Todd Kidd

Kidd at Michigan in 2020

### Achievements

2015 Craftsman Series Champion 2017 Arris Duel Winner Youngest winner at The Stoneyard in Cup Series history (23 years old)

### Awards

2014 ASCA Craftsman Series Rookie of the Year 2016 ASCA Ajax Cup Series Rookie of the Year

## ASCA Ajax Cup Series Career

### Poles

6

**Todd Steven Kidd** (born November 19, 1996) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the ASCA Ajax Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Ronnie Woods Motorsports and part-time in the ASCA Craftsman Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro for Ronnie Woods Motorsports. He is the only son of famous software developer Kevin Kidd, the current Vice President at Apple.

He won the 2015 ASCA Craftsman Series championship, becoming the second youngest driver to ever win a national series ASCA championship, only behind Randle Woods. He was the 2016 ASCA Ajax Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

## **Early** **Racing Career**

Kidd got his start in racing on his 10th birthday, when his father invested in a go kart and a membership at a local go kart track after he saw how hooked his son had gotten on watching the ASCA.

Kidd became so dominant at the local go kart ranks that he eventually progressed up to late models at the age of 13. From 2010-2014, Kidd won a whopping 67 races in just 80 late model starts over that time span.

This caught the attention of ASCA team owner Ronnie Woods, who signed Kidd to a 5 year development contract in 2014.

## **ASCA National Series**

**Craftsman Series**

After the second race of the 2014 Craftsman Series season, it was announced that Kidd would be competing the rest of the year in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Ronnie Woods Motorsports with full sponsorship by Hellman's. Kidd made his debut at Ajax Superspeedway, but ended up wrecking out of the race.

Kidd won his first career Craftsman race at his home track Advocare Speedpark, holding off future Cup rival Caleb Henderson Jr. for the victory. Later in the season, Kidd would capture his 2nd win of 2014, holding off the pack to win at Ajax Superspeedway. Despite missing the first two races of the season, Kidd still finished 3rd in the final points standings, only behind Caleb Henderson Jr. and Randle Woods. He was also named the Craftsman Series Rookie of the Year.

In 2015, Kidd began the year by winning the rain shortened season opening TreatMyPC.com 150, the most prestigious event on the Craftsman Series schedule. Kidd ended up taking the Craftsman Series title that year after the season was cut short due to a driver's strike.

Following Kidd's move up to the Cup Series in 2016, he began driving for Dexter Andrews Motorsports part-time in the Craftsman Series. In 2016 he drove the No. 42 car in 3 races, including the season opening Great Value 100 at Ajax Superspeedway, which he won.

In 2018, Kidd returned to the Craftsman Series after a year off, this time running the season finale for Dexter Andrews Motorsports in the No. 11 car.

In 2019, Kidd moved back to Ronnie Woods Motorsports in the No. 5 car on a part time basis, the team he's been running with ever since.

**Ajax Cup Series**

At the start of the 2015 season, Ronnie Woods Motorsports announced that Kidd would make his Ajax Cup Series debut that year, driving the No. 29 and eventually the No. 25 with NAPA Auto Parts sponsorship. He ended up making four starts that season at Computer Motor Speedway, Colgate Motorsports Park, his home track Advocare Speedpark, and Michigan. Later in the year it was announced he would take over for James Walton in 2016 in the No. 24.

Kidd qualified 7th in his Cup debut, the season opening Windows 300. During the race, Kidd ran in the top 10 for a majority of the evening, but with 27 laps to go ended up spinning the car into the outside wall, relegating him to a 17th place finish. Kidd would bounce back however, scoring 4th place finishes in his next two starts at Colgate and Advocare, and finishing 12th in his final start of the year at Michigan.

**2016**

Kidd joined the Ajax Cup circuit full time in 2016, driving the No. 24 with full season sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. He won the 2016 Rookie of the Year over Ryan Dixon and Grant Von Duvedel.

In his Ajax 200 debut, Kidd qualified 4th but had to start at the rear of the field after a crash in his duel. He would end up putting together a clean race and bringing home a 7th place finish. A couple weeks later, Kidd would have the first breakout race of his young career, winning his first career pole at Colgate Motorsports Park and leading the opening 76 laps. However, a pit road speeding penalty and a crash on the ensuing restart would lead to a disappointing 18th place finish on the day. Kidd also led a race and career high 102 laps in his 2nd Windows 300 start, but would end up being passes by teammate Brynn Rennerd and finished 2nd. He also suffered a scary crash later on in the season in the Fastenal 200, flipping for the first time in his career and landing upside down, but he would end up ok.

Kidd would score 4 top 5's and 8 top 10's over the course of the 12 race season, and finish 8th in the final standings.

