He is the son of Johnny Benson, Sr., who competed in one Winston Cup race in 1973. Johnny Jr. was the 1993 American Speed Association (ASA) champion. He participated in his first Busch Series race in 1993 and won the 1995 Busch Series Championship despite only winning 2 races that season. Following his Busch championship, he made a successful transition to Winston Cup in 1996 and was the 1996 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He placed 11th in Winston Cup points in 1997 and again in 2001. He won his first and only Winston Cup race at the fall 2002 North Carolina Speedway race. However, he was dropped from his team following the 2003 season in an effort to appease team sponsor Valvoline. Since then he has run part-time schedules in Nextel Cup, the Busch Series, and full Craftsman Truck Series in the #23 Toyota Tundra. He also holds a part-time studio analyst job with Speed Channel.

Motorsports,