Everything about Kenny Br Ck totally explained
Kenny Bräck (born
March 21,
1966 in
Arvika,
Värmland) is a
race car driver from
Sweden. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the
CART,
Indy Racing League and the
IROC series. He is the winner of the
1999 Indianapolis 500 and the 1998 driving champion of the Indy Racing League.
Early career
He grew up in the little
village Glava, where his father taught him to drive cars on the lake-ice in the winters. A neighbor introduced Kenny to racing when he at 13 years of age worked in his business one summer holiday, buying him a
Go-Cart. Apart from the beginning of Kenny's career, he's managed his career himself, from finding sponsors, negotiating contracts to winning races.
Formula racing
He raced in
Britain and
Sweden in
Formula Ford and
Formula 3 (he was Swedish junior Formula Ford Champion in 1986), in Europe in
Formula Opel Lotus, in Scandinavia and Europe in the
Renault Clio Cup (Scandinavian Champion 1992) and in the USA in the
Barber Saab Pro Series (Champion in 1993).
1994 he competed in
European Formula 3000. 1995 he finished 3rd in the European F3000 championship for Madgwick Racing. In 1996 he was
Arrows Formula 1 test driver but decided to leave the team after mid season concentrating on his European F3000 campaign. Despite winning the last race on the road, after a controversial Clerk of the Course decision he eventually was
disqualified from the event and had to settle for the runner-up position in the championship, driving for the British team
Super Nova.
Indy career
He started driving in the highest rungs of American open wheel racing in 1997. He won the IndyCar championship in 1998, and the
1999 Indianapolis 500 driving for American racing legend
A. J. Foyt.
He then resigned the following year from his drivers position in order to compete in the
CART PPG IndyCar World Series.
CART career
In 2000, he switched to the
CART circuit with
Team Rahal-Letterman winning the Rookie of the Year title that year. He finished 2nd in the driver's championship in 2001, winning a season-high 4 victories and 6 pole positions.
In 2001 Bräck also had a minor role in the
Hollywood motion picture "
Driven", which starred
Sylvester Stallone and
Burt Reynolds.
In 2002, Bräck raced for
Chip Ganassi Racing, and he ended the season by winning the CART season finale Mexico City G.P.
IROC
In 2001 he competed in the
International Race of Champions series in the season called
IROC XXV. The series is an invitation-only stock car invitational in the United States. He was finished third in the championship, the highest points position for a non-stock car driver.
Return to IRL
Bräck came back to the IRL in 2003 with his previous CART team,
Rahal Letterman Racing, with a highest finish of 2nd in the race at the
Twin Ring Motegi circuit in
Japan. In the final race at
Texas Motor Speedway, he suffered a serious crash that almost cost him his life. His car locked wheels with
Tomas Scheckter's, flew into the catch fencing, and broke apart. Kenny's crash saw the highest recorded g-forces since the introduction of crash violence recording systems, peaking at 214 g's. He suffered multiple fractures, breaking his
sternum,
femur, shattering a
vertebra in his
spine and crushing his
ankles. He spent 18 months recovering from his injuries.
He made his comeback to the
2005 Indianapolis 500, replacing an injured
Buddy Rice (who, ironically, had replaced Bräck in 2003). He set the fastest qualification time in the field with an average speed of 227.598 mph. He retired from the race with a mechanical problem.
Retirement
As of 2006, Bräck lives in
Belgium and has retired from open wheel racing, although he manages young open wheel racing drivers such as
Marcus Ericsson. Bräck also spends his time currently as the lead member and song writer of his rock band "Bräck", together with lead singer Franc Aledia. At the
2007 Indianapolis 500 the band Bräck cooperated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in celebrating American racing legend A. J. Foyt as part of his 50th anniversary at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In May 2007 the band released its first album "Greatest hits, volume 1" featuring the song "Legend of the Speedway". A rock video, featuring Foyt's Indianapolis winning cars including the car Bräck won the race with in 1999 while driving for Foyt was also recorded. The video was directed by Allen Farst of Niche Productions, Dayton, Ohio.
Kenny is also on the board of directors of Scandinavia's biggest distributor of car spare parts "
Mekonomen", listed on the Swedish stock exchange.
On the night of April 22-23, 2008, while on a quick visit to Sweden, Bräck's drivers license was immediately revoked by Swedish Police, after they pulled him over while Bräck was doing 181km/h on a stretch of highway where the speed limit was 90km/h.
Indy 500 results
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kenny Br Ck'.
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