NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Racer Ben Kennedy Wins NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium
- 7 Jun 2013
Ben Kennedy, the great grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., won the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium, a track with more than 60 years of NASCAR history.
"This is phenomenal," the 21-year-old Kennedy said. "To get our first win the other week in Pensacola then to come here to Bowman Gray Stadium and win in front of 17,000 fans, you couldn't ask for anything more." Kennedy won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season and of his career at Bowman Gray Stadium. He won the K&N Pro Series East race at Five Flags Speedway in Florida in April. He also won a Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series race in France in 2012. "Man, this is just awesome," Kennedy said. "I've got to thank BK Racing and absolutely everyone that made this possible to win here at Bowman Gray Stadium. I'm speechless over that." Kennedy took the lead from pole winner Brett Moffitt on lap 124. Moffitt, the leader in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings, needed a battery change in the last half of the race and it cost him the lead. He pitted to replace his car's battery and returned to the race to finish in 13th place. Dylan Kwasniewski finished in second place to record his second top five of the season. He won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener at Bristol Motor Speedway, but has finished outside the top 10 in two of the past four races.
"I definitely think we were in contention for that win, but Ben did a great job," Kwasniewski said. "I wanted to race him clean. On this track it's really hard to pass somebody clean. I wanted to keep it clean, make sure he had a good race at the end." Brandon Gdovic finished third at Bowman Gray Stadium, his third top five in five NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races. He is in second place in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings, four points behind Moffitt. "Ended up third. I wanted to come out of here with a top five," Gdovic said. "That was the best-case scenario. Brett finished behind us. Ryan (Gifford) finished behind us. We are right there in points. It was a perfect night." Kenzie Ruston was fourth followed by Jesse Little in fifth. Mackena Bell came in sixth. Ruston and Bell became the first two women drivers to finish in the top 10 in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race. With his second place finish, Kwasniewski moved up to third in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings. He is seven points behind Moffitt. v "I'm always looking for the win and I'm always ashamed to not go out there with the win," Kwasniewski said. "Second's great. It was a good points day for us. We lost a lot of points these last couple of races. We bounced back good. Unfortunately we didn't get the win. It was a great race and I'm glad the 96 team did a great job." Kennedy is in fourth place in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings, eight points behind Moffitt. The next race is the Casey's General Stores 150 at Iowa Speedway for drivers and teams from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West on June 7. |
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| Related K&N News Articles about Ben Kennedy and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Driver Ryan Gifford Wins Blue Ox 100 at Richmond International Raceway; Ben Kennedy Wins First NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race of His Career at Five Flags Speedway; Cameron Hayley Wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race in UNOH Battle of the Beach at Daytona International; Cale Conley Wins First NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio |  |
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