Kenny Irwin

Kenneth Dale Irwin Jr. (August 5, 1969 – July 7, 2000) was an American stock car racing driver. He had driven in all three NASCAR national touring series, and had two total victories, both in the Craftsman Truck Series. Before that, he raced in the United States Auto Club against Tony Stewart, who was one of his fiercest rivals. He died as a result of injuries suffered in a crash during a practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Early life Irwin grew up in Indianapolis and was the third youngest of four children. He began racing quarter-midgets before he was in the second grade. He graduated from Lawrence North High School in 1988 where he played varsity soccer, while continuing his career as a driver. Between 1988 and 1991, he earned his SCCA competition license and competed in the GT1 category, driving a turbocharged Buick Grand National, then raced for his father in the IMSA American Challenge (road racing) stock car series, all while he was still a teenager.

Irwin then went on to race in USAC. He began open wheel racing in 1991. He had seven career USAC Sprint Car Series wins, and was the series Rookie of the Year in 1993. In 1994, he was the USAC Silver Crown Series Rookie of the Year and finished second in the 1995 USAC standings. In 1996, he was the USAC National Midget Series champion. After his successful run in USAC, many open-wheel enthusiasts began comparing him to NASCAR star Jeff Gordon.

NASCAR

Irwin began his major-league NASCAR career in the Craftsman Truck Series. He made his debut in that series in 1996 at Phoenix International Raceway, driving the No. 26 Ford F-150 for MB Motorsports. He started and finished 32nd after an engine failure. In his second start at Richmond International Raceway, he won the pole in the No. 62 Raybestos Ford for Liberty Racing, finishing fifth in the event.

Irwin moved up to drive full-time in 1997, driving the No. 98 Ford for Liberty Racing. He had two wins, seven top-fives, and ten top-ten finishes that season, on his way to a tenth-place finish in the final point standings. He also won Rookie of the Year honors that season. Irwin also made his debut in the Winston Cup Series in 1997 with David Blair Motorsports at Richmond. He qualified on the outside pole and led for twelve laps, finishing in eighth place. He ran three more races with Blair that season, qualifying no worse than eleventh.

Irwin won the 1998 Rookie of the Year award in the Cup Series driving the Robert Yates Racing No. 28 car, replacing Ernie Irvan. Irwin started the 1998 season by winning the Automobile Racing Club of America race in Daytona in February in a car owned by Yates. During that season, he had one pole, one top-five, and four top-ten finishes on his way to a disappointing 28th-place finish in the final points standings. In 1999, he had two poles, two top-five and six top-ten finishes, and finished in nineteenth place in the final points standings.

Irwin made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1999, driving the No. 11 Ford Taurus owned by his teammate, Dale Jarrett, and then-Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. He had two fifth-place finishes in five starts in the series during the 1999 season, at Texas Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, respectively.

Irwin is also known for one incident where he bumped the car of Tony Stewart, a former rival of his in USAC open-wheel competition, into the wall in the NAPA Autocare 500 at Martinsville Speedway. After Stewart wrecked Irwin twice in the same race in turn four, Irwin retaliated against Stewart by spinning him in turn 1 on the restart. Stewart exited his wrecked car, clapped at Irwin, threw his gloves at his car, and tried to enter Irwin's car as it was driving under the caution flag in a show of displeasure.

For the 2000 season, Irwin was tabbed by Felix Sabates to replace Joe Nemechek in Team SABCO's No. 42 Chevrolet. He had a single top-ten finish, fourth at Talladega Superspeedway, in his first seventeen races with the team. He made nine starts in the Busch Series for SABCO as well, posting a best finish of ninth at Talladega. His final race for the team was at Daytona International Speedway in the Pepsi 400, finishing 22nd; he was seen as having a bright future with the team, which had just had a majority interest purchased by Chip Ganassi.

Death During practice for the thatlook.com 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 7, 2000, Irwin slammed head on into the wall, causing his car to flip onto its side. According to fellow driver Brett Bodine speaking to CNN, the car slid along its side for a long time before rolling on its roof. Irwin likely died instantly of a basilar skull fracture at the age of 30. Fellow Indiana native (and rival) Tony Stewart would win the race that Sunday, and donate the trophy to Irwin's parents. Irwin's accident was blamed on a stuck throttle, which was the same cause of the accident that had killed Adam Petty at nearly that exact spot on the track just two months prior. Ted Musgrave drove the renumbered No. 01 car for the remainder of the 2000 season. The car was renumbered to 41 in 2002 and Sabates brought back the 42 number in 2003 with driver Jamie McMurray.

