Kenny Habul

Kenny Charles Edward Habul (born 24 May 1973) is an Australian professional race car driver and businessman. Born in Sydney, Australia, a former resident of Etobicoke, Ontario, and a current resident of Mooresville, North Carolina, he is the president and CEO of SunEnergy1[1] which was ranked the fifth largest developer of utility-scale solar projects in the US by Solar Power World Magazine for 2017.[2] He is a current competitor in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and is a former competitor in the V8 Supercar Development Series, Australian Formula 3 Championship and the CASCAR Super Series, and a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.[3] In 2018 he won the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge Bronze Drivers' title.[4]

Kenny Habul
Habul celebrating winner the Intercontinental Bronze Driver's Title at Laguna Seca, 2018
Born	(1973-05-24) 24 May 1973 New South Wales, Australia
Achievements	2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge Bronze Drivers' Champion
Awards	P2 at the Bathurst 12 Hour
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
15 races run over 4 years
2016 position	53rd
Best finish	44th (2014)
First race	2012 Sargento 200 (Road America)
Last race	2016 Road America 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2013 position	108th
First race	2013 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
7 races run over 2 years
Best finish	27th (2006)
First race	2005 ATTO 100 (Toronto)
Last race	2006 CASCAR 100 (Montreal)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
Statistics current as of 27 August 2016.

Early years

Habul attended Merrimac High School and then progressed to Bond University where he completed a Law degree.[5]

Awards and Recognition

Habul has received wide recognition for his contributions to the solar industry as founder of SunEnergy1 and in his role as a sustainable construction consultant.

In 2011, North Carolina State House Representative Ruth Samuelson awarded Habul with recognition on behalf of the NC Solar Center. He was also presented with the Energy Leadership Award in 2012 by the Charlotte Business Journal.[6] Mr. Habul was selected to be a member of the NC Solar Center Advisory Board[7] and was invited to joined the advisory board of Aquesta Bank.

On December 18, 2010 Habul was commissioned a Palmetto Patriot by the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, Andre Bauer. At the same ceremony Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning and NASCAR Legends David Parsons, Bud Moore, Cale Yarborough and Cotton Owners, all South Carolina natives, were also honoured.[8]

The Palmetto Patriot Award is given for one's commitment to public service within their state and community. The award is the highest the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina can bestow.

Music

He is credited as a co-composer, along with Brown, Niko Moon and Ben Simonetti for the song Your Majesty, which appears as the eighth track on the Zac Brown Band's 2017 album, Welcome Home.[9]

Sponsorship

Habul's SunEnergy1 became a primary sponsor on Chase Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series entry in 2016. The agreement was for three seasons where major SunEnergy1 branding would be on Elliott's Chevrolet for a minimum of four events.[10]

SunEnergy1 and Elliott went to victory lane for the first time at Watkins Glen in 2018 where Elliott started third and ran in the top five for most of the day before claiming his maiden victory over Martin Truex Jr to give Hendrick Motorsports its 250th victory.[11]

SunEnergy1 was the sponsor of Tristan Vautier's Mercedes-AMG GT3 when he won the outright Intercontinental GT Challenge Championship at Laguna Seca in 2018.[12]

Philanthropy

In 2015 Habul visited the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio and a made a $US100,000 donation on behalf of his company SunEnergy1. It was part of the lead up to the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 NASCAR event and part of a US $4 million fundraising effort.[13]

Habul and SunEnergy1 started a relationship with the Feed the Children in 2015 in a drive to provide 1,000 Elizabeth City-area families with food and essentials through the Albemarle Food Pantry.[14]

Racing career

Introduction

Habul is a passionate motorsport enthusiast and racer. His motorsport career started in karting at the age of six[15] and has since included stints in Formula Ford, Formula 3, V8 Supercars, CASCAR, NASCAR Trucks, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He also competed in the 2018 Bathurst 12-hour where he finished second outright. That race was the first in four endurance events for the year that made up the Intercontinental GT Challenge. After Bathurst he headed to the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps where he claimed another podium in the Bronze Driver class, before sealing a second Bronze driver win at the Suzuka 10 Hours in Japan in August. Habul wrapped up the inaugural Bronze driver title at the final round at Laguna Seca in California in October.

His recent sportscar events have seen him team up and co-driver with some of the biggest names in the business including Bernd Schnider, Boris Said, Paul Morris, Maro Engel, Thomas Jaeger, Tristian Vautier and Jamie Whincup.

