KENNETH DALE "KENNY" IRWIN - 08/05/1969 - 07/07/2000
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 against Tony Stewart, who was one of his fiercest rivals. He began open wheel racing in 1991. He had 7 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 champ. After his successful run in USAC, many open-wheel enthusiasts began comparing him to NASCAR's Jeff Gordon. 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. He moved up to drive full-
time in 1997, driving the #98 Ford for Liberty Racing. He had two wins, seven Top 5, and ten Top 10 finishes that season, on his way to a 10th-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. 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. Irwin made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1999, driving the #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. 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 10 finish, 4th at Talladega Superspeedway, in his first 17 races with the team. He made nine starts in the Xfinity Series for SABCO as well, posting a best finish of
Midget series 1993
Truck Series win - 1997 Homestead
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. He had earned a best finish of fourth that season, before the race at New Hampshire. During practice for the New England 300, he 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 it's side for a long time before rolling on its roof. Irwin likely
died instantly of a basil skull fracture. 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 one month prior. For his brief career, Irwin made only 87 Cup Series starts and had a best finish of third at Daytona in 1999. He had five Top 5 finishes. He only made fourteen Xfinity series starts, with two Top 5's. In the Truck Series, he started there 32 times and won twice. 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. Some info from Wikipedia
Cup series 2000
fatal practice crash scene - Loudon NH 2000
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