Thomas Kennedy Picks Up Fourth Win of 2017 at River Cities Speedway
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 16, 2017) – After winning his heat race by nearly seven seconds, and lapping up to second in the process, Thomas Kennedy won the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car feature at River Cities Speedway Friday night.
Kennedy rolled from the third starting position for the 25-lap, 24-car feature race. The Winnipeg, MB driver wheeled past the two front row starters on the opening lap before checking out on the field.
The driver of the KennedyFlooring.com / Forks Finest Auto Body No. 21K ran the majority of the event unchallenged until the final caution set up a dash to the finish.
On the ensuing restart, the hard charging Austin Pierce lined up right on his rear bumper and challenged Kennedy for the win.
On the final lap, Pierce executed a slide job on Kennedy in turns one and two, but Kennedy countered to hold the lead. In three and four, Kennedy had a comfortable cushion behind him as we went on to take the win.
“I got held up there those last couple of laps. On the last lap I saw [Austin Pierce] come underneath me going into one and I knew I had to do something in order to win,” said Kennedy in RydellCars.com Victory Lane.
Saturday night, the team made the haul to Brandon, S.D. for the Folkens Brothers Silver Shootout at Badlands Motor Speedway.
Just as he did the previous night, Kennedy dominated his heat race and was high point man entering the redraw for the feature.
Kennedy redrew the four pill, putting himself behind the likes of Mark Dobmeier and Tim Kaeding.
After dropping back early, Kennedy rebounded and made his way back up to the runner-up spot behind Mark Dobmeier in the closing laps.
A restart with two to go was the deciding factor of the event. As the green flag waved, Kennedy dove to the inside of Dobmeier for the lead, but couldn’t complete the slide job. At that point, Kennedy began running out of fuel, losing ground and positions on the final lap.
Kennedy was able to hang on to finish fifth; a respectable result against some of the Midwest’s top talent.
The Kennedy Racing Team would like to thank all of their sponsors for their continued support!
Kennedy Floorings, General Signs, Speedway Shots, Forks Finest Auto Body, Mach1 Chassis, and Moyle Racing Engines.
Season Stats:
Races – 12
Wins – 4
Top Fives – 9
Top Tens – 9
Heat Wins – 7
Upcoming Events:
May 19th: River Cities Speedway – Grand Forks, N.D. – Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints
May 20h: Dakota State Fair Speedway – Huron, S.D. – MSTS 360 Sprints