Kenny Irwin Jr.

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.

Kenny Irwin Jr.
Irwin in 1998
BornKenneth Dale Irwin Jr.
(1969-08-05)August 5, 1969
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJuly 7, 2000(2000-07-07) (aged 30)
Loudon, New Hampshire, U.S.
Cause of deathBasilar skull fracture due to auto racing accident.
Achievements1996 USAC National Midget Champion
Awards1998 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
1997 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
87 races run over 4 years
Best finish19th (1999)
First race1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 (Richmond)
Last race2000 Pepsi 400 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 12 3
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
14 races run over 2 years
Best finish50th (2000)
First race1999 Coca-Cola 300 (Texas)
Last race2000 Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 4 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
32 races run over 3 years
Best finish10th (1997)
First race1996 Chevy Desert Star Classic (Phoenix)
Last race1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus / AC Delco 300 (Phoenix)
First win1997 Florida Dodge Dealers 400K (Homestead)
Last win1997 Pronto Auto Parts 400K (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 11 1

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 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 star Jeff Gordon.

NASCAR
Irwin's 1997 truck
Irwin's 1997 Winston Cup car
Irwin (No. 28) racing Matt Kenseth at Dover, 1998
Irwin's Project Impact car, May 2000

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.

He moved up to drive full-time in 1997, driving the No. 98 Ford for Liberty Racing. He had 2 wins, 7 Top 5, and 10 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. He ran three more races with Blair that season, qualifying no worse than eleventh.

"Everyone has been hoping to find the next Jeff Gordon, I think we found him."

— David Blair, after the 1997 season-ending race at Atlanta Motor Speedway

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, 1 Top 5, and 4 Top 10 finishes on his way to a disappointing 28th-place finish in the final points standings. In 1999 he had 2 poles, 2 Top 5 and 6 Top 10 finishes and finished 19th-place finish 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.

He 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 4, 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 10 finish, 4th at Talladega Superspeedway, in his first 17 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.[1]

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. He was 30 years old, and died less than a month before his 31st birthday. Fellow Indiana native (and rival) Tony Stewart would win the race that Sunday, and donate the trophy to Irwin's parents.[2] 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 NWCC 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 RCH
8		 NHA DOV MAR
37		 CLT TAL CAR
DNQ		 PHO
20		 ATL
25		 49th 390 [3]
1998 Yates Racing 28 Ford DAY
19		 CAR
26		 LVS
36		 ATL
5*		 DAR
39		 BRI
43		 TEX
39		 MAR
19		 TAL
40		 CAL
16		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
33		 RCH
9		 MCH
13		 POC
11		 SON
9		 NHA
33		 POC
22		 IND
38		 GLN
37		 MCH
16		 BRI
15		 NHA
11		 DAR
41		 RCH
10		 DOV
40		 MAR
27		 CLT
20		 TAL
43		 DAY
32		 PHO
40		 CAR
33		 ATL
16		 28th 2760 [4]
1999 DAY
3		 CAR
23		 LVS
41		 ATL
23		 DAR
35		 TEX
15		 BRI
11		 MAR
36		 TAL
35		 CAL
13		 RCH
40		 CLT
15		 DOV
10		 MCH
11		 POC
18		 SON
22		 DAY
14		 NHA
26		 POC
43		 IND
13		 GLN
26		 MCH
34		 BRI
24		 DAR
31		 RCH
5		 NHA
10		 DOV
10		 MAR
39		 CLT
15		 TAL
10		 CAR
13		 PHO
21		 HOM
33		 ATL
29		 19th 3338 [5]
2000 Team SABCO 42 Chevy DAY
14		 CAR
22		 LVS
24		 ATL
24		 DAR
38		 BRI
40		 TEX
17		 MAR
37		 TAL
4		 CAL
42		 RCH
42		 CLT
24		 DOV
17		 MCH
35		 POC
25		 SON
23		 DAY
22		 NHA
Wth		 POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 42nd 1440 [6]
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 NBSC Pts Ref
1994 02 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR DAR HCY BRI ROU NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW SBO TAL HCY IRP
DNQ		 MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR CAR NA - [7]
1997 Liberty Racing 98 Ford DAY
DNQ		 CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEX
DNQ		 BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY NA - [8]
Chevy IRP
DNQ		 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 CLT
DNQ		 DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM NA - [9]
1999 Jarrett/Favre Motorsports 11 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX
5		 NSV BRI TAL CAL
DNQ		 NHA RCH NZH CLT
DNQ		 DOV
11		 SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP
16		 MCH
33		 BRI
DNQ		 DAR RCH
DNQ		 DOV
5		 CLT
DNQ		 CAR MEM PHO HOM 61st 619 [10]
2000 SABCO Racing 42 Chevy DAY
39		 CAR
31		 LVS
DNQ		 ATL
10		 DAR
19		 BRI
30		 TEX
16		 NSV TAL
9		 CAL
32		 RCH
DNQ		 NHA CLT
20		 DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 50th 852 [11]

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 NCTC Pts Ref
1996 MB Motorsports 26 Ford HOM PHO
32		 POR EVG TUS CNS HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV 45th 468 [12]
Liberty Racing 62 Ford RCH
5		 NHA MAR NWS SON
98 MMR
15		 PHO
26		 LVS
40
1997 WDW
7		 TUS
14		 HOM
1		 PHO
17		 POR
15		 EVG
5		 I70
14		 NHA
5		 TEX
1		 BRI
26		 NZH
27		 MLW
15		 LVL
18		 CNS
14		 HPT
18		 IRP
7		 FLM
25		 NSV
21		 GLN
28		 RCH
5		 MAR
8		 SON
31		 MMR
16		 CAL
3		 PHO
4		 LVS
25		 10th 3220 [13]
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 PHO
20		 LVS 92nd 103 [14]

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 NWWC Pts Ref
1997 Yates Racing 28 Ford TUS AMP SON TUS MMR LVS CAL EVG POR PPR AMP SON MMR LVS
28		 75th 89 [15]

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 ABMHSC Pts Ref
1998 David Blair Motorsports 27 Ford DAY
1*		 ATL SLM CLT MEM MCH POC SBS TOL PPR POC KIL FRS ISF ATL DSF SLM TEX WIN CLT TAL ATL NA - [16]

References
  1. Smith, Marty (July 6, 2000). "Dial it up, Irwin a contender at NHIS". NASCAR.com. ESPN. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. CNN report on YouTube
  3. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  4. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  5. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  6. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  7. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  8. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  9. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  10. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  11. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  12. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  13. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  14. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  15. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1997 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  16. "Kenny Irwin, Jr. – 1998 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
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