Formula Ford

In 1998, at age 25 and after spending several years building a business with his brothers, Habul returned to racing in the Australian Formula Ford championship. The following year Habul scored his first category podium in a qualifying sprint support race at the Gold Coast Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise in Queensland. He finished third behind 2014 IndyCar Champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner, Will Power and Bathurst 1000 podium-getter, Steve Owen.[16]

Formula 3

In 2002, Habul stepped up to Formula 3 for the first time and competed in support races at the Gold Coast Indy 300. The following season Habul contested most of the championship rounds, finishing ninth outright in the national championship.[17][18]

CASCAR

Habul's move to Ontario, saw a motorsport discipline switch as well. Habul jumped from Formula 3, V8 Development Series and GT racing in Australia to CASCAR Super Series in Canada in a Chevrolet, sporting #75. In 2005, Habul contested three rounds of the series recording a best result of 10th.[19] Before the series was purchased by NASCAR in 2007, Habul recorded a career best of third.[20]

Xfinity Series

After making six starts in the Nationwide Series in 2012 and 2013, in June 2014 Habul announced that he had signed with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive a SunEnergy1-sponsored car in the series' events at Road America and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course that year.[21]

Habul joined JR Motorsports in 2016 to compete in the road course races. Additionally, SunEnergy1 sponsored him and Josh Berry in the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro,[22] while also sponsoring Chase Elliott in the Sprint Cup Series.[23]

Camping World Truck Series

On April 6, 2013, Habul made his Camping World Truck Series debut with RSS Racing, driving the No. 93 Chevrolet Silverado at Martinsville.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

In 2016, Habul started his own team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Driving in the GTD series, Habul started 2017 with an impressive finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring. SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and team driver Tristan Vautier gave the Mercedes-AMG GT3 pole position in qualifying for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. This pole position, the first for Mercedes- AMG Motorsport Customer Racing, comes in just the second round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Vautier drove the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a top lap time of 1.59.738 on the 3.74-mile Sebring road course to top the GTD field.[24]

In 2018, Kabul continued his IMSA campaign in the SunEngery1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 competing in the Rolex 24hr Daytona in January, finishing 8th. For the Belle Isle race, Habul teamed up with Bernd Schneider.[25] The pair finished the weekend in 8th.[26]

Intercontinental GT Challenge

Kenny Habul after winning the Bronze Drivers' title Intercontinental GT Challenge

In 2018 Habul entered the Intercontinental GT Challenge with the idea of experiencing some of the world's greatest race tracks and finished the season with the Bronze Drivers' championship.

The season started with Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in February, where Habul managed an outright podium with co-drivers Jamie Whincup, Vautier and Raffaele Marciello and left as the leading Bronze driver.

Habul then competed in the 24 hours of Spa with his Mercedes AMG GT3 finishing 20th overall but claiming 3rd in the Pro-Am class with his co-drivers Bernd Schneider, Thomas Jaeger, and Martin Konrad.

Habul then took top honors in the Suzuka 10 hour where his SunEnergy1 Mercedes came home first in class and 10th overall. Habul had teamed up with Mikaël Grenier and Luca Stolz for the 10 hour race.

He had the same driver combination when he arrived for the California 8 Hour at Laguna Seca in California in October.

Habul went into the final round with a 20-point lead in the Bronze Driver Championship and survived a day of high drama to clinch the inaugural title after finishing 27th outright and fourth in class despite losing more than two hours in the pits due to damage.[27]

Images

• 
• 
  The SunEnergy1 Mercedes Benz at Rolex 24 at Daytona.
• 
  The SunEnergy1 Mercedes Benz at COTA.
• 
  2016 Xfinity Series car at Road America
• 
  NASCAR driver Kenny Habul at the 2013 Johnsonville Sausage 200 Nationwide race at Road America.
• 
  The SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG in action

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts
2012	SunEnergy 1 Racing	75	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA 16	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN 20	CGV 34	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	55th	62
2013				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	IOW	MCH	ROA 18	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN 34	MOH 26	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	56th	54
2014	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA 14	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW		MOH 31	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	44th	61
	SunEnergy1 Racing	75	Toyota																					GLN 26
2015	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	CHI	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN 29	MOH 28	BRI	ROA 14	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	49th	61
2016	JR Motorsports	88	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN 17	MOH 36	BRI	ROA 34	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	53rd	36

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	NCWTC	Pts
2013	SunEnergy 1 Racing	93	Toyota	DAY	MAR 26	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	108th	0^1

