Login
Login

Tommy Kendall

{{short description|American racing driver}}

{{for|the Australian cricketer|Tom Kendall}}

{{BLP sources|date=March 2014}}

{{Infobox NASCAR driver

| name = Tommy Kendall

| image = Tommy Kendall Pontiac G8 Rolex 24 2008.jpg

| caption = Kendall at Daytona International Speedway for the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|10|17}}

| birth_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.

| height =

| weight =

| achievements =

| awards = Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2015)[http://www.mshf.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/tommy-kendall.html Tommy Kendall] at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame (2021)

| Total_Cup_Races = 14

| Years_In_Cup = 10

| Cup_Car_Team =

| Prev_Cup_Pos =

| Prev_Cup_Year =

| Best_Cup_Pos = 47th (1990)

| First_Cup_Race = 1987 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)

| Last_Cup_Race = 1998 The Bud At The Glen (Watkins Glen)

| First_Cup_Win =

| Last_Cup_Win =

| Cup_Wins = 0

| Cup_Top_Tens = 1

| Cup_Poles = 0

| Total_Busch_Races = 1

| Years_In_Busch = 1

| Busch_Car_Team =

| Prev_Busch_Pos =

| Prev_Busch_Year =

| Best_Busch_Pos = 85th (1990

| First_Busch_Race = 1990 NE Chevy 250 (Loudon

| Last_Busch_Race =

| First_Busch_Win =

| Last_Busch_Win =

| Busch_Wins = 0

| Busch_Top_Tens = 0

| Busch_Poles = 0

}}

{{Infobox Le Mans driver

| Years = 2000, 2013

| Teams = Konrad Motorsport, SRT Motorsports

| Best Finish = 14th

| Class Wins =

}}

Tommy Kendall (born October 17, 1966) is an American race car driver and television broadcaster. He is best known for his IMSA GT Championship and SCCA Trans-Am Series career.

Racing career

Son of race driver Charles Kendall, Kendall began his racing career competing at the IMSA GT Championship. He drove a Mazda RX-7 in the GTU category while studying and by the time he completed his studies, he took the 1986 and 1987 championships. Later he won three other titles in the same car, which he still owns.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

He later dominated the SCCA Trans-Am Series in the 1990s, scoring four series championships. His greatest year came in 1997, when he won 11 races in a row out of the 13 on the schedule—almost a perfect season. During this time, Kendall was also honored by representing the series for six IROC seasons.

He ran in fourteen NASCAR Cup Series races between 1987 and 1998. He raced primarily only on road courses as a road course ringer, and scored one Top-10 finish. He nearly won the 1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300K at Sears Point Raceway, in which he led 12 laps before cutting a tire with two laps to go following a late-race collision with Mark Martin. The two drivers, who were briefly Roush-Fenway Racing teammates in Trans-Am, would not speak about the incident for years until they rehashed their late-race collision on Martin's podcast, twenty years later.{{cite web|url=https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/xcelerated-2/mark-martin-podcast/e/55254954|title=The Mark Martin Podcast - Episode 9 Tommy Kendall|work=Stitcher Radio|date=July 19, 2018|access-date=February 7, 2020}}

While competing in Winston Cup as a ringer, Kendall had a single start in the NASCAR Busch Series. Kendall also had one start with Dick Johnson Racing at the 1996 AMP Bathurst 1000 in Australia co-driving with Steven Johnson, the son of team boss Dick Johnson. Johnson and Kendall finished 8th in their Ford EF Falcon.[http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?06/10/1996.ARDC.E8 NATSOFT Race Result] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228035354/http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?06%2F10%2F1996.ARDC.E8 |date=2007-12-28 }} Of the American drivers who have competed in the Bathurst 1000 since the race moved to Bathurst in 1963 including three time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, Janet Guthrie (the first woman to ever qualify for the Indy 500 in 1977), Dick Barbour, Sam Posey, Bob Tullius, John Andretti and Scott Pruett, Kendall holds the distinction of being the first one to have ever finished the race (Pruett in his only start would finish 11th the next year at Bathurst[http://racing.natsoft.com.au/637175381/object_279863.87Y/Result?24 1997 Primus 1000 Classic result]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}).

