TRIBUTE

[ 1946-2020 ]

Hall of Fame Pro Stock driver and engine builder Mike Kennedy passed away Tuesday , Sept . 1 at 73 . His longtime friend and DI contributor , Greg Burrow , penned this tribute below .

I was introduced to Mike Kennedy and his partner , Gary Dehart , through a college friend , David Bishop . As David was not one to help with anything mechanical , I would go along with him and Mike to the closest track , which happened to be Piedmont Dragway . Now Mike had long been known as being a “ no nonsense ” kind of guy , which I respected , so I was mostly quiet while the three of us rode to the track pulling the “ Barn Stormer ” Camaro on an open trailer with a 1970 Chevy pickup for our tow vehicle . The name came from sponsorship from Jerry Pierce and his Hot Rod Barn group of high performance stores . The important thing here is that upon arriving at a given track , we were competitive , winning more than our fair share .

This led to Mike being noticed by round track teams of the day , and his moving into the shops of B & R Machine in Winston Salem , North Carolina . This was a local best-kept secret until the Cliff Stewart team began a successful run in Winston Cup with Morgan Stewart , the first driver . B & R became the engine-building arm of what would become Hendrick Motorsports , and the rest , they say , is history .

Sometime during this , Pontiac came calling and Mike began a long relationship doing restrictor plate motors for Rusty Wallace , Richard Petty and all the other Pontiac teams . The company Mike established was Racing Engine Development and it gained immediate notice from all the other Cup teams of the day . It should be noted that Mike ’ s drag racing roots were also noticed by such Pro Stock teams as Butch Leal and Greg Anderson when Greg first got going .

It must also be noted that Mike and Dehart , himself a part of the Winston Cup scene at the time , partnered to produce one of the most competitive Pro Stock cars of the day , winning in IHRA and NHRA . This gained respect from all the heavy hitters of the day , including Ronnie Sox , Harold Denton and Roy Hill , to name a

few . It was from this background that Mike and Dehart were inducted into the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2014 . To his last days , it was an honor that was very humbling to Mike .

After going into semi-retirement from racing , Mike became a very successful captain of his own sportfishing charter boat and he was in the top two or three boats on a couple of occasions . But the track drew him back and a partnership was formed with Larry Overby to compete in the highly competitive Mountain Motor Pro Stock ranks , made popular with ADRL and now PDRA . Mike built the 800ci-plus Ford motors with the same care as the Chevys he had worked with before and allowed driver Jeff Dobbins to be competitive with the other teams of the day .

Approximately two years ago , Mike decided to get back into a driving suit and began the task of restoring a Pro Stock Pontiac to compete in the Nostalgia Pro Stock scene . It was during the days of finishing up this project when illness began to get the best of Mike and so began a two-plusyear

battle with prostate cancer that ultimately led to his losing a battle with pneumonia that took him from us .

A lifelong friend once told me that a true friend is one that you might not see for a week , month , or even years , but when you get together it is like you had just seen each other the day before . So it was with Mike . There were times when we would go years without seeing each other , but then upon visiting we would catch up on many things , but always family first . Mike was proud of his wife , Susan , his son , Michael , and his daughter , Sherrill . He also had two grandchildren that we discussed often .

I am reminded of a saying that someone told me some years ago about drag racing . “ Drag racing is not about the races we win or lose , trophies we have or don ’ t have , or money we may or may not have won . It is about the relationships we form along the way .” This is so true of my 40-plusyear friendship with Mike Kennedy , one I will appreciate for the rest of my days . Rest in peace , brother . DI

PHOTOS : GREG BURROW