ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. – What do you do after you contend for the win in a major motorsports event alongside the likes of Justin Peck and Kyle Larson?
On Tuesday morning, one night after finishing second in a Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek stop at Lincoln Speedway, Robbie Kendall rolled into the high-dollar restaurant that is Dutch’s Daughter located just a few miles off U.S. Route 15 in Frederick, Md., and not for some rewarding meal.
While Peck and Larson hauled to Grandview Speedway in search of their next paycheck, Kendall, too, had a paycheck to earn. Not as a race car driver, but as a parts salesman during a monthly work meeting.
“I can’t believe you battled Larson!” one of Kendall’s coworkers told the Baltimore, Md., native as he walked through the door.
“I said, ‘He’s just another dude, you know,’” Kendall said. “That’s the way you have to look at racing. It doesn’t matter how big your name is or how small your name is. You have to go out there and compete and have fun.”
The parts salesman for Baltimore-based Beltway Companies has been enjoying himself on the race track lately. Not only did Kendall finish between Peck, an All Star Circuit of Champions regular, and Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series wins leader, but it marked the third straight race at Lincoln he has at least battled for the win.
On June 19, Kendall won his first race since May 11, 2019 at the clay oval in Abbottstown, Pa., and followed it up with an outside pole starting position at the track last Saturday before his attention-grabbing performance on Monday.
The Candy Man — @robbiekendall55 — rolls off fourth in tonight’s 30-lap @PASpeedWeek round four at @lincolnspeedway.
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) June 29, 2021
He won here last weekend and looks to add another 🏁 here shortly. pic.twitter.com/ybnIz98mvz
“It’s a big confidence booster, to be honest,” Kendall said. “I feel like we couldn’t get out of our own way there for two months. Then we put this new car together and it has just clicked at Lincoln.”
There’s a recent fourth-place run at Williams Grove Speedway, too. But Kendall’s pride currently lies at Lincoln. He’s studied reigning track champion Freddie Rahmer and how his car operates, which usually runs the middle smoothly.
Kendall would have loved to run the entire PA Speedweek. There was just one hindrance.
“I didn’t have enough vacation hours,” said Kendall, who works up to 10-hour days during the week.
Kendall is a devout family man, and the backstory to his nickname the “Candy Man” is further proof.
The Kendall family has had a long-time connection with The George J. Falter Co., the oldest candy distributor in Maryland. Through numerous racing endeavors along the way, spanning roughly 30 years, the candy distributor has supported the Kendalls, and just wanted one slogan on the race cars: “Candy Man.”
“I always wanted the ‘Candy Man’ to stick,” said Kendall, who actually worked for The George J. Falter Co. at one point in high school. “I kind of kept it myself. [My father, Mike Kendall,] has always been around it so that’s all I’ve ever known.”
After missing seven features in his first 14 races of the year and failing to earn a top-10, Kendall now has four top-10 finishes in the past five races.
The heart of the operation is in Kendall’s father, Mike, and his grandad, Bob Hynes. They put in the majority of the work at their race shop as Kendall travels across the state of Maryland as a parts salesman.
At the track, crew chief Jeremy Mondock calls the shots. Recently, Kendall has only reaped the spotlight.
“They bust their asses every week,” Kendall said. “I’m just the lucky one that gets to go have fun.”