Jon McKennedy wins 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For the second time in Jon McKennedy‘s career, he ran all the races on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule.
The 35-year-old from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, turned his second full season with the Tour into his first series championship.
Driving for team owner Tim Lepine, McKennedy used incredible consistency to secure his championship. In 16 races this season, McKennedy finished outside the top-10 just three times. He scored seven top fives and 13 top 10s, which included a victory at New Hampshire‘s Claremont Motorsports Park on July 29.
McKennedy entered the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour finale at Martinsville as the championship leader, six points ahead of Ron Silk, 11 points ahead of Justin Bonsignore and 13 points ahead of Eric Goodale. He secured the championship with his 12th-place run in the finale.
In his only other full-time season with the Tour in 2020, McKennedy finished second in the series standings.
McKennedy made his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in 2006 at the age of 19, competing in eight races and earning two top-10 finishes. It took him until 2017 to earn his first top-five finish, a fifth-place finish at Stafford Motor Speedway.
One year later, he scored his maiden NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. That stood as his lone Tour victory until his triumph earlier this year at Claremont.
