Benjamin Kennedy (born December 26, 1991) is an American

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

s executive, professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It or ...

team owner, and former driver. He currently serves as

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

's Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy.

Executive career

General manager of Truck Series

On January 30, 2018, Kennedy was named General Manager of the Camping World Truck Series. Kennedy spent one season in the position before transitioning to a strategic-based role.

NASCAR front office

In January 2019, Kennedy was hired by NASCAR to be a part of the racing operations team as well as help develop the sport internationally. He was promoted a year later when he became the Vice President of Racing Development, and promoted again in July 2020 as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, where he oversaw racing development initiatives for all three national series. In June 2021, he named the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, where he reports directly to Steve Phelps, the President of NASCAR. Kennedy is currently tasked with creating the schedule for the three top series of the sport. It was in this position that he helped craft the idea of the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, which saw a pre-season race being held at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a me ...

. According to NASCAR, he is the "point man" of the schedule. On March 10, 2022, NASCAR announced that Kennedy would be promoted in the company, with his new title being the Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy.

Racing career

Ben Kennedy Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet Richmond 2013

Kennedy began his racing career on the short tracks of central Florida, winning championships in Super Late Models at Orlando Speedworld, and in Pro Truck racing at Orlando Speedworld and

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in ...

. He made his touring series debut in the K&N Pro Series East in 2010 and began racing the series full-time in 2011. In 2012, in addition to running the full K&N Pro Series East schedule, Kennedy competed in the first Euro Racecar Series event competed under

sanctioning, winning the event at Tours Speedway, the first NASCAR race held on an oval in Europe. Ben Kennedy at Thunder Valley (cropped)

After finishing ninth in series points in 2012, Kennedy was named by

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

as one of NASCAR's "drivers 25 and under to watch" in January 2013. In April 2013, Kennedy won his first career race in the K&N Pro Series East, in the series' first race held at

Five Flags Speedway Five Flags Speedway is a half-mile (0.8 km) paved oval racetrack in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It opened in 1953 and is located on Pine Forest Road. It is christened after the nickname of Pensacola—"City of Five Flags." It run ...

in Kennedy's native Florida. Kennedy also announced that he would be driving a truck prepared by

Turner Scott Motorsports Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), formerly Turner Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nationwide Series, ...

in three

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

races in the 2013 season, running in events at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretc ...

and Homestead-Miami Speedway; he ran a total of five races, posting a best finish of fourth at

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in ...

. He was named the K&N Pro Series East's Most Popular Driver for the 2013 season. In December 2013, it was announced that Kennedy would drive the No. 31

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the ...

full-time in the

2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the 20th season of the Camping World Truck Series, the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season was contested over twenty-two races, beginning with th ...

season for Turner Scott Motorsports, competing for Rookie of the Year. He got 8 top tens and won ROTY honors. The team closed at the end of the season. In December 2014, it was announced that Kennedy would move to

Red Horse Racing Red Horse Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It was co-owned by former Mobil 1 marketing executive Tom DeLoach a ...

, driving the No. 11

Local Motors Local Motors was an American motor vehicle manufacturing company focused on low-volume manufacturing of open-source motor vehicle designs using multiple microfactories. It was founded in 2007 by John B. Rogers Jr and had headquarters in Phoenix ...

Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100), but th ...

. On July 9, 2015, with seven laps to go in Kentucky, Kennedy was clipped by David Gilliland into the fence where the back of his truck received hard damage, causing the race to be red-flagged and eventually ended prematurely with five laps left, though he was uninjured. On February 14, 2016, he announced his return to Red Horse Racing with new sponsor

JACOB Companies Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

. However, on April 15, RHR announced Kennedy had parted ways with the team. Ten days later, Kennedy joined

GMS Racing Petty GMS Motorsports, also known as GMS Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, is an American professional stock car racing team formed by Richard Petty and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. and operated by GMS Racing. In the NASCAR Cup Series they field ...

to drive the No. 33

. On August 17, 2016, after a falter by both

Daniel Suárez Daniel Alejandro Suárez Garza (born January 7, 1992) is a Mexican professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing Team. He previously drove in t ...

and William Byron, he won the August Bristol race after a duel with

Brett Moffitt Brett B. Moffitt (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 25 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. He won Rookie of the Year Honors in 2015 in the NASCAR ...

. By virtue of that win, he qualified for the inaugural Truck Series Chase. Kennedy advanced to the Round of 6 from the Round of 8 but was eliminated following the Lucas Oil 150. He finished seventh in points. Also during the 2016 season, Kennedy started his first career

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

race, driving the No. 2

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard Ch ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

. He started sixth and finished tenth. 2 Ben Kennedy 2017 Johnsonville 180

On February 6, 2017, it was announced that Kennedy would drive nine races for

in the

, splitting time in the No. 2 entry with

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

and

Paul Menard John Paul Christian Menard (born August 21, 1980) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. Men ...

. Kennedy received at least one offer to drive in the

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

in that offseason from an undisclosed team, as well as other offers, but took the part-time ride and advice that comes with being around an established Cup organization. He later expanded his schedule with a twelve-race agreement to drive the No. 96 car for

Team ownership

Ben Kennedy fielded a

K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and ...

and

K&N Pro Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racin ...

team. The team started fielding the No. 96

part-time for Ben Kennedy in the K&N East in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the team became full-time in the East and part-time in the K&N West, and in the West, the car was a

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. In 2013, the team only fielded the K&N East full-time and made two races in

with a 15th best team's finish at Iowa. In 2014, with Ben Kennedy moving to compete full-time in the Camping World Truck series for

Kenzie Ruston Kenzie Ruston Hemric (born October 12, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She last competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2015, driving the No. 4 Toyota Camry for Rev Racing. Hemric is married to current NASCAR Xfin ...

raced full-time in the No. 96 in the K&N East. In 2015, the team moved to

and renumbered the car to No. 3 to

Kaz Grala Kaz Edward Grala ( ; born December 29, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. The Boston native is the youngest NASCAR win ...

in both

and

. Ben Kennedy also made one start in K&N West in the old No. 96. In 2016, Grala returned to a part-time schedule in the K&N East. In 2017, the No. 96 returned for

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...

and a second car appeared in the form of the No. 20 for Anthony Sergi. In 2021, Kennedy fielded the No. 43 Chevrolet in the

ARCA Menards Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) an ...

for

Daniel Dye Daniel Dye (born December 4, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Racing career ARCA Menards Series East 202 ...

. However, Dye left for

mid-season and another driver did not replace him in the No. 43. Kennedy has not fielded a car in the series since then. However, the team continues to field the No. 43 for Daniel Dye in various late model racing events.

Personal life

Kennedy is the son of Lesa France Kennedy and the late Dr. Bruce Kennedy, who died in a 2007 plane crash. He is the grandson of Bill France Jr. and great-grandson of

Bill France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992), also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill, was an American businessman and racing driver. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock ...

, the founder of

. He is a 2014 graduate of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, with a degree in

sports management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

. In 2017, Kennedy participated in an episode of ''

American Ninja Warrior American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

'' which was filmed at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

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.)

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

K&N Pro Series East

K&N Pro Series West

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Ben Living people 1991 births Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida Racing drivers from Florida NASCAR drivers University of Florida alumni France family American Ninja Warrior contestants Richard Childress Racing drivers Auto racing executives