Bob Benner

 Bob Benner, Age 89, passed away at home on April 19, 2020.  Born in Mt. Pleasant in 1930, he moved to the Linden/Fenton area at a young age and lived there for the remainder of his life.  Active in various forms of auto racing in the 1950’s and 1960’s, his focus turned to snowmobiles in the 1970’s and he quickly made Enduro Snowmobile Racing history.  The Master mind behind Benner Racing and later, Williams/Benner Racing, he built some of the fastest Ski-Doo entries on the Enduro circuit.  He led his Teams to countless records and victories along the way, most notably winning the Grand Daddy of all races, the Sault Ste. Marie I-500, in 1986.  His legendary status in the racing community culminated in 2009 when he was inducted into The Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame. Bob retired (kicking and screaming) from Chevrolet Manufacturing after 30 years of service as a skilled trades Welder in the maintenance division. Bob is survived by his daughters Alice Frazier of Flint MI and Sharon Grindel of Sault Ste. Marie MI.  He is also survived by his grandson Sean (Christa) Benner of Davison MI, two great-grand daughters, many nieces and nephews and special friends, Mary Hect of Flint and Mark Weaver of Grand Blanc.  Bob was preceded in death by his wife Betty, son Lynn, son-in-law Laurence Grindel, brothers Lynn Benner, Frank Vollmer and sister Lucille Howard.  Cremation will take place per his request.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bob Benner Memorial Fund set up by the Midwest International Racing Association (M.I.R.A.) to help snowmobile drivers injured while racing.  A special thank you to Steve and Sherry Landon of The Winning Edge magazine for the photo contribution here and for faithfully following Bob throughout his racing career.

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