Ben Kennedy No. 96 Jacob Companies Chevrolet Camaro Charlotte Recap

Ben Kennedy, driver of the No. 96 JACOB Companies Chevrolet Camaro, made his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start for GMS Racing Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Hisense 4K TV 300. Paired with crew chief Jeff Stankiewicz for the first time in NXS, Kennedy spent both of Thursday’s practice sessions experimenting with setups. The team dealt with both loose and tight-handling conditions, finishing the day with options to improve both conditions.

 

Kennedy started the 300-mile race from the 22nd position, avoiding major damage after contact with the outside wall before the first caution occurred on lap three. He pitted for fuel and an adjustment to fix an extremely tight condition that would plague the team until lap 70. As the caution waved signaling the end of stage two, the No. 96 team went to work on adjustments for what had become a loose-in, tight-off handling condition. 

 

As the field lined up for the start of the final stage, Kennedy took the 19th position. As the race progressed the team faced the same loose-on-entry, tight-on-exit condition, with Kennedy running in the top-20 as the field endured several late race cautions. With less than 10 laps remaining, the Daytona Beach, Fla., native told the team his Camaro had become tight all around, relegating the team to a 25th-place finish in their first outing.

 

Quote:

“It was great to return to GMS Racing and work with some of the same guys we had on the team last year in the [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series. Jeff (Stankiewicz, crew chief) did a great job working with the information I was relaying to get us to a place where we could pass toward the end. I think those last back-to-back cautions hurt the handling a bit. It had been improving as our green flag runs progressed, but with only a handful of laps at the end there’s not much that can be done. This is our first go-round and I think we’ve got some good takeaways to put into our Dover prep for next weekend.”

 

GMS Racing PR