It is Campbell, Anthony, and Benson at Berlin

Johnny Benson third in return to Berlin Raceway
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
May 08, 2010, 11:45PM

Defending CRA Super Series champion Brian Campbell of Wyoming had his strategy all planned out prior to Saturday night’s Keyser’s Port City Racing 125 at Berlin Raceway.

All those plans went by the wayside, though, once the green flag dropped, and it turned out that Campbell is pretty good at improvising.

Campbell grabbed the lead away from Johnny Benson Jr. on lap 35 and led the rest of the way for the win. Campbell beat out Chris Anthony of Walker by 2.036 seconds, followed by Benson, Johnny VanDoorn of Coopersville and Alec Carll of Grand Rapids.

“I wasn’t planning on leading that early, but that was the hand that was dealt and I was able to fight them off,” said Campbell, who also set fast time. “I was getting nervous the middle part of the race (with all the cautions), but I stuck it out and everybody did a good job.”

Benson was making his first start at his home track since he crashed out in an International Supermodified Association race this past June. Benson was sidelined with injuries the remainder of the season.

Benson, who is racing part time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, raced Kyle Busch’s car Saturday. Benson is helping Busch prepare for the June 15 Rowdy’s Revenge 251 at Berlin.

“I would have liked to have finished a little bit higher, but it was OK,” Benson said. “This was the first race since the big wreck, and it feels good to be back.”

Anthony, who qualified second, said he is expecting to run about three CRA races this season. Anderson has five CRA career starts and four top-five finishes. He equaled a career-best second, which he finished a year ago at Berlin.

"The car was really good tonight,” Anthony said. “I tried to ride around and waste some time early and wait until the end, but the tires were gone. I couldn’t catch him. I tried and tried.

“There were a lot of cautions and it was cold, and that didn’t help the tires. I was pushing really hard on the restarts, and that probably hurt us in the long run. But I never lost any spots off of it and was able to get a pretty good gap (on Benson).”

Mike Bursley won Saturday night’s 35-lap Modified feature, while Jason Scheid captured the 4 Cylinder A main and John Norder was first in 4 Cylinder B.