Reigning VMRS Champion McKennedy to Make First Start of 2013 Campaign
McKennedy Returns to Thompson in Art Barry’s #21
Jon McKennedy, the 3-time and reigning Valenti Modified Racing Series champion, will make his first start of the season on Sunday. The Chelmsford, MA driver will pilot Art Barry’s #21 SPAFCO machine at Thompson. “We’re going to see if we can get up there and get a good run out of it,” car owner Art Barry said.
For 2013, McKennedy is not pursuing a fourth series championship in favor of driving an ISMA Supermodified full-time. He will be driving Paul and Helen Dunigan’s #79 car this season. He finished seventh in the season opener as Oswego, NY Speedway earlier this month.
“The Supers are something I’ve always liked,” McKennedy said. “I spent a few years in the Modifieds. I got a good opportunity with the Super. It is time to do something different.” He went on to say, “The plan is to run the Super full time. We’re running for a championship in the Super and just run as many Modified races as I can on the off weeks. I hope to run a few of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races. Hopefully the right opportunity, something will come up and I can run a few of those races. But there aren’t that many great rides (available).”
“I’ve been fortunate to have a few good people help me over the years and I’ve been in good quality rides. That helps a lot. I feel that I put a lot of effort into it. You only get what you put into it. It’s a lot of work to be able to adapt to both cars and run good.”
McKennedy will continue to drive Barry’s Modified as his schedule permits. “It’s tough to say really, ” McKennedy said. “The original plan going into the season was to race all the Modified races that didn’t conflict with ISMA. It ended up being 12-13 races, but Art Barry’s had a couple of health issues. It sidelined everything for the first couple of races. We’re going to run Thompson since he’s starting to feel better. Who knows we might run more this year together or might not? It all depends on how he feels.”
“There’s a lot of them that we could run (VMRS races); now whether my health is going to allow me is the big thing right now, ” Barry said. “(I’m) trying to find help because I can’t do a whole lot myself. Fortunately, I had the car just about done before this all came down but I’d like to run as many as I could.” Barry said of his health, “It’s definitely better but it’s just going to take time to get over it. But we’re coming along.”
A win would provide a morale boost to Barry after some recent health issues. “Art’s a racer,” McKennedy said. “He’s been around it for many many years and when I raced for him last year we had a race or two that didn’t go too well. He understood and he just knows racing. So to be able to run good or get a win that would be awesome, but at the same time, in racing you never know what can happen. Art’s one of those guys whose been around long enough where if it didn’t happen the way we planned, then we just move on and try harder the next race.”
McKennedy has won at every active track on the VMRS except Thompson. He has never won at six tracks. Airborne, Albany-Saratoga, and Wiscasset only hosted the series once, while he never competed at White Mountain. He finished 10th at Thunder Road, which hosted three races. “I think I’ve won at all the tracks on the MRS schedule except Thompson,” McKennedy said. “That certainly would be cool to accomplish, to say you’ve won at all the different tracks. They’re all so unique. .. We’ll see what happens Sunday. I’m certainly going to drive hard and hope things go our way.”
McKennedy leads all drivers at Thompson with six top-10s and is tied for most top-5s with five. In last year’s World Series, McKennedy recorded a career-best 2nd. “I’ve always run well at Thompson,” McKennedy said. “(I’ve) had a bunch of top-5s; never had a win in a Modified. … It would be nice to win up there. We’ve come close, but never been able to get that first place yet.”
Barry added, “If anybody can do it, he can. He’s good. He’s got a lot of patience and he knows when to go and when not to.”
“You look at all the drivers that run well there, they have a lot of laps, whether it’s in an SK or Whelen Tour races,” McKennedy said. “Some drivers go there and they struggle, coming from the quarter-mile tracks or the one-third mile tracks. They normally don’t have a lot of experience on a 5/8 mile or ½ mile; there’s certainly a good amount of cars up front with drivers that run really well. Usually the ones that have got a lot of laps and run there quite a bit. There’s probably 10-12 cars that run pretty strong there.”
Since his 2006 debut, McKennedy has run the VMRS full-time only 3 times, winning the championship each time. “I’ve had a lot of success,” McKennedy said. “The 3 years we ran it full time, we won the championship all 3 times. It’s been a good series for me.” The VMRS also does not allow new tires to be put on during the race. McKennedy called it “a challenge in itself-trying to go fast and maintain the tires.”
NEAR Hall of Fame car owner Art Barry has fielded Modifieds for over five decades. Art Barry was involved with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour from its first season, 1985 through 2009. Over the years, Bobby Santos, Sr., George Summers, Jeff Fuller, Mike McLaughlin, Mike Ewanitsko, Jerry Marquis, Rick Fuller have driven for him. Mike Stefanik won back to back WMT championships in 2001-02. In August 2003, Stefanik scored Barry’s final NASCAR WMT victory and most recent Thompson win. Barry last competed on the NASCAR WMT in 2009 with Richard Savary and McKennedy.
Barry noted a difference between the two regional Modified series. “It’s low key more than the Tour is and it’s a lot less expensive, that’s for sure. The Tour- I really enjoy running the Tour and I would love to run it again but that’s out of my league right now. It costs so much to run it; I just can’t do it.”
Given the struggles in some of the support divisions Barry advised, “I definitely think it is if they can keep the expenses down is what they got to do. They got to stop these guys from spending these big big dollars and slow things down a little if they have to. But they got to watch out because the economy is not that good but I think if they try to keep the costs down, which the MRS is trying to do, especially with tires. … That will help.”
With McKennedy’s three wins and only one finish outside the top-10, Barry and McKennedy were crowned VMRS champions last season. Barry became the first car owner to win a championship in the NASCAR WMT and VMRS. “It was very rewarding to do that with him especially with a new driver right off the bat, but it clicked good right from the beginning,” Barry said. “But to have another championship under our belts felt very good.” Barry knows of the additional attention that his team will receive. “It sure doesn’t hurt that’s for sure. How much pressure will be on us once we get racing, I really don’t know. It’s kind of hard to say, but were just going to go and do what we were doing and try to do the best we can.”
The reigning championship team will have a different look this season. The team has returned to the #21 that Barry fielded for many years. “When I stopped Modified Tour racing and went to the MRS, the number was already gone,” Barry said. “But the number became available again this year. So they gave it back to me, which I’m kind of happy about.”
“I’ve seen the car it looks really sharp,” added McKennedy. “It’s got a pretty cool paint scheme on it with the old #21 on the back. That alone will probably bring a bit of attention.”
Barry was pleased to hear about the $10,000 that the champion will receive at the end of this season. “I didn’t know they raised the point fund at the end of the year because it was only $5, 000 last year. But that’s great for the series. They need it.”
When asked if Pennink’s recent dominance at Thompson made him more determined, he said, “Absolutely. The competition is getting tougher in the MRS; it’s not getting any easier. Rowan Pennink, he runs real good and he’s a hard competitor. So we just got to make sure we’ve got all of our ducks in a row here.”
Sunday’s program includes the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series feature and 5 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Divisions: Sunoco Modifieds (30 laps), Late Models (25 Laps), Lite Modifieds (20 Laps), Ltd. Sportsman (20 Laps), Mini Stocks (15 Laps).Grandstands open at 11 AM. Qualifying begins at 2:20 PM, with the VMRS finale starting at 5:30 PM. Paddock admission is $35. Adult grandstand admission is $25.00. Juniors are $5.00.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com