INNISFIL, Ontario — After some strong runs to start his foray in the Knightworks Design OSCAAR Hot Rods, Jesse Kennedy came out victorious with his first career victory at Sunset Speedway in the series season opener.

“Well, I’m finally glad that we conquered this place as we seemed to struggle here a lot,” he told SHORT TRACK MUSINGS. “(We) had some good finishes, but never a win so glad to get that written off.”

Kennedy started the feature in eighth and worked his way forward in the early laps, passing Amanda Balson for the top spot on Lap 22. He then held her off on a following restart for the checkered flag.

“I’ve run a lot of different divisions, been good competition in all of them. You always have to bring your A-Game – that’s the bottom line,” Kennedy commented. “The only thing you worry about going in with a bunch of new faces is what is going to happen on the track, what type of driving style the other guys have. With the top-eight with the way they were today, I wasn’t worried about that group, that area so it kind of worked out.”

With a victory to start off, combined with his lengthy experience, he is pinned as an early favourite for the championship. However, he can’t say for certain if he will be running the full schedule.

“I have a couple of weeks to decide to come back here for the next one and kind of take it one day at a time,” he said. “I’m pretty busy with our stores, stations, other work, so we’ll see how it goes.”