Lowell Bennett (born May 14, 1958) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver. The

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

native has competed in the

NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

, the

World Series of Asphalt New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt Oval track racing, oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller trac ...

, and has five

Slinger Nationals The Slinger Super Speedway (also known as Slinger Speedway) is a quarter-mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The curre ...

championships. He continues to race in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, primarily at

Wisconsin International Raceway The Wisconsin International Raceway (abbreviated WIR) is an asphalt stock car racing oval and dragstrip in the Town of Buchanan, in Outagamie County, just outside Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA. History Wisconsin International Raceway originally ...

(WIR).

Racing career

Early years

Bennett started racing on dirt, in a 1972

Chevrolet Chevelle The Chevrolet Chevelle is a Mid-size car, mid-sized automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors (GM) in three generations for the 1964 to 1977 model years. Part of the GM GM A platform, A-body platform, the Chevelle ...

bought from his father. The first track that he raced on was Shawano Speedway, just outside of

Shawano, Wisconsin Shawano ( ) is a city and the county seat of Shawano County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,243 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is ...

. Bennett's first year of racing was 1976; he won his first race at Shawano and it paid $80. In the following years, Bennett raced at Shawano, and in De Pere and

Seymour, Wisconsin Seymour is a city in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,546 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Seymour, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Town of Seymour and the Osborn, Wisconsin, Town of Osborn. Hist ...

at dirt tracks. In 1981, he tried his hand at asphalt racing and raced at Shawano and Slinger Speedway, after winning a track championship at Shawano that year and one more year of double duty in 1982, Bennett decided to back down his schedule. He continued to race at local tracks through the end of the 1900s, eventually transitioning to the half-mile paved oval at

. Bennett won his first

title in 1997, then followed it up in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2010 to come out with a total of five championships. Lowell Bennett WIR Super Late Model

NASCAR

Running a self-funded team, Bennett ran seven total races in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

(now the Xfinity Series). Three were in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and two each in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He scored a best finish of 21st, at the

Indianapolis Raceway Park Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It includes a ov ...

in 2002.

Post-NASCAR

Bennett has continued to run at

and Slinger Speedway, winning the prestigious Red, White and Blue championship at the former and the Slinger Nationals at the latter. His son Braison now runs at WIR and other regional touring series as part of the 2017 Kulwicki Driver Development Program.

Personal life

Bennett's father Bobby was a local

late model Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...

driver who also served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Lowell was 1st of ten kids born in the family (hence the car number 2 as Bobby was #1, Lowell #2, and down the lines it went with all 6 boys in his racing family) and was born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

while his father was on tour.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Lowell 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Neenah, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin NASCAR drivers ARCA Midwest Tour drivers