Kendell Lopez out of Independence, MO puts another top five in the record books this past weekend at Toyota Speedway in her High Point Racing Rent Your Ride #59 Langers Juice S2 Sportsman. She wanted to “push her car to the limit,” explains Kendell, and that is exactly what she did on Friday’s qualifying session. She ran the High Point Racing Rent Your Ride S2 to its limit, finding the break point as she got loose out of turn four and spun the car, but made a “text book save,” as explained by team owner Tim Huddleston and kept the car out of the outside retaining wall.
“I wanted to see how hard I could run the car,” says the 18 year old female driver. “We (Huddleston and Kendell) talked going into the session and we just wanted to make sure that I was running as hard as I could going into and coming out of the turns. We found that break-point with the set-up we had in the car and it greatly improved me as a driver.”
Kendell qualified 6th quick just missing the invert so she lined her Rent Your Ride #59 on the outside of row number three for the start of the 25 lap main event. Kendell got an amazing start of the line as the green flag dropped following the first caution and trained Robert Tallini into the first turn.
With 14 laps down, Kendell and fellow racer Robert Tallini got together which put Lopez into the outside retaining wall just enough to know the sway bar out of the car. This made the car very unstable and hard to drive, but with the determination of young Lopez, she stuck with it and was able to pass her way up inside the top five to finish fourth and cap off the day with her third top five finish of the season. “Tallini and I are good friends,” notes Kendell. “We always have a lot of fun racing against each other!”
Lopez mentions that Rod came over the radio after she brushed the wall and asked her how the car was and she explained to Rod that she wanted to stick it out and finish the race. She was able to advance herself another position and hold onto the number four spot throughout the remaining 10 laps with an ill-handling racecar.
“Rod Johnson Jr. was my crew chief on Saturday and with his knowledge as well as the car chief, Joe Anderson, gave me a huge confidence booster behind the wheel throughout the race,” explains Kendell. “We had the car where we wanted it and we met our goals that were set two weeks ago of getting better starts...I would like to dedicate this weekend to Rod!”
Kendell also notes that she would like to thank Mackena Bell for all of her support throughout the season. “Mackena is always there for me before and after the races,” notes Lopez. “I wish her the best of luck for the remainder of the 2009 season and beyond in her #30 AC Delco Super Late Model.”
Next on the schedule for Kendell and the High Point Racing Rent Your Ride #59 will be another event at Toyota Speedway on the 12th of September.
Stay up to date with Kendell throughout the 2009 season via her new website, www.kendelllopezracing.com. The site will be updated weekly with latest news, results and photos so be sure to check it out every week. Also, do not forget to swing by the guestbook to let Kendell know that you stopped by!
Fast Facts on the Weekend:
- Kendell received the “Hard Charger Award” this past weekend at Toyota Speedway which made her the first female in the series to receive the award.
- Lopez finished fourth after starting sixth out of the 8 Langers S2 cars.
