Kevin Swindell

Last updated
Kevin Swindell
Kevin Swindell.jpg
Swindell in 2008
Born (1989-02-21) February 21, 1989 (age 35)
Germantown, Tennessee, U.S.
Achievements2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Chili Bowl Nationals Winner
2009 Knoxville Midget Nationals Winner
2002 World Karting Association Grand National Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2013 position73rd
Best finish73rd (2013)
First race 2013 Sylvania 300 (Loudon)
WinsTop tens Poles
000
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
29 races run over 5 years
2014 position32nd
Best finish26th (2013)
First race 2010 New England 200 (Loudon)
Last race 2014 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Texas)
WinsTop tens Poles
030
Statistics current as of May 11, 2023.

Kevin Swindell (born February 21, 1989) is an American former racing driver and entrepreneur, who has competed in USAC and NASCAR competition. He has won 77 races in various dirt racing series including the Chili Bowl Nationals. Swindell is the son of three time World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion Sammy Swindell. Swindell owns and operates Swindell Speedlab, a clothing brand as well as Victory Fuel, a brand of flavored water.

Contents

Racing career

Early career

Swindell began his racing career at age 5 in go-karts in Memphis, Tennessee, finishing an impressive fourth in his Junior Novice kart series debut in 1995. He moved up to Jr. I after winning four races in six starts. He had the same result in 1997 there, four wins in six starts. In 1998, he won a 30-lap Iron Man race at Memphis and won four of five races in Jr. I karting in 2000. Swindell was the 2001 Jr. II kart champion in indoor karting and won the first champ kart race ever held on dirt. He even won the first ever champ kart race ran on pavement in 2002 and won the World Karting Association Grand National Championship title as well as winning his 2nd consecutive Tulsa Shootout Jr. II championship.

Dirt career

Swindell made his impressive debut in dirt racing in 1999 when he won four quarter midget national victories. He won two more races in the Tulsa Quarter Midget series in 2000. He then leaped into the USAC and World of Outlaws world in 2002, the same series where his father, Sammy Swindell, made a name for himself. There, he got back-to-back victories in both series in the 600 Mini-Sprints at Granite City, Illinois, in 2003, showing that he was going to make a name for himself as well. In 2004, he won two World of Outlaws sprint car races as a crew chief to his father Sammy. He made World of Outlaws history in 2005 when he became the youngest driver to ever finish in the top 10 in a feature event at 15, finishing 6th at Paramatta. He even set two new track qualifying records in the USCS series as well and finish 20th in his first season in WoO Sprint Cars.

In 2006, Swindell won his first career WoO feature event at the Lowe's Dirt Track, becoming the youngest winner in World of Outlaws history at 17. In 2007, Swindell teamed with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne to run the full USAC midget and sprint car schedule and finished 6th and 8th in points in both series respectively. He was the Western World champion in the USAC series at Manzanita in 2008. In 2009, Swindell won the USAC Knoxville Nationals and the Louis Vermeil Classic and was the Australian National Midget Champion. In 2010, Swindell won his first Chili Bowl Nationals victory and became the youngest driver to ever do so. He won it again in 2011 and won the All-Star sprint 140 feature at Knoxville. He finished 3rd in points and was crowned Rookie of the Year. In 2012, Swindell won his third consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals and was runner-up in the Knoxville 360 Nationals. Swindell made USAC history in January 2013 when he became the first driver to ever win four consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals.

Stock car career

In 2006, Swindell made his debut in stock car racing in the ARCA Racing Series event at Salem, finishing 14th. He ran three more races that year with a best of 11th at Toledo. In 2008, Swindell made his NASCAR debut running two K&N Pro Series East races at Mansfield and Stafford Springs, finishing 13th and 16th in those events. In 2009, he ran three more races in the series with a best of 3rd at Loudon, his first career NASCAR top five finish. In 2010, Swindell ran the full schedule scoring two poles, one top 5 and 4 top tens and finishing 7th in the points. He also ran an ARCA race at Rockingham where he won the pole and led the most laps but finished 2nd. He made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at New Hampshire driving for Baker Curb Racing, but start and parked and finished 42nd. Swindell also ran two more events that year but had DNF's in those as well.

In 2011, Swindell drove the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing in the Nationwide race at Dover filling in for the ill Trevor Bayne at the time, qualified an impressive 5th and ran very well until being taken out nearly halfway in a controversial incident with Alex Kennedy; after an accident, Kennedy pulled across the racetrack while attempting to rejoin the field, leaving Swindell with nowhere to go and triggering a major accident; Swindell wound up finishing 31st. [1] Swindell also ran one ARCA race at Daytona, starting and finishing 12th.

In 2012, Swindell ran 8 ARCA Racing Series events and won his first career ARCA victory at Chicagoland Speedway, [2] leading every single lap from the pole. He finished a career best 22nd in points that season. He also ran two NASCAR Nationwide Series events with Biagi-DenBeste Racing late in the season, finishing ninth at Texas Motor Speedway, his first career top-ten finish, and finishing 21st in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. For 2013, he signed with Biagi-DenBeste Racing to run 15 races in the Nationwide Series, competing for Rookie of the Year. [3] In September, it was announced that Swindell would compete in the Sprint Cup Series for Swan Racing, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; [4] he finished 38th in the event.

