Catchfence

Last Friday night as I was sitting down to watch the ARCA Racing Series event at Talladega Superspeedway I saw a familiar name in the starting lineup. Eighteen year old Alex Kennedy from Aztec, NM was making his first start on NASCAR’s biggest track. It had just been a few short years ago that I was watching his first test in an American Speed Association car. Now he was cleaning off his tires getting ready to run over 190mph. It dawned on me that it’s a long way from Baer Field to Talladega.

Baer Field Test

In this business every Father tells you that their kid is the next Mark Martin. But usually when you see them race for the first time reality starts setting in quick! It doesn’t matter how many race wins and titles the kid has racked up in Legends cars or Quarter Midgets, the first time they are in a big car they tend to bring it home in pieces. Alex went to Baer Field to test with Glenn Allen Jr’s ASA team. Glenn was the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1996. He has also seen his share of young drivers through the years but when he looked startled at the time on his stopwatch after Alex’s first ten laps at Baer Field I had to laugh. Glenn told Alex’s Dad Terry, “That the kid will end up costing you a lot of money-he is fast.” The Baer Field test had been a success.

- Race Talk Radio