Ben Kennedy more than doubles his 2017 NASCAR Xfinity schedule

Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., added at least 12 Xfinity Series races to his schedule this season with a second team at GMS Racing. Kennedy will drive the No. 96 Chevrolet as a teammate to Spencer Gallagher.

Kennedy’s first race with GMS will be next month at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

That’s on top of the partial schedule of nine series races he already had planned with Richard Childress Racing this season.

“The conversation to get me in the second car has been on-going since the end of last season. Everyone that works at GMS is so dedicated to the team,” Kennedy said. “There’s a sense of family at the shop and at the track so I’m glad everything has finally lined up.

“GMS has shown speed this year in both series and I know that they will give me the necessary tools to run up front.”

Kennedy competed last year at GMS in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he claimed his first series victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

He will be paired with a familiar face from GMS, Jeff Stankiewicz, who will crew chief Kennedy and the No. 96 team. Stankiewicz called the shots for Kennedy last year in his first start for GMS at Kansas Speedway.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Ben fill our second car,” said GMS Racing’s director of competition, Mike Beam. “This is a huge step for our Xfinity program and I look forward to watching Ben learn and grow as a driver through it.”

Sponsorship partners will be announced at a later date.