Kennedy looks to Kansas with strong team, colorful truck

Thanks to his alliance with sponsor Nickelodeon and its long-running Spongebob Squarepants show, Kennedy’s status in KU Med’s pediatric ward Tuesday received a significant bump Tuesday. The 23-year-old driver’s recognition will become that much higher in the series’ next race May 8 at Kansas Speedway, when his Spongebob-sponsored Red Horse Racing No. 11 Toyota hits the track.

“It’s really cool to be able to engage with families and get kids involved as well,” Kennedy said from the Sunflower State, where he concluded the day helping stuff backpacks for the Harvesters’ BackSnacks community youth initiative. The engagement worked on several levels — Kennedy is a professed Spongebob Squarepants fan who has watched the show since its 1999 debut, when he was just 7 years old.

“When we went to the hospital today, we got to talk about it a little with the kids,” Kennedy added. “Their reaction, they were able to make that tie-in with Spongebob and a race-car driver and put the two and two together and understand it. It really got them excited and fired up, and I know that when they go to the race in the stands or turn the TV on, they’ll be able to recognize that and see Spongebob out there. It’ll be a cool connection and it’s really cool to be engaged with all the kids in the racing community.”

If the brightly colored truck doesn’t catch fans’ eyes, his driver’s suit — which Kennedy said will feature seaweed on the pants legs, plus cartoon characters front and back in an underwater motif — should do the trick.

Kennedy will have a colorful truck on his side, but he’ll also have incentive. His most recent visit to the Kansas City area was one he’d rather scratch from his recollection — he crashed during qualifying in his first event at Kansas Speedway last May, then ran into more trouble during the race to settle for a 20th-place finish, his third-worst of the season.

Tuesday, more than two weeks ahead of his next race at Kansas, he cleansed the palate with a far more memorable and meaningful visit. But he’s also encouraged for the return trip by a pair of performance aspects — his most recent effort at similar 1.5-mile track Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he won the Keystone Light Pole Award and finished third, and his Red Horse team’s improved package at intermediate-sized tracks.

“We’ve been talking about it a while now with this break in our schedule, so we’ve been really trying to hunker down and narrow down the next couple of races to make sure we’re on our ‘A’ game going into it,” said Kennedy, who joined the Tom DeLoach-owned Red Horse team in the offseason. “It’s been great getting to work with and know (crew chief) Scott Zipadelli and the whole Red Horse Racing team. I think we’ve got a really strong team, honestly probably one of the better teams I’ve had in my career.”

And while it’s early — just three races in since the season opened two months ago — Kennedy has already formed bonds, just by soaking in the spirit of the organization.

“It’s been really a great experience all around,” Kennedy said. “It’s so cool walking through the shop there because in one aspect, they’re hard and they’re focused on what they’re there to do and their heads are down and focused to do the best they possibly can, but at the same time, I’ve never gone through a shop and been so happy to be there, enjoying what they’re doing and really enjoying the program that Tom DeLoach has created around them.”

During the pair of breaks in the early Camping World Truck Series schedule, Kennedy has kept plenty busy, keeping tabs on his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East team and rookie driver Kaz Grala, who finished fourth last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. But he’s also been focused on keeping in shape, and for a good cause: Kennedy participated in the Bike MS: Breakaway to Key Largo charity event March 7-8, helping to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research with a biking tour of southern Florida.

In a massive example of understatement, Kennedy described the two-day charity ride as “messing around” to complete the 150-mile round trip between Miami and Key Largo. Until he’s back behind the wheel for the 250.5-mile distance at Kansas Speedway next month, that challenge will have to suffice for now.

“Just trying to find stuff to make the time pass so we can get back into the season,” Kennedy said.

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