KENNY'S PROFILE

Kenny Irwin was born on August 5th, 1969, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana.

He began his professional racing career back in 1993 when he was Rookie of the Year in the USAC Sprints. He followed that up in 1994 when he won rookie honors in the USAC Silver Crown Series while finishing second in division points that year.

Irwin joined the big leagues of auto racing in 1997, driving Jim Herrick's Liberty Racing team in the Craftsman Truck Series. He won Rookie of the Year in that Series as well, including two races at Miami and Texas.

In 1998, he graduated to the elite of NASCAR racing, driving for Robert Yates in the famed #28 Texaco Havoline Ford in the Winston Cup Series. You guessed it, he won Rookie honors that year too.

Things didn't work out as well as he had hoped while driving for Yates, and in August of 1999 it was announced that Irwin would not return to that ride for the 2000 season.

It didn't take long for fellow car owner Felix Sabates to swoop in and snag Irwin to replace the departing Joe Nemechek in Sabco's #42 BellSouth Chevy. The deal came together over a dinner meeting and was officially announced last November.

Irwin started this season with a respectable 14th place run in the Daytona 500. From there, mechanical woes and accidents began to take their toll on the race team and Irwin. Despite those incidents, Irwin and his team remained optimistic that they could pull together and break into the top-20 by season's end.

At the time of his death, Irwin sat 28th in the Winston Cup point standings with one top-five finish.


Donations in Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s name can be made to:
Riley Children's Hospital
702 Barnhill Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 274-5000..

Kenny"
We've lost another hero
Another young man laid to rest
All to soon he left us
Now he's racin with the best.
Another one has left us
To join those gone before
Adam is there to greet him
As he approaches Heaven's door.
Davey, Tim and Alan
And all the others meet him there
Welcomed by our heroes
Now he's in The Good Lord's care
Davey shakes his hand
He's known they've had a date
To meet, so he could thank him
For taking care of "28"
A rainbow Kenny left us
In the turn near where he died
To let us know he's happy
Racin' on the other side.


Kenny
We've lost another hero
Another young man laid to rest
All to soon he left us
Now he's racin with the best.
Another one has left us
To join those gone before
Adam is there to greet him
As he approaches Heaven's door.
Davey, Tim and Alan
And all the others meet him there
Welcomed by our heroes
Now he's in The Good Lord's care
Davey shakes his hand
He's known they've had a date
To meet, so he could thank him
For taking care of "28"
A rainbow Kenny left us
In the turn near where he died
To let us know he's happy
Racin' on the other side.

KENNY'S STATS
Kenny's Shining Times
1999 Finished 3rd in NASCAR WC Daytona 500
1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year
1997 -2 Craftsman Truck Series Victories
1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Rookie of the Year
1996 USAC Skoal National Midget Series Champion
1994 USAC Silver Crown Champion Series Rookie of the Year
1994 Stoops Freightliner/USAC Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year
Year Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Money
1997 4 0 0 1 71,730
1998 32 0 1 4 1,459,867
1999 34 0 2 6 1,979,524
2000 17 0 1 1 886,370
Years Racing Total Races Total Wins Total Top 5's Total Top 10's Total Winnings
4 87 0 4 12 4397,491