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Make	Engine	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Pts
2016	Stevenson Motorsports	Audi R8 LMS	Audi 5.2 V10	GTD	DAY 7	SEB	LAG	DET	WGL	MOS	LRP	ROA	VIR	COA	PET		47th	25
2017	SunEnergy1 Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 V8	GTD	DAY 18	SEB 3	LBH	COA 3	DET 15	WGL 15	MOS 13	LRP	ROA 12	VIR 16	LAG 12	PET 16	20th	192
2018	SunEnergy1 Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 V8	GTD	DAY 8	SEB 10	MOH 12	DET 8	WGL 8	MOS	LRP	ROA	VIR	LAG	PET		18th*	109*

*Season still in progress.

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos.	Pts
2018	SunEnergy1 Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Pro-Am	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	MIS 1	MIS 2	HUN 1 15	HUN 2 DNS	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	5th	16.5

2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge results

Year	Round	Circuit	Co-drivers	Manufacturer	Overall Position	Class Position
2018	1	Bathurst	Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier Jamie Whincup	Mercedes-AMG	2	2
	2	Spa-Francorchamps	Bernd Schneider Thomas Jäger Martin Konrad	Mercedes-AMG	20	3
	3	Suzuka	Luca Stolz Mikaël Grenier	Mercedes-AMG	10	1
	4	Laguna Seca	Luca Stolz Mikaël Grenier	Mercedes-AMG	27	4

2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge results

Rnd.	Circuit	Co-drivers	Manufacturer	Overall Position	Class Position
1	Bathurst	Thomas Jäger Dominik Baumann	Mercedes-AMG	Ret	Ret
2	Laguna Seca
3	Spa-Francorchamps
4	Suzuka
5	Kyalami

References

1. Brown, Dominic. "Solar Energy Promises New Jobs In The East". 30 January 2012. New Bern, NC: WCTI-TV. Accessed 11 August 2013.
2. "2017 Top Solar Developers". solarpowerworldonline.com. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
3. Stabley, Susan. "Mooresville mansion with a green mission". 14 September 2009. Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Business Journal. Accessed 11 August 2013.
4. "Habul seals Intercontinental GT Challenge title - Speedcafe". Speedcafe. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
5. "The ARCH Magazine | Issue 21 | 2018 Semester 1". Issuu.com. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
6. "CBJ Energy Leadership Award nominations close next week". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
7. "The N.C. Solar Center announces launch of new Industry Advisory Council - NC Clean Energy Technology Center". nccleantech.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
8. "NASCAR Legends Honored with Prestigious Palmetto Patriot Award - Darlington Raceway". darlingtonraceway.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
9. "Welcome Home - Zac Brown Band, Zac Brown | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
10. "SunEnergy1 becomes primary sponsor of Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports". hendrickmotorsports.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
11. "Elliott Earns First Career NASCAR Cup Series Win". Chase Elliott. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
12. "WORLD WRAP: Audi win California 8 Hours - Speedcafe". Speedcafe. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
13. "Habul donates $100,000 to Nationwide Children's Hospital | Official Site Of NASCAR". Official Site Of NASCAR. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
14. Children, Feed the. "Kenny Habul Partners with Feed the Children to Bring Hope to Elizabeth City Residents". Feed the Children. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
15. "Switched On | Ocean Road Magazine | Home Page". Ocean Road Magazine | Home Page. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
16. "NatSoft". NatSoft.
17. "Kenny Habul | Racing career profile | Driver Database". driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
18. "Formula 3 Australia - The Official Site". 2 December 2003. Archived from the original on 2 December 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
19. "CASCAR Super Series Results for 2005 - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
20. "CASCAR Super Series Results for 2006 - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
21. "SunEnergy1 sponsors Nationwide races for Joe Gibbs Racing". Comox Valley Echo. Courtenay, British Columbia. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
22. "SunEnergy1 to Sponsor JR Motorsports' No. 88 Entry in Five NXS Events". JR Motorsports. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
23. "SunEnergy1 to Sponsor Elliott". Motor Racing Network. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
24. "No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing". motorsportsnewswire.com. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
25. "Mercedes great Schneider 'felt like a rookie' in IMSA cameo". RACER. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
26. "WORLD WRAP: Campbell heads GTE-Am field in Le Mans test - Speedcafe". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
27. "Audi, Aussie on top at Laguna Seca - Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour". Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. Retrieved 29 October 2018.

External links

• Kenny Habul driver statistics at Racing-Reference