Remembering Kenny Irwin
By Liz Allison, Turner Sports Interactive
July 19, 2001
12:47 PM EDT (1647 GMT)
July is such a busy month for the Winston Cup Series. Daytona is still fresh on our minds as we all cherish the memory of Dale Jr.'s emotional win. Then the series headed to the inaugural race at Chicagoland Speedway. And Before you know it, the Cup drivers are back in Loudon, N.H.
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Liz Allison
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It seems now that when anyone says "Loudon," the conversation goes quiet and folks get that sinking feeling in their stomachs. It's as though this track has been plagued with an enormous amount of tragedy in its short time on the circuit.
It's hard to believe this past May 12 marked a year since Adam Petty lost his life at Loudon and even harder to believe that just a short time after Adam's death, young Kenny Irwin Jr. lost his life at the same track in a similar accident on July 7.
Irwin was a young man on his way to a successful driving career. He was still trying to find his place in the sport and still looking to get his first big win. His life was cut short before he was able to reach his full potential.
Irwin burst into the sport with a bang when Robert Yates named him the driver of the famed No. 28 Texaco Havoline Ford in 1998. He earned one fifth-place finish and four top-10's in his rookie year and went on to clinch the 1998 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year title.
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Kenny Irwin
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Even with his rookie success, the critics were claiming that Irwin couldn't live up to the standards that former drivers Ernie Irvan and the late Davey Allison had set in the No. 28 Ford.
Irvan and Allison's records were unprecedented and would be hard for any driver to match. This measure of success would be especially hard for a young, inexperienced rookie to live up to.
Irwin and the Yates team were able to earn two more top-five finishes in 1999, including a third place finish at the Dayona 500. But tension seemed to be rising with the young driver and his organization -- it was rumored that he would leave the team at the end of the 1999 season.
The growing criticism and the lack of solid performance with the Yates team sent Irwin to drive for Felix Sabates in the No. 42 BellSouth Mobility car at the start of the 2000 season. He ran 17 races under the roof of the No. 42 team and was still looking for that elusive first win before he lost his life in a practice run at New Hampshire International Raceway on July 7, 2000.
Irwin was killed instantly as his car slammed into the wall in Turn 3 and landed on its roof before coming to a halt. It was a sad ending to a young man's life -- a man who died while trying to pursue his dreams.
Not many people at the track really knew Kenny Irwin very well. Some people never gave him a chance. Others considered him an arrogant young gun. While others just thought he didn't want to fit it with the other drivers.
But what friends close to Irwin saw was an intense desire to be the best that he could be and someone who wanted to race more than anything else. They saw a determined young man going after his dream.
His parents, Kenny Irwin Sr. and wife Reva, were splitting their time between their home in Indianapolis and Kenny Jr.'s home in Charlotte, N.C. Today, they are still raw with emotions as they discuss their only son.
The tears poured out of my eyes as I talked with Reva about losing her precious son. She openly discussed his love for his sisters and his dream of driving a Winston Cup car.
I shared with them my story of the time that I took my son, Robbie -- who was seven years old at the time -- to the Richmond race in 1998. Robbie desperately wanted to meet the man who was driving his daddy's car. Robbie spotted Kenny and before I could even introduce them, he ran up to him to say hello.
Kenny and Robbie became instant friends. I will never forget the look on Robbie's face when we saw Kenny later in the day and Kenny called out Robbie's name across the garage area and called him his buddy.
Kenny Sr. was so proud that his son had taken the time to make a new friend in Robbie. He expressed that he hoped people would remember Kenny as a "good man." I surely know a young man that will never forget that day. The profound impact that Kenny Irwin had on Robbie will stay in my mind forever.
As the sport of NASCAR racing continues to grow and new stars come and go, let's not forget the lives of drivers like Kenny Irwin Jr. that have graced the racetracks around the circuit for many years.
Although they are no longer here with us, their names will live on in the racing history books for many years to come. And the memory of them will live on in our hearts forever.
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