Ben Kennedy climbed out of his No. 33 Jacob Companies Chevy truck on Talladega Superspeedway's pit road looking enthused and confident following a hard-earned fifth-place-finish in last Saturday’s Fred's 250 -- a race won by his GMS Racing teammate Grant Enfinger. The good vibe Kennedy gave out after the checkered flag, came with good reason.
He led eight laps and his showing at NASCAR's biggest and most unpredictable track was his ninth top 10 and fourth top five of 2016. It also marks the first time in Kennedy's young career that he’s reeled off back-to-back top-five finishes.
"Hats off to the GMS guys for giving us a great truck," Kennedy said. "It’s so good to be in contention, though, and it feels almost like a win to finish at Talladega, to be honest."
The timing couldn’t be better. Kennedy, 24, heads into the final four races of the season ranked fifth in the standings -- having qualified for the Round of Six thanks to finishes of 11th, fourth and fifth place work in his last three races.
The standings now show a virtual tie as the points are reset and equalized as the remaining six drivers will now have three races to determine which four of them will settle the Camping World Truck Series championship at the Homestead-Miami season finale.
No matter what, this will be a career year for Kennedy whose previous best in the final standings has been ninth place -- in both 2014 and 2015.
"This is huge," Kennedy allowed. "It’s one step further to Homestead. That’s our goal to make it to Homestead and run for a championship. And I really think we can do it."
Kennedy has a pair of top-five finishes at this weekend's stop at Martinsville Speedway, with efforts of fourth place (2013) and third place (2014) at the half-miler. He posted an 11th-place showing there earlier this season before moving to his current GMS Racing team just prior to the fourth race of the year.
He has a similarly encouraging record at Texas Motor Speedway, which hosts the second race of this elimination round. Kennedy has finished in the top-10 in his last three consecutive visits to the Fort Worth 1.5-mile speedway -- including a personal-best fourth-place showing there in April.
Kennedy only has a pair of starts at Phoenix -- the final race of this elimination round -- with finishes of 11th and 24th. But should he be among the final four drivers settling the title at Homestead, Kennedy is coming off a fourth-place showing there last year.