#42
Kenny Irwin
August 5, 1969 ~ July 7 2000
Long Biography
Winning a Rookie of the Year title is nothing new for Kenny Irwin Jr. That's not to say grabbing the 1998 NASCAR Winston
Cup rookie award wasn't special for Irwin. But after taking home the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the 1993
USAC Sprint Car and 1994 USAC Silver Crown top newcomer laurels, it's safe to say winning a rookie title is old hat to
Irwin.
The same can't be said about Irwin's first full season of Winston Cup competition as the young driver found the step up in
competition to be a daunting challenge. Irwin, a consistent winner throughout his career, had to be content to use the season as
a learning tool. Driving the famed #28 Robert Yates Ford, Irwin showed flashes of brilliance with a fifth-place finish in the
spring race at Atlanta. Irwin also closed the year with a blaze of speed, sitting on the outside pole at Phoenix before taking the
top qualifying spot for the final race of the year at Atlanta.
He followed that with a career-best third in the 1999 season opener at Daytona, but it was relatively downhill from there. Irwin
did not earn another Top-10 finish until the first race at Dover in June. He finished fifth at Richmond for his only other Top-5
finish, and added four Top-10s to finish 19th in the season point standings. At the end of the 1999 season, Irwin left Robert
Yates Racing to drive the #42 BellSouth Mobility Chevrolet for Felix Sabates.
Irwin burst on the Winston Cup scene in the fall of 1997 at Richmond International Raceway. Driving a Ford fielded by David
Blair Motorsports, he qualified on the outside pole, led 12 laps in the race and finished eighth. The effort gave Irwin the
distinction of being the only active driver in NASCAR's modern era to sit on the front row and finish in the Top 10 in his
NASCAR Winston Cup debut.
The outstanding run came just weeks after a hometown ceremony at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during which Robert Yates
named Irwin to replace Ernie Irvan as the driver of the #28 Texaco Havoline Fords in the Winston Cup Series for 1998.
Irwin's career began in 1975 at age six, racing a Quarter Midget event in a car built entirely by his father, Kenny Irwin Sr.
Financed by his family's tool-rental business, Irwin competed in Quarter Midgets for six years, with a segue into the National
Enduro Go-Kart Series in 1980. Kenny's career moved him into IMSA sports cars at age 16 when he entered an endurance
race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. in 1986. By 1990, Irwin Sr. had purchased a factory-built IMSA Buick Somerset
GTO, which Kenny drove to two poles and four Top-10 finishes in his four IMSA Exxon Supreme Series starts. Also during
1990, Irwin drove his first USAC Skoal National Midget Series race and fell in love with the aggressive style of racing.
The 1991 season marked the beginning of a six-year tenure in the open wheel ranks of the United States Auto Club (USAC).
Irwin racked up two poles, two victories, 10 Top-5 and 17 Top-10 finishes in 1992 to take third in the final USAC Skoal
National Midget Series standings. Up to that point, his family had financed Irwin's racing career. But his performances caught
the attention of others. Among them was David Calderwood, who believed in Irwin enough to send a transporter containing
two Silver Crown, two Sprint and two Midget cars for Irwin to drive. Equipped with new cars, Irwin set out in 1993 and won
Rookie of the Year honors in USAC's Stoops/Freightliner Sprint Car Series, finished second in the USAC Skoal National
Midget Series and competed in several other open-wheel divisions, including USAC's Silver Crown Series.
Irwin added the USAC Silver Crown rookie title to his resume in 1994, winning twice and finishing fourth in the final standings,
in addition to remaining active in the Sprint car and Midget series through 1994 and 1995. The turning point in his career came
in 1996 when he was given a chance to join the IRL but decided against it to pursue a career in Stock car racing. He made his
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Phoenix in April, but his big break came at Richmond in September. In just his
second NASCAR Truck series start, Irwin won the pole and finished fifth in the race, opening the doors for three more Truck
starts before the end of the season. Meanwhile, Irwin drove to the 1996 USAC National Midget Series championship, finished
second in the USAC Silver Crown Series, and started five ASA events, recording one Top-10 finish.
Irwin climbed behind the wheel of a NASCAR Truck full-time for the 1997 season, and picked up victories at Homestead and
Texas, along with 10 Top-10 finishes on his way to 10th in the final point standings and yet another Rookie of the Year title.
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