On August 13, 2014, Venturini Motorsports announced that Swindell would replace the injured John Wes Townley in the No. 15 Toyota at the Springfield Mile's ARCA race; [5] Swindell won the event, his second win in the series. [6]

Other racing

Swindell has also raced in Australia, winning the 2008/09 Australian Speedcar Championship at the Murray Bridge Speedway (in Australia, Midgets are called Speedcars).

2015 Knoxville Nationals accident

On Thursday August 13 2015, Swindell was involved in a very serious accident in the early laps of a heat race during night two of the 55th annual Knoxville Nationals. His car flipped several times before landing on its wheels. He sustained a "significant injury" according to his father and former sprint car driver Sammy Swindell. [7] It was later revealed that he had broken the L-1 and T-7 vertebrae in his back and was paralyzed from the waist down. [8]

In October 2015, Swindell spoke with Robin Miller about the progress in his recovery, including having regained some feeling and movement in his legs. [9]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
YearTeamNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536NSCCPtsRef
2013 Swan Racing Company 30 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA
38		 DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 73rd01 [10]

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
YearTeamNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435NNSCPtsRef
2010 Baker Curb Racing 37 Ford DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA
42		 DAY CHI GTY
39		101st107 [11]
43 IRP
33		 IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM
2011 Roush Fenway Racing 16 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV
31		 IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 80th13 [12]
2012 Biagi-DenBeste Racing 98 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX
9		 PHO HOM
21		58th59 [13]
2013 DAY PHO LVS
DNQ		 BRI CAL
10		 TEX
16		 RCH
18		 TAL DAR CLT
18		 DOV IOW
28		 MCH ROA KEN
11		 DAY
26		 NHA CHI IND
8		 IOW GLN MOH BRI
25		 ATL RCH CHI
16		 KEN DOV KAN CLT
16		 TEX
16		 PHO
34		 HOM
35		26th342 [14]
2014 JGL Racing 93 Dodge DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND
23		 IOW
29		 GLN MOH BRI
27		 ATL
36		 RCH CHI
31		 KEN
22		 DOV
33		 KAN
37		 CLT
23		 TEX
22		 PHO HOM 32nd157 [15]

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
YearTeamNo.Make12345678910111213NKNPSECPtsRef
2008 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 9 Dodge GRE IOW SBO GLN NHA TMP NSH ADI LRP MFD
13		 NHA DOV STA
16		42nd239 [16]
2009 Dave Davis Motorsports Dodge GRE TRI IOW SBO GLN NHA
3		 TMP ADI LRP NHA
10		 DOV
22		28th406 [17]
2010 Chevy GRE
22		 SBO
26		 MAR
11		 LRP
11		 LEE
9		 JFC
14		7th1305 [18]
Dodge IOW
7		 NHA
2		 NHA
11		 DOV
9

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
YearTeamNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223ARSCPts
2006 Cunningham Motorsports 4 Dodge DAY NSH SLM
14		 WIN
21		 KEN TOL POC MCH KAN KEN BLN POC GTW NSH MCH ISF MIL TOL
11		 DSF CHI SLM
25		 TAL IOW 62nd565
2010 Eddie Sharp Racing 6 Toyota DAY PBE SLM TEX TAL TOL POC MCH IOW MFD POC BLN NJE ISF CHI DSF TOL SLM KAN CAR
2		77th240
2011 98 DAY
12		 TAL SLM TOL NJE CHI POC MCH WIN BLN IOW IRP POC ISF MAD DSF SLM KAN TOL 104th170
2012 Venturini Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY MOB SLM TAL
11		 TOL ELK POC
19		 MCH
14		 WIN NJE
19		 IOW CHI
1**		 ISF
3		 MAD SLM DSF
C		 KAN
2		22nd1545
66 IRP
3		 POC BLN
2014 Venturini Motorsports 15 Toyota DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH ELK WIN CHI IRP POC BLN ISF MAD DSF
1		 SLM KEN KAN 70th230

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series championship points

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References

  1. ↑ "Edwards escapes late wreck for Dover victory". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. May 14, 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  2. ↑ Weaver, Matt (February 5, 2013). "Kevin Swindell looks to build on family heritage and find success in NASCAR". SBNation. Vox Media. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  3. ↑ "Swindell on board for 15 Nationwide races". NASCAR.com. January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
  4. ↑ "Swindell to make Sprint Cup debut with Swan". NASCAR.com. September 19, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  5. ↑ "Swindell to wheel for Venturini Motorsports at Springfield". ARCA Racing Series . August 13, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  6. ↑ "Swindell takes ARCA victory at fairgrounds". State Journal-Register . Springfield, IL. August 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  7. ↑ "Sprint car driver Kevin Swindell suffers 'significant injury' in crash". ESPN.com. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Kevin Swindell Reveals Injury Details". National Speed Sport News . Turn 3 Media LLC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Kevin Swindell Discusses Recovery Progress". NationalSpeedSportNews.com. Turn 3 Media LLC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2008 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Kevin Swindell – 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
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