This Saturday, August 10, the eighth annual Dylan Kennedy Memorial takes place at Wartburg Speedway in Tennessee. It offers $12,037 to start, $500 to take green, and has become one of the biggest races in the Southeast for limited late models. Last year a Wartburg Speedway regular, Anthony White Jr. (right) won, with Dylan’s brother and late model racer Drew Kennedy, congratulating him.
“It gives the limited late model guys something to look forward to,” said Drew Kennedy, of Sunbright, Tennessee. “They don’t get any $10K-plus-to-win races like crates and supers, so that is good for the class in general.”
Last year’s event attracted 44 entries, with a drivers’ list reading like a who’s who of limited late model racing in the area.
“I’m honored to have won it,” said 2023 winner, Jed Emert, of Maryville, Tennessee. “I unfortunately didn’t know [Dylan, the race’s namesake]. However, it’s super clear how much Dylan and the Kennedy family means to the Wartburg community. You can feel that energy.”
Wartburg Speedway is very much the neighborhood hot spot, the place where it seems like the entire town comes out to enjoy a good time every Saturday night.
“Part of what makes Wartburg so special is that it’s like stepping back in time a little bit,” Emert said. “The place has local heroes and local villains. The crowd and the community are invested in that place. It’s just got a feeling about it that’s special.”
Locals certainly seem like they have a home-track advantage, too, despite the incredible talent that hauls to compere there for the special race. Current and former track regulars have won four of the past seven editions of the Dylan Kennedy Memorial.
“It’s cool to win, especially whenever you can keep the money at home,” said White, of Clinton, Tennessee. “It’s just so different from a lot of places. Some people struggle there. Wartburg kinda stays gritty and kinda sheds all night, versus other tracks get hard and slow down — Wartburg doesn’t.”
White and Emert will be among a stellar field of entries trying to win the Dylan Kennedy Memorial. Drew Kennedy, another former winner, will race the event, too, held in honor of his late brother who died at just 22 years old.
“There wasn’t a bigger race fan anywhere,” Drew said of his brother, Dylan. “Wartburg was his absolute favorite track and limited late model was his favorite class. He would be so proud at the prestige this event has turned into, no doubt.”
Dylan’s love for the sport and his hometown track still carries on. That love permeates the pit area at the event, and perhaps that’s what makes the Dylan Kennedy Memorial so special. It’s not the money offered. It’s the love behind it.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
