Ben Kennedy, great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., signs with Red Horse Racing

By Dec 17, 2014, 1:23 PM EST
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Ben Kennedy just received probably the best Christmas and birthday (Dec. 26) present he’s ever gotten.

The 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the Camping World Truck Series has signed on with one of the sport’s preeminent teams, Red Horse Racing.

The team announced Wednesday that Kennedy, great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and grandson of Bill France Jr., has signed and will drive the No. 11 Toyota Tundra in 2015.

“I am very excited to return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2015 and to be driving for Red Horse Racing,” Kennedy said in a team media release announcing his signing. “The team has a solid foundation in the Camping World Truck Series, celebrating their 10th year in 2015. It will be an honor to drive the No. 11 Toyota Tundra, the winningest number in NASCAR history.”

Kennedy drove for Turner-Scott Motorsports in 2014 (plus three other races late in the 2013 season). In 22 starts last season, while he did not reach victory lane, Kennedy earned one top-five (third place in spring race at Martinsville) and seven top-10 finishes. He also started from the pole in the season-opening race at Daytona, his home track.

“We are thrilled to have Ben (Kennedy) join us at Red Horse Racing,” team owner Tom DeLoach said. “Ben is a very talented young driver, and I think he is going to fit right into our Red Horse family.”

Kennedy, whose mother is Lesa France-Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corporation, joins new teammates Timothy Peters and German Quiroga Jr.

“We consider ourselves one team with multiple trucks, and I expect to see a lot of success from this organization in 2015,” DeLoach added.

The CWTS kicks off with the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 20.

Kennedy turns 23 next week, and has had a rather successful career to date. After starting his racing career in quarter-midgets in his native Florida, he moved up to full-size stock trucks.

A resident of Daytona Beach, he won the Pro-Truck championship in 2009, as well as a Super Late Model championship and Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.

In 2012, he won the first NASCAR-sanctioned Euro Racecar Series oval track event at Tours Speedway in France. In 2013, he finished fourth in the K&N Pro Series East with two wins, one pole award, three top-five and nine top-10 finishes, and was crowned the series’ Most Popular Driver.

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Alex Palou wins Detroit Grand Prix from pole

By Jun 4, 2023, 5:30 PM EDT
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DETROIT – Alex Palou won the IndyCar Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix from the pole, fending off several challenges and three late restarts during a chaotic debut for a new downtown track.

After qualifying first, Palou won by 1.1843 seconds in his No. 10 Dallara-Honda over Will Power, followed by Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.

Kyle Kirkwood (who rebounded from falling to 26th in a massive shunt on the first lap) finished sixth, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, Marcus Ericsson and Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden to round out the top 10.

As expected, there was lots of action on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile layout that made its debut Sunday with seven caution flags chewing up 32 of 100 laps – and eliminating some contenders.

With 20 laps remaining, Romain Grosjean slammed the wall in Turn 4 while running seventh in his No. 28 Dallara-Honda, which had started third. He later attributed the problem to a suspension failure.

Pato O’Ward’s shot at a decent finish fell apart during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 35. The No. 5 Dallara-Chevy’s left rear wheel was loose as O’Ward left the stall, so he stopped to allow the crew to push him back.

He returned in 26th at the end of the lead lap but then slammed the wall in Turn 9 eight laps later after overshooting the corner.

“Honestly our race went upside down on that pit stop,” O’Ward said. “All downhill from there. It is what it is.”

The yellow flew again during the next restart on Lap 49 as Sting Ray Robb went into the tire barrier in Turn 3 while Christian Lundgaard and Santino Ferrucci (who was trying to fight back onto the lead lap) also were caught scrambling in traffic.

During the caution, Graham Rahal hit the Turn 1 wall and then was rear-ended by rookie Benjamin Pedersen.

“I got a lot of understeer,” Rahal said, struggling to process what had happened to lose control of his No. 15 Dallara-Honda. “It’s on me. I need to see the tape and understand. I’m just disappointed in myself with all the errors this weekend, just not driving well. It’s hard to figure out why, but ultimately it’s on me. I’ve got to perform a heck of a lot better than that, especially on a day like this.

“It’s just not typical of me. I know you’ve got to stay on the dance floor. I don’t know what to say. We weren’t good in the race. We were in pretty bad shape. It’s disappointing. I’ve got to be better. It’s been a really tough couple of months. We need a reset. I need a reset. We need to come back much, much stronger.”

The first incident occurred in the first corner as Callum Ilott rear-ended Kyle Kirkwood on the entry into the Turn 3 hairpin (starts and restarts for the race occurred on the longest straightaway off Turn 2).

Kirkwood, who was starting after clipping the wall in qualifying, was able to continue after pitting to change the rear wing of his No. 27 Dallara-Honda.

But Ilott’s day was over after failing to complete a lap.

“I didn’t have anywhere to really go, but it was my bad for kind of being a little bit on the late side,” the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. “I was gaining bit of time, and they just checked up a little bit more than I anticipated the last bit. I wasn’t coming with that much more speed, but I just couldn’t slow it down on the last part, so sorry to the team and sorry to Kyle cause that didn’t help him, either. On to the next one.”

After four consecutive weeks of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and on the streets of Detroit, IndyCar will take a one-week break before returning June 18 at Road America.