Tyler Benoit

**Tyler "The Dirt Devil" Benoit** is a driver in the Utica Rallycross Series. He drives the #3 car for Benoit Motorsports.

 Car no., team
 Best Points
 First race
 Last race
 First win
 Last win

## Early Life

As a child, Benoit would race bicycles against the neighborhood kids and friends. Always active and always athletic, Benoit was very good at it, and with that, made his first foray into the world of racing.

Benoit saved up his money and, working together with childhood friend Matt Evans, bought a dirt modified car. Benoit came to love dirt racing, and it would show during his Utica Rallycross Series career.

Benoit eventually worked his way up to stock cars, fielding a two car Utica Home Track Series effort with Matt Evans. Benoit was a competent driver, but wanted to try something different.

## URCS S1

When the Utica Rallycross Series was announced, Benoit was one of the first to sign up. Benoit sold off several of his back-up cars from the Utica Home Track Series to buy a race car. He also teamed up with fellow Utica Home Track Series contender Dillon White to support a two car effort.

Benoit was the first of seventeen drivers to get on track for the inaugural race in Yuma, Arizona. He came out of the gate with a lot of energy but the handicap of being the first driver in a new car on an unknown circuit proved difficult for Benoit to maintain, resulting in an eighth place finish. His teammate Dillon White ended up going to victory lane.

Benoit's performance picked up in Elk Horn, resulting in a sixth place effort. He would again place in the top ten in Budva, Montenegro.

## Two Close Wins and Season's Close

In the round of Hong Kong, John Cittadino had the top time locked with a solid 1:00.71. Benoit made his effort trying to break the minute mark. He took the first turn well and had a speed effort throughout the rest of the circuit and managed to beat Cittadino by one tenth of a second. Most challengers that followed Benoit tried and failed, and it looked as if Benoit was going to win the event. He was en route to rolling the car to victory lane when, to the surprise of everyone at the circuit, Chris Aurelio managed to break the minute mark in his final run, stealing the win away from Benoit.

The following week, Benoit was en route to winning the event in Toyota, Japan, having had taken the lead once again at the midpoint of the event. Drivers like William Duncan came close but failed and Benoit was once again confident in his chances. However, the #13 car of Emile Michaels, which had struggled in the first half of the course, ran a blistering, flawless time though the second sector, resulting in a gain of two tenths of a second over Benoit. Benoit was once again heartbroken and Michaels went to victory lane.

Benoit's performance suffered in the last two events, resulting in lackluster finishes to end the year.

## URCS S2

Benoit came back into the Utica Rallycross Series ready to win. With the experience of last year and a later starting spot, Benoit managed to set a time that just edged out rookie Dom Caps to secure his first career Utica Rallycross Series victory. Benoit would wreck out in Kansas City, along with most of the field, but would come back strong by dominating Elk Horn Pike and winning his second race.

Benoit would follow up his second win with a podium spot in the Everglades and some consistent top tens. However, his teammate Adam Dunlap was looming close behind, taking some consistent spots in the top five.

Benoit got his third victory of the season in Coastal Italy and was one of the favorites for the title. However, Dunlap would not quit, as he continued to get good finishes. By the end of the season, Benoit just could not gain enough points on Dunlap, sealing the deal with a poor performance at the Pacific Oil Rig circuit. Dunlap won the championship going into Dead Man's Curve, leaving Benoit with a runner-up finish.

## URCS S3

Benoit returned for season three with the same setup as last year, though this time as a single car effort. Benoit Motorsports, notable or their success in Yuma, were once again strong, puling off a top five finish to start the season.

Benoit struggled in Elk Horn, wrecking out of the event, but picked up the pace with a top ten in Blackpool.

Benoit, a veteran of dirt racing, was right at home in Paparone, setting a fast pace that scored him his fourth career victory, tying him with Matt Evans.