On June 30, 1991, Kendall suffered serious leg injuries at Watkins Glen when a mechanical failure caused his Intrepid RM-1 IMSA GTP car to leave the track and crash head-on into a tire wall. This occurred along the same area of track where J. D. McDuffie of NASCAR Winston Cup fame was killed only a month later, and both crashes led to the addition of a bus stop chicane on the backstretch. Kendall spoke of this incident during Episode 4, Season 2 of the Speed Channel series, Setup as a "crossroads in his racing career." He returned to racing close to a year later in June 1992. He also discussed his accident on Athlete 360, a sports medicine television show hosted by Mark Adickes.

Broadcasting career

In the 2000s Kendall became a television analyst for the Champ Car series. He is also the host of the Speed Test Drive promotional television series where he and another professional race car driver drive a new vehicle on a race course while being able to remotely talk to each other and offer their positive thoughts on the car.

In 2007 and 2008, Kendall was one of the hosts of the show Setup on SpeedTV.

On July 15, 2012, Kendall revealed on SpeedTV's WindTunnel program that he would be returning to the cockpit as one of four full-time drivers in a factory-backed Dodge Viper effort competing in the American Le Mans Series.

On September 22, 2013, Kendall's new show, Driven - A Race Without Boundaries, premiered on Fox Sports 1. It also stars Rhys Millen and is hosted by Tiff Needell.

Personal life

Kendall was raised in the city of La Cañada Flintridge, California, near Los Angeles and is a 1984 graduate of La Cañada High School.

Kendall earned a degree in economics from UCLA and to this day maintains an avid interest in business.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

Hall of Fame

In 2015, he was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[http://www.mshf.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/tommy-kendall.html Tommy Kendall] at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

In 2025, Kendall was inducted into the Trans-Am Series Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url=https://speedsport.com/sports-cars/other-sports-cars/inaugural-class-of-trans-am-hall-of-fame-revealed/ |title=Inaugural Class of Trans Am Hall of Fame Revealed |website=Speed Sport |date=February 5, 2025 |access-date=February 5, 2025}}

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.)

==Winston Cup Series==

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%"
colspan=45| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year

! Team

! No.

! Make

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

! 24

! 25

! 26

! 27

! 28

! 29

! 30

! 31

! 32

! 33

! {{Tooltip|NWCC|NASCAR Winston Cup classification}}

! Pts

! Ref

1987

! rowspan=2| Spears Motorsports

! rowspan=2| 76

! rowspan=2| Buick

| DAY

| CAR

| RCH

| ATL

| DAR

| NWS

| BRI

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| POC

| RSD

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| GLN

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| RSD
38

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! 107th

! 0

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1987/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1988

| DAY

| RCH

| CAR

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| RSD
18

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| GLN

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| CLT

| NWS

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! 64th

! 114

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1988/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1989

! Hendrick Motorsports

! 18

! Chevy

| DAY

| CAR

| ATL

| RCH

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| SON

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GLN
27

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| CLT

| NWS

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! NA

! 0

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1989/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1990

! Reno Enterprises

! 40

! Chevy

| DAY

| RCH

| CAR

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SON
38

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| GLN
8

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| style="background:#FFCFCF;"| NWS
DNQ

| style="background:#FFCFCF;"| CLT
DNQ

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CAR
26

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! 46th

! 281

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1990/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1991

! Team SABCO

! 42

! Pontiac

| DAY

| RCH

| CAR

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SON
18

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| GLN

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! 63rd

! 114

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1991/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1992

! Jimmy Means Racing

! 52

! Pontiac

| DAY

| CAR

| RCH

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| CLT

| DOV

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SON
13

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| POC

| TAL

| GLN

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=4|

! 66th

! 124

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1992/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1993

! AK Racing

! 7

! Ford

| DAY

| CAR

| RCH

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SON
22

| CLT

| DOV

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| NHA

| POC

| TAL

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GLN
25

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=3|

! 54th

! 185

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1993/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1994

! Junior Johnson & Associates

! 27

! Ford

| DAY

| CAR

| RCH

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| SON

| CLT

| DOV

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| NHA

| POC

| TAL

| IND

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GLN
22

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=2|

! 63rd

! 97

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1994/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

