Kenny Francis
| Kenny Francis | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | America |
| Born | December 1, 1969 NASCAR Winston Cup Series |
Kenneth Francis (born December 1, 1969) is an American
Robert Yates Racing. He is currently employed at Hendrick Motorsports
as the Vehicle Technical Director organization-wide.
Early life
Born on December 1, 1969, in Jacksonville, Florida, Francis began racing go-karts at the age of eight. While racing the go-karts, he managed to win a state championship. Afterward, Francis moved to regional and national circuits. During the late 1980s, he began racing late model stock cars, while being educated about mechanical engineering at the University of Florida. At the time, he was also working at a local power company, as well as traveling to tracks further away in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and South Boston, Virginia.[1]
NASCAR career
In 1996, Francis stopped driving the car, and began working on the engines for a local team racing in the
Chase for the Nextel Cup in its first year and win a race. In 2005, his team made the Chase, as well as winning one more race.[1]
During the following
Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600. Afterward, Richard Petty became partial owner of the team, renaming it to Richard Petty Motorsports. During the season, they recorded two wins, seven top fives and finished tenth in points. He also recorded 27 lead lap finishes, the most throughout the season. In the 2010, they won the second Gatorade Duel race. Also during the season, Kahne decided to leave Richard Petty Motorsports to race for Red Bull Racing Team. Francis decided to follow Kahne,[2] after recording ten wins, 30 top fives and 12 pole positions in six seasons.[1] For the 2012 season, Kahne moved to Hendrick Motorsports.[3] Still with Francis, Kahne won two races, four pole positions, 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-ten finishes, and recorded a career best fourth-place finish in the final points. Francis continued as crew chief for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team for the 2014 season. In 2015, Francis was part-time crew chief for the No. 25 driven by Chase Elliott. In 2018, Francis was Elliott's interim crew chief on the No. 9 team while Alan Gustafson was serving a two-race suspension.[4]
References
- ^ a b c "Red Bull Racing Team : Crew". Redbullracingusa.com. 2007-02-20. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
- ^ Smith, Marty. “Crew chief to join Kasey Kahne in ’11,” ESPN.com. October 10, 2010. (Retrieved 2011-01-13.)
- ^ "Francis to make move with Kahne to 5, Hendrick - Jul 27, 2011 - NASCAR.COM". www.nascar.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-03.
- ^ "Kenny Francis named No. 9 crew chief for Bristol and Richmond". Hendrick Motorsports. April 11, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
External links
- Kenny Francis crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference