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Canadian History for Samantha Kenny
Bruce Biegler - July 1, 2009
 When Samantha Kenny streaked across the finish-line first during the Super Comp final round at last Sunday's NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, she accomplished a first for drag racing.
Not only did the 2nd generation driver and daughter to Al and Carol Kenny (Kingston ON), record her first ever national event victory, she also assured that history will forever show her name as the very first Canadian female driver to accomplish that task in NHRA national event competition.
 Samantha's win, which came very early in her driving career, should not be underestimated. She is part of a very dedicated racing family, which also consists of her brother Jason, which is about as formidable a Sportsman racing team that Canada has ever produced. Her father and brother both have multiple previous NHRA national event victories to their credit.
Samantha's win on Sunday came from the #16 qualified slot within the highly competitive Super Comp (8.90) division, a grueling category which demands very precise tuning and razor sharp driving consistency. She prevailed after 7 rounds of competition, her final round time of 8.933 secs at 184.04 mph scored ultimately over Florida's Jason Folk who had a red-light foul start.
 "What an amazing week and weekend," Samantha reflected, " I can't really describe the feeling. This was the first time I had been in my Dad's Super Comp dragster since the Richmond points meet in 2008. Over the off season he upgraded his motor to a 615 CID Gary Stinnett BB Chevy and man that thing can fly -- with me in the car it went over 184 mph last weekend."
"I was pretty comfortable after the time trials and then during eliminations I was just hammering the tree," she continued. "But hitting the tree wasn't the only ingredient to my success this weekend; the car was phenomenal. My brother Jason was my crew chief dialing the car for every round and posting 8.91's across the board. He truly is amazing at that gave me all the confidence in the world to go out there and win! I could not have done it without Jason by my side or my Dad who definitely deserves crew member of the weekend. He kept a very close eye on his car making sure everything was perfect. He kept it charged, fueled, and cooled all weekend long, "thanks Dad." Mom too was an important ingredient. With temperatures and humidity levels high she was "super mom" of the weekend keeping the driver (me) cooled, "thanks mom." This is OUR victory; we make a perfect team!"
 "Two days after the race I still can't believe all that happened" she added. "I keep thinking back to the weekend and remembering the feelings I had. The funny thing is that throughout the entire weekend I never got nervous. I kept the mindset that it didn't matter what round you lose in - being at the racetrack is all that matters. The more trips down the track the better but in all honesty I was just thankful to be there and in the drivers seat. I really think that mindset is what kept me calm and collected - it kept me in my routine. I didn't care if I won or lost I was just happy to be there and to be apart of it!"
Samantha's victory on Sunday was a perfect compliment to her racing weekend. The previous day she had watched her boyfriend Jeg Coughlin, collect a cool $50,000 first place payout for the prestigious annual K&N Horsepower Challenge for Pro Stock cars.
(Photos by: Bruce Biegler & Roger Richards)
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