1996

! Elliott-Hardy Racing

! 94

! Ford

| DAY

| CAR

| RCH

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| NWS

| MAR

| TAL

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SON
28

| CLT

| DOV

| POC

| MCH

| DAY

| NHA

| POC

| TAL

| IND

| GLN

| MCH

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| NWS

| CLT

| CAR

| PHO

| ATL

| colspan=2|

! 60th

! 84

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1996/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

rowspan=2| 1998

! Team SABCO

! 46

! Chevy

| DAY

| CAR

| LVS

| ATL

| DAR

| BRI

| TEX

| MAR

| TAL

| CAL

| CLT

| DOV

| RCH

| MCH

| POC

| style="background:#FFCFCF;"| SON
DNQ

| NHA

| POC

| IND

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GLN
17

| MCH

| BRI

| NHA

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| CLT

| TAL

| DAY

| PHO

| CAR

| ATL

! rowspan=2| 56th

! rowspan=2| 232

! rowspan=2| {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1998/W|title=Tommy Kendall – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

LJ Racing

! 91

! Chevy

| colspan=15|

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SON
16

| colspan=17|

==Busch Series==

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%"

!colspan=42| NASCAR Busch Series results

Year

! Team

! No.

! Make

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

! 24

! 25

! 26

! 27

! 28

! 29

! 30

! 31

! {{Tooltip|NBSC|NASCAR Busch Series classification}}

! Pts

! Ref

1990

! Reno Enterprises

! 40

! Chevy

| DAY

| RCH

| CAR

| MAR

| HCY

| DAR

| BRI

| LAN

| SBO

| NZH

| HCY

| CLT

| DOV

| ROU

| VOL

| MYB

| OXF

| NHA

| SBO

| DUB

| IRP

| ROU

| BRI

| DAR

| RCH

| DOV

| MAR

| CLT

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NHA
15

| CAR

| MAR

! 85th

! 118

! {{cite web|url=https://www.racing-reference.info/drivdet/kendato01/1990/B|title=Tommy Kendall – 1990 NASCAR Busch Series Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=NASCAR Digital Media, LLC|access-date=April 15, 2023}}

=24 Hours of Le Mans results=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
Year

! Team

! Co-Drivers

! Car

! Class

! Laps

! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}}

! {{Tooltip|Class
Pos.|Class Position}}

2000

|align="left"| {{flagicon|DEU}} Konrad Motorsport

|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} Charles Slater
{{flagicon|DEU}} Jürgen von Gartzen

|align="left"| Porsche 911 GT2

| GTS

| 317

| 14th

| 7th

align="center"

!2013

|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} SRT Motorsports

|align="left"| {{flagicon|USA}} Jonathan Bomarito
{{flagicon|CAN}} Kuno Wittmer

|align="left"| SRT Viper GTS-R

| GTE
Pro

| 301

| 31st

| 9th

=Bathurst 1000 result=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
Year

! Team

! Co-Drivers

! Car

! Class

! Laps

! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}}

! {{Tooltip|Class
Pos.|Class Position}}

align="center"

!1996

|align="left"| {{flagicon|AUS}} Shell FAI Racing

|align="left"| {{flagicon|AUS}} Steven Johnson

|align="left"| Ford EF Falcon

|

| 158

| 8th

| 8th

References

External links

  • {{Racing-Reference driver|Tommy_Kendall}}
  • {{DriverDB driver|tom-kendall}}
  • {{IMDb name|1139067}}

{{Circle Sport}}

{{Chip Ganassi Racing}}

{{Bill Elliott Racing}}

{{Junior Johnson & Associates}}

{{AK Racing}}

{{Means Racing}}

{{Hendrick Motorsports}}

{{Roush Fenway Racing}}

{{Spears Motorsports}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Tommy}}

Category:Living people

Category:1966 births

Category:Sportspeople from Santa Monica, California

Category:Racing drivers from California

Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers

Category:American Le Mans Series drivers

Category:Trans-Am Series drivers

Category:NASCAR drivers

Category:International Race of Champions drivers

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:FIA World Endurance Championship drivers

Category:Dick Johnson Racing drivers

Category:Hendrick Motorsports drivers

Category:RFK Racing drivers