Kennedy another kind of Iron Man

When Jeff Gordon takes the green flag for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he’ll start his 789th consecutive race and establish a new Iron man record for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

On the same day, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Ben Kennedy will be an Iron Man of a different sort, when he competes in an IRONMAN 70.3 event in Augusta, Georgia. Kennedy and his mother Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corporation and a member of NASCAR’s board of directors, also is participating in the race.

The IRONMAN 70.3 starts with a 1.2-mile swim in the Savannah River, continues with a 56-mile bike ride through Georgia and South Carolina and concludes with a 13.1-mile run in downtown Augusta. The IRONMAN 70.3, so named for its 70.3-mile total distance, is half the length of a full IRONMAN triathlon.

Ben Kennedy has been training for the event for five months, interspersing distance and conditioning work with his Truck Series duties in the No. 11 Local Motors Toyota.