Benoit came close to a fifth series win in Dubai, but in similar fashion to his Season 1 Toyota loss, Joshua Michaels managed to usurp the race lead with two cars to go, stealing the victory away. Benoit finished second. Benoit also lost out on yet another victory in Hong Kong, finishing fourth overall. However, this fourth place finish gained him seven positions over Tyler Kulesa, putting him just two points back going into the final event.

Benoit qualified for the finale at Dead Man's Curve, but fellow title contenders Matt Evans, William Duncan, and Alex Hawkins did not. This resulted in a two-car battle between Benoit and Kulesa.

Kulesa's early starting spot put Benoit at an advantage, as Benoit was slated to be the final car up.

Kulesa had scored the top time early in the event, gaining a bonus point that elevated the points gap to three points. Benoit had to finish second or better to clinch the championship. He had a great performance on track, but came just short of second, finishing third and tying the championship up. Both Benoit and Kulesa had one win apiece, but Benoit had seven top fives to Kulesa's five, winning the championship for Benoit.

It was Benoit's first championship and closure for finishing runner up the previous year.

## URCS S4

Benoit returned to series competition in Season Four to defend his title.

Benoit started out the year modest, but consistent. In his first four starts, he finished seventh three times, only broken up by a third place at Elk Horn Pike. Benoit looked to be an early favorite, but misfortune struck at the halfway point of the year. A fourteenth at Paparone a sixteenth at Nairobi and a DNF at Dubai dropped Benoit down the ranking.

Benoit began to pick it up with a tenth at Tel-Aviv and a seventh at Hong Kong, but it was too little, too late, as Benoit was the first car locked out of title contention, and thus, had to qualify on speed for Dead Man's Curve.

Benoit did well in the qualifier, finishing third as the last car up, easily locking himself into the show. Benoit managed to muster up a fifth place finish to end the year off strong. Benoit rounded out the year eight in points, the worst final placing of his career.

## URCS S5

Benoit considered retirement at the end of season four, citing his winless season and rise of younger talent as reasons. However, Benoit decided to race another season to train Cody Smart, who he would sign to his reopened second team.

Benoit started off the year strong, finishing second to Alexander Rowe at Yuma. He followed it up with consistent sixth and seventh places at Elk Horn Pike and La Fortuna, closely mirroring his start to Season 4.

Benoit acquired his first DNF of the year at Meijendel, surviving the troublesome long jump, but flipping on the final road transfer. It would be his sole DNF of the year and his only finish outside oft he top ten.

Entering the second half of the year, Benoit began to charge away from the pack. Another sixth place at Budva and a another seventh at Dubai were split by a powerful victory at Sarh. The victory was Benoit's first since Paparone in Season Three and broke a tie with Matt Evans for most wins.

Despite back-to-back victories from Alex Tanker and solid performances for Ray Davis, drivers struggled to catch Benoit, as he scored a third-place finish at Tel-Aviv. At Hong Kong, in a race that looked to be won by Ray Davis, Benoit came up as the second to last car on track and stole the win away, giving Benoit a record sixth victory and nearly locked up the championship.

Benoit was locked in to Dead Man's Curve and did not need to participate in the qualifier. To win the title, Benoit had to finish eighteenth or better or have Ray Davis finish fourth or worse. Benoit, as the third car on track, had to only beat two drivers to immediately win the title. Both drivers who went before him, Seth Cole and Sean Angel, struggled, with the the former missing the suspension bridge jump twice and the latter flipping in Stage Four. Benoit ran a conservative run, finished the race, and took the race lead, winning his second championship and making him the only repeat champion to date. Benoit would finish the race eighth while his title rival Davis finished last place after an early flip.

## URCS S6

Despite retirement plans after Season Four, Benoit intends to return for Season Six and defend his title.

## Complete URCS Results

### Notes

[1] - Tied with Tyler Kulesa, Benoit won the championship with most top fives.

## Trivia

* Benoit is one of only two drivers to participate in every single Utica Rallycross Series race run. The other is Chris Aurelio.
* Benoit has the most ten finishes in the Utica Rallycross Series with forty.
* Benoit has the most victories in Rallycross Series history, at six.
* Benoit is the only multi-time champion, with two titles.