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Kennedy Hopes Road to the Top of K&N Pro Series Begins in Pensacola with NAPA Auto Parts 150

By Chuck Corder

There’s a photo posted on @BenKennedy96.

It shows a sharp-looking glass trophy in the shape of a headsail. At the top of the hardware in big, bold black lettering, “9th Place� jumps out at you.

Underneath the photo, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver Ben Kennedy, owner of the Twitter account, has posted an affirmation for himself:

“Have this thing staring at me all year reminding me to step it up!�

Kennedy’s path toward improvement continues this week a Five Flags Speedway when the K&N makes its first trip to Pensacola with the NAPA Auto Parts 150 on Saturday.

The series that features the future of NASCAR’s upper echelon, some already equipped with developmental deals from the sport’s top teams, is NASCAR’s first foray into Pensacola since the mid-1990s with the former Slim Jim All Pro Series.

“It’s great racing,� said the 21-year-old Kennedy, now in his third full year racing on the K&N circuit. “No one really knows until you put tires on the racetrack, but all K&N races are really competitive.

“Drivers are always racing hard for the line.�

The full field of about 30 cars begins their weekend early Saturday with morning practices. The gates open for fans at 10 a.m. Saturday and admission is $30 for adults, seniors, military and students, $10 for children 6-11 and free for kids 5 and under.

Before that, though, racing gets underway Friday night with three local classes — Super Stocks (35 laps), Sportsmen (30) and Bombers (25) — vying for checkered flags.

Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday and admission is as follows: $10 adults; $8 seniors, military, students; $5 kids ages 6-11; free 5-under.

Through two races, Kennedy is in familiar, albeit frustrating, territory. The Daytona Beach native sits ninth in points coming into the weekend.

Thanks to encouraging history at Pensacola’s high banks, Kennedy is confident his No. 96 can begin its climb toward points leader Brett Moffitt.

Kennedy has raced both Super and Pro Late Models at the famed half-mile, asphalt oval, including posting top-25 Snowball Derby finishes the last two years and a third in the Snowflake 100 in 2011.

“It’s a cool track with a really unique way that it’s laid out,� he said. “It’s a tricky little track. Having experience there, though, is really beneficial to all of us and puts us a little ahead of most of our competitors. We know what to expect.�

Kennedy has known what to expect from racing since, well, forever.

His roots date back three generations to NASCAR’s roots. Kennedy is the great grandson of NASCAR founder William France Sr. and he is the son of International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy.

A sports management student at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Ben Kennedy doesn’t steer clear from his bloodlines.

“My family is huge supporters of everything I do,� he said. “Certainly there are different circumstances when we go to the racetrack, but nothing overwhelming. A lotta eyes are on you, but that’s the same for a bunch these guys whose fathers drive or drove in NASCAR.

“My ultimate goal is just to go out there and be competitive.�

That shouldn’t be an issue for a driver that boasts 11 top-10s in 29 career K&N Pro Series East starts, finishing as high as third on two occasions.

“The whole team has come so far these past three years,� Kennedy said. “From the cars to the team to me improving — it has all been a learning experience. Just take it one race at a time and try to perform to the best of my abilities and run for a championship.�

If all goes to Kennedy’s plan, sometime next year he’ll tweet out a new photo, replacing the current trophy that stares at him with a mantel-worthy one every driver dreams of.

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