Off To The Races…The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) will tackle its first all-concrete surface of 2014 as it heads to the Monster Mile of Dover International Speedway. Although Kennedy has never taken on the 1.0-mile oval in NCWTS competition, he has three previous starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE). Kennedy has finished within the top 15 in all three events, earning a best finish of fourth in 2012 and an average finish of 9.3.
Click It Or Ticket…This weekend at Dover International Speedway, Kennedy will be running the colors of the Delaware Office of Highway Safety’s Click It Or Ticket initiative. Since joining the national Click It Or Ticket campaign in 2003 and putting its primary seat belt law into effect, Delaware has seen an increase in seat belt use rate from 75-percent to 92-percent in 2013. This Friday will mark Kennedy’s second event partnering with the OHS, after running the Driver Sober, Arrive Alive DE paint scheme in the NKNPSE event at the Monster Mile last fall. The Office of Highway Safety is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues such as impaired driving, seat belt use, aggressive driving, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety and teen driving issues. As a Division of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, OHS, like its sister agencies – the Delaware State Police, the Capitol Police, the Division of Alcohol, Tobacco Enforcement and DEMA – addresses public safety and driver behavior. For more information, visit BuckleUpDE.org.
Previous Race Recap…Kennedy overcame early handling issues and impressively avoided multiple on-track incidents to earn a top-10 finish in his first-career race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After battling vastly changing handling through the first half of the race, Kennedy made what could have been his final pit stop of the night on lap 87 and was running just within the top 15. However, on lap 115, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender had worked his way up to the seventh position and had momentum on his side to continue his march to the front, but a competitor failed to clear Kennedy’s nose when making a pass, causing the other truck to spin and slide into the outside wall. Unscathed from the incident aside from cosmetic damage, the No. 31 team provided Kennedy with four fresh tires and tape on his nose for the final 13 laps of competition. Restarting 16th, the fresher tires and tweaked handling gave Kennedy what he needed to firmly break into the top 10, taking over the eighth position and skillfully avoiding a three-truck incident which ended the race on the white-flag lap.
Come Say Hi…There are a lot of chances to meet Kennedy and score an autograph this week in Dover. On Wednesday, May 28 Kennedy will be appearing with Paulie Harraka and Reed Sorenson at the Starboard in Dewey Beach for an event hosted by the Office of Highway Safety and 97.5 FM Cat Country. The ‘Night Out With NASCAR’ runs from 5:00-7:00 p.m. and features a Q&A, autograph session and giveaways. You can also catch Kennedy on race day at an appearance at the Office of Highway Safety display in the FanZone from 1:30- 2:00 p.m., followed by the NCWTS autograph session in the FanZone from 2:00-2:45 p.m.
This Week’s Silverado…Kennedy and the No. 31 Click It Or Ticket Silverado crew will utilize chassis TSM-214 this weekend at the Monster Mile. TSM-214 was most recently run by Kennedy at Kansas Speedway earlier this month. The truck known to TSM as “Honey Badger” is a favorite of the No. 31 crew after capturing all four of James Buescher’s victories in 2012 on the way to taking the NCWTS title.
Watch and Listen…The Lucas Oil 200 can be seen live on Friday, May 30 on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage will begin at 5:00 p.m. EDT, and the event can also be heard live on MRN Radio as well as SiriusXM Radio, channel 90.
Ben Kennedy on Dover International Speedway
“I don’t think there’s a track on the schedule that I’d like to win at more than Dover. That’s one place where I’ve been really close a couple times in the K&N Series, but it just never quite worked out. It’s also, by far, one of the coolest trophies you can get in the sport. I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t want Miles the Monster on their shelf. I’m also really excited to be partnering with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety this weekend. I enjoyed working with them last year and I’m hoping this time I can bring the Click It Or Ticket Chevrolet to victory lane.”
TSM PR
