fuel prices. This has been a concern for many in the motorsport arena.  Changes in the economy has forced everyone from the drivers to the fans that support them to redefine their budgets.  When asked how it has personally affected his team, Travis stated, “It definitely made it more expensive for us to travel from track to track.  The Pass Series did a great job to make a lot of the races more local”. 
 

With the 2008 racing season coming to an end, Travis contemplates what the following year will bring. All will depend on the sponsorship help his team can get and yet he still plans to be at every race track he gets a chance to run.  In the mean time, Travis will ready himself and keep his reflexes sharp while coaching a local high school basketball team! Between running after his year old son and coaching, his winter months are sure to fly by and the 2009 race season will be upon him.