Irwin's parents founded the Kenny Irwin Jr. Foundation and the Dare to Dream Camp for underprivileged children located in New Castle, Indiana, in his honor. The 2000 Brickyard 400, held on what would have been Irwin's 31st birthday, was dedicated in his memory.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Pts Ref 1997 David Blair Motorsports 27 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH8 NHA DOV MAR37 CLT TAL CARDNQ PHO20 ATL25 49th 390 1998 Yates Racing 28 Ford DAY19 CAR26 LVS36 ATL5* DAR39 BRI43 TEX39 MAR19 TAL40 CAL16 CLTDNQ DOV33 RCH9 MCH13 POC11 SON9 NHA33 POC22 IND38 GLN37 MCH16 BRI15 NHA11 DAR41 RCH10 DOV40 MAR27 CLT20 TAL43 DAY32 PHO40 CAR33 ATL16 28th 2760 1999 DAY3 CAR23 LVS41 ATL23 DAR35 TEX15 BRI11 MAR36 TAL35 CAL13 RCH40 CLT15 DOV10 MCH11 POC18 SON22 DAY14 NHA26 POC43 IND13 GLN26 MCH34 BRI24 DAR31 RCH5 NHA10 DOV10 MAR39 CLT15 TAL10 CAR13 PHO21 HOM33 ATL29 19th 3338 2000 Team SABCO 42 Chevy DAY14 CAR22 LVS24 ATL24 DAR38 BRI40 TEX17 MAR37 TAL4 CAL42 RCH42 CLT24 DOV17 MCH35 POC25 SON23 DAY22 NHAWth POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 42nd 1440

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1998 Yates Racing Ford 38 19 1999 41 3 2000 Team SABCO Chevy 18 14

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Pts Ref 1994 02 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR DAR HCY BRI ROU NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW SBO TAL HCY IRPDNQ MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR CAR NA - 1997 Liberty Racing 98 Ford DAYDNQ CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEXDNQ BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY NA - Chevy IRPDNQ MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAL CAR HOM 1998 Porter Racing 48 Ford DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLTDNQ DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM NA - 1999 Jarrett/Favre Motorsports 11 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX5 NSV BRI TAL CALDNQ NHA RCH NZH CLTDNQ DOV11 SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP16 MCH33 BRIDNQ DAR RCHDNQ DOV5 CLTDNQ CAR MEM PHO HOM 61st 619 2000 SABCO Racing 42 Chevy DAY39 CAR31 LVSDNQ ATL10 DAR19 BRI30 TEX16 NSV TAL9 CAL32 RCHDNQ NHA CLT20 DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 50th 852

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Pts Ref 1996 MB Motorsports 26 Ford HOM PHO32 POR EVG TUS CNS HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV 45th 468 Liberty Racing 62 Ford RCH5 NHA MAR NWS SON98 MMR15 PHO26 LVS40 1997 WDW7 TUS14 HOM1 PHO17 POR15 EVG5 I7014 NHA5 TEX1 BRI26 NZH27 MLW15 LVL18 CNS14 HPT18 IRP7 FLM25 NSV21 GLN28 RCH5 MAR8 SON31 MMR16 CAL3 PHO4 LVS25 10th 3220 1998 Ultra Motorsports 28 Ford WDW HOM PHO POR EVG I70 GLN TEX BRI MLW NZH CAL PPR IRP NHA FLM NSV HPT LVL RCH MEM GTY MAR SON MMR PHO20 LVS 92nd 103

Winston West Series NASCAR Winston West Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 1997 Yates Racing 28 Ford TUS AMP SON TUS MMR LVS CAL EVG POR PPR AMP SON MMR LVS28 75th 89

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pts Ref 1998 David Blair Motorsports 27 Ford DAY1* ATL SLM CLT MEM MCH POC SBS TOL PPR POC KIL FRS ISF ATL DSF SLM TEX WIN CLT TAL ATL NA -