Kenny Tremont Jr. - "The Sand Lake Slingshot"


      Kenneth Edward Tremont Jr. was born on November 13th, 1961, to Kenneth Sr. and Anne Tremont, of Sand Lake, New York. He's lived his entire life in Sand Lake. He has two older sisters, Kathy and Kim, and no brothers.

      Growing up, Kenny was moderately shy, very modest, and extremely polite. His boyhood heroes were Chuck Ely, and a list of USAC and NASCAR drivers that ranged from A.J. Foyt to Richard Petty.

      He attended school in Averill Park, where he graduated in 1979. He played soccer in school, but didn't have the time to put into it, because he already had his foot to the floor toward becoming a stock car driver. By the time he graduated, the reddish-brown haired, green-eyed kid had transformed into a 6'1" 170 lb. man.

      Kenny stepped out of high school and into modifieds. His father owned a car, so the decision seemed only natural. On May 29th, 1982, the kid showed the old pros the way around the high banks of Lebanon Valley Speedway as he took his first modified feature win. This set the tone for the rest of the season, as he went on to win his first of 12 track point championships at "The Valley".

      200+ wins and 17 track championships later, Kenny is now amongst the 10 most winning drivers in the history of DIRT racing, as well as being the most winning driver in Lebanon Valley history. He's won almost every major race at one point or another in his career ... some of them twice. The biggest win came at Syracuse in 1999, when Kenny found the cure for "The Moody Mile", winning the Crown Jewel of Modified Racing, the Eckerd 300.

      Even though he has beaten the best at their best, Kenny doesn't see himself as being one of the best. He sees himself as "nowhere near the top ... somewhere in the middle". He says that if he were still a spectator, he would be a Barefoot Bob McCreadie fan, because "he started with nothing and worked hard to become the best". Kenny didn't realize that he was also describing himself. He's too modest to look at things that way. He's also too busy.

      Between running the Brookside Garage, and working on modifieds, the only free time Kenny has is usually interrupted by guys like McCreadie and Brett Hearn trying to pass him. He wouldn't have it any other way. He's lived to race, and he's raced to live. To Kenny, the only thing more important than racing is people, and the most important people are his family.

      Sorry girls, but The Master of The Mud has been married for many years. He and Kathi have 6 kids, Ryan, Mason, Kenny, Kale, Montgomery, and Samantha. Their adopted daughter, Olivia, who gained more fame in her few short years in this world than her dad has in his entire career, passed on to her eternal rest in 2001.

      I had the honor of chatting with Kale and "little" Kenny a few years ago. Just like their "old man", they were tall, lean, reddish-haired, and polite. They weren't as shy, and were both much better looking than their father. (Kale ..you owe me $20 for that ...)

      Kale started racing last year. We'll have a page for him as soon as we can light a fire under our lazy webmaster. (Oh ... wait a minute ... that's me, isn't it)? Kenny wants his boys to go to college and be successful, so he's not pushing them toward racing.

      Success hasn't spoiled Kenny. He still has a smile, handshake, and "hello" for anyone that seeks him out. He seems to greet them all as if they were his best friend. He even speaks highly of his competition.

      The drivers that he lists as the all time best reads like a phonebook. It ranges from guys who retired before he was born, to the guys that he has to race against today. The list of retired drivers includes Schneider, Corey, Ely, Jelley, Delmolino, Hulbert, Corellis (Tommy). As for the guys he races today, he says "all of them, because there are a lot of different guys who can beat you on any given night". When I asked for specific names, he mentioned Ricci Jr., Hewitt, Corellis (Donny), Moore, Kokosa, Leckonby, Heffner, Quinn, Sheldon, Larkin, Hearn, McCreadie, and "anyone named Johnson", as he so aptly put it.

      He smiled as he recalled trading positions with Eddie Riiska in a consolation race when he first started, and taking the lead away from Tommy Corellis to win a main event at Lebanon Valley. He also recalled passing his boyhood hero, Chuck Ely, at Albany-Saratoga, and modeling his driving style after Ely and Will Cagle. He says that they were all better than him. It's as though he's convinced himself that he just got lucky ... or this is just a continuation of a daydream he had in school. His modesty seems to blind him from the fact that he's one of the best ever.

      Nowadays, past 40, hair turning grey, and weighing in at a lean 180 pounds, his idols are a little closer to home. He idolizes his parents and grandparents for their hard work and determination. In an ultra-rare moment of forgetting that he's Mr. Modesty, Kenny bragged to me that his grandmother still works everyday.

      Trust me ... you'll never hear him brag about Kenny Tremont Jr. I spent an hour trying to trick him into it ... but, it never happened. He won't even say "I" won the race ... he says "we" won. To hear him talk, you would get the impression that he wins in spite of himself. His modesty prevents him from seeing what he has become; a racing legend.

      Whatever the future holds for him, two things are certain. A place in the DIRT Modified Hall of Fame, and a place in the hearts of anyone who has known him. He truly is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.




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