240 WHITE STREET      DANBURY, CONNECTICUT,  06810     (203) 797-1903

SERVICES OFFERED AT DANBURY AUTO BODY

Call Danbury Auto Body immediately, 203-797-1903. 

One of Rick Bennett, Sr.’s, owner of Danbury Auto Body, LLC, proudest accomplishments of his racing career was being awarded the NASCAR Golden Wrench Award by Bill France, Jr., owner of
NASCAR.


     Rick began his outstanding racing career at the age of five when he raced go-karts with his father.    Rick won the Connecticut Championship and New York Championship in go-kart racing.  He then moved on to race a late model at Waterford Speed Bowl in Connecticut before enlisting in the army at age 17.  When Rick returned from his tour in Vietnam he went to work for many of the racecar drivers at Danbury Racearena, including Carmine Benincasa, Jimmy Smith, Rit Patchen, Don Popowski and Don LaJoie.  After the Danbury Racearena closed in 1981, Rick decided to build his own race car to run at Stafford Motor Speedway.

     With the help of Rick’s good friends Cheech Garde, Bob Cuneo and Bobby V. the “83” Coupe was brought to life.  Cheech worked at Chassis Dynamics in Waterbury, CT, which was owned by Bob Cuneo (who now designs and builds the bobsleds used by the US bobsled team) and Bobby V.  Both Bob and Bobby taught Rick a lot about a racecar’s frame and the geometry that is involved in designing a frame, what is involved in making a racecar go around a speedway consistently, how to rebuild a racecar after a bad crash, understanding every aspect of a racecar.

     Week after week Rick’s racecar would win races at Stafford Motor Speedway.  The “83” Coupe won 30 feature races with a number of different drivers including Cheech Garde, Randy LaJoie, Bo Gunning and Todd Bodine.
While Rick was racing his “83” Coupe at Stafford Motor Speedway his oldest son Ricky Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps by racing go-karts and winning over 1500 races in total, including a WKA National title.  Ricky Jr. also drove his father’s “83” Coupe at Stafford Motor Speedway and won rookie of the year in 1991.  Rick’s racecar was the last coupe body car to run at Stafford Motor Speedway.

     In 1991, Rick went to work on the NASCAR big circuit, working on Winston Cup Cars, known today as the Sprint Cup Cars. 
Rick has a lot of knowledge about cars.  In the Danbury area, there is probably no other individual who has as much experience with cars as Rick has gained from his career in racing.