**2017**

Kidd started the 2017 season by winning his first Arris Duel race, giving himself a 4th place starting spot in the season opening Ajax 200. Kidd would lead his first 16 laps in the 200, but a late race crash with 13 laps to go caused by Norm Lester blowing a tire led to a disappointing 14th place finish. Kidd would bounce back next week, scoring his 2nd career pole at The Stoneyard and backing it up with a 4th place finish. He also ran top 5 for the majority of his 3rd Windows 300 start, but a blown engine with 17 laps to go would lead to a 23rd place finish.

Kidd would score 3 top 5's and 10 top 10's over the course of the 12 race season, and wound up 7th in the final standings.

**2018**

After being caught up yet again in the big one in the Ajax 200 and finishing 16th, Kidd very nearly bounced back in a big way, leading 52 laps in the Arris 200 at The Stoneyard before being passed by Diego Orkedi in turn 2 on the last lap. Kidd would again finish 2nd the next week at Advocare Speedpark, 5th at Belltown, and 2nd again at West Virginia after leading 25 laps. Kidd would finish 6th in his 4th Windows 300 start after qualifying 2nd, and entered the 2nd half of the season as a serious threat to win the championship despite still not having scored his first career win. However, an 11th place finish at Blu-Ray Motor Speedway was followed by some controversy at Michigan after being turned by Dan Rodgers while battling for 4th left him with a 20th place finish and a massive loss of points to championship rivals Diego Orkedi and Randle Woods. "I just hate it for my guys man," Kidd told ADRA TV. "We gave the 11 plenty of room and he still goes onto the grass and straight up takes us out. But he showed his true colors tonight. If that's how he wants to race me, I'll have something coming for him in the next four weeks." Kidd would go onto lead the opening 134 laps in next week's Northern 200, but only ended up with a 3rd place finish. The following race, he followed through on his promise to payback Dan Rodgers, but again finished 2nd to Chris Barrymore. Kidd found himself in even more drama in the ensuing week's Fastenal 200, when with 2 laps to go an ill-timed block on teammate Randle Woods led to both drivers ending up in the outside wall and finishing 9th and 10th respectively, allowing Diego Orkedi to clinch his 2nd championship. Woods was absolutely furious with Kidd for this, laying into him in a profanity laced ASCA TV post race interview.

Kidd would score 7 top 5's and 10 top 10's over the course of the 14 race season, and ended up 5th in the final standings.

**2019**

In 2019, Ronnie Woods Motorsports switched Kidd's car number from the No. 24 to the No. 9, with the team opting to retire the No. 5 due to Randle Woods' departure for the team and moving his replacement, Doug Bowden to the No. 24. Kidd opened the season with a career best 3rd place finish in the Ajax 200, ironically finishing just behind his rivals from last year in Dan Rodgers and Randle Woods. He would be involved in some more controversy at Advocare Speedpark, where he intentionally wrecked Caleb Henderson Jr. for holding him up, but still finished 11th that night. The team would struggle to adapt to the new Camaro over the course of the first half of the season, but that didn't stop Kidd from bringing home a 3rd place finish at West Virginia a couple weeks later. In his 5th Windows 300 start, Kidd once again finished 2nd for the seventh time in his career, but sat at 3rd in points after the first half of the season. The second half of the season was rather quiet for Kidd, until his pole for the Fastenal 200 which once again ended with a DNF for Kidd for the fourth straight year. However, in the Ajax Season Finale at Belltown, Kidd inherited the lead from his rookie teammate Doug Bowden after Bowden was penalized for speeding on pit road, and led the final 31 laps of the year en route to his first career win. The win was Kidd's first top 5 finish since the Windows 300, and secured a top 5 points finish for the second straight season.

Kidd would collect 1 win, 4 top 5's and 10 top 10's over the course of the 14 race season, and once again finished 5th in the final standings.

**2020**

Kidd started the 2020 season qualifying 6th for the Ajax 200. However, after running in the top 3 for much of the late stages of the race, Kidd was caught up in a seven car pileup triggered by Grant Von Duvedel with 8 laps to go and finished 10th. He would bounce back the next week with a 7th place finish at West Virginia, a 3rd place run at Advocare, and his first win of the season at The Stoneyard in the Arris 200, leading 47 laps. A 5th place finish the next week at Belltown would lead to Kidd taking over the points lead for the first time in his career by one point over Greg Healey, but that would be short lived as Kidd would be dumped entering turn 1 on lap 1 of the Subway Grand Prix at the Streets of Computerville by Diego Orkedi, only being able to recover to 10th. An 11th place finish at Denver followed by a DNF and a 19th place finish in the Windows 300 set Kidd back to 4th in the standings, 25 markers back from Healey. Kidd would attempt to bounce back in the Colgate 199, leading 58 laps before a speeding penalty relegated him to a 6th place effort. The next week featured more disappointment for the team, as Kidd finished in 10th, but a lap down to race winner and points leader Greg Healey. The following race, he would go on to score his 2nd win of the season in the Amp 200 at Michigan, holding off Nick Orkedi and cutting his points deficit from 34 to 11. Kidd would finish 7th in the Northern 200, but come back the next week and win the pole for the inaugural WesBanco 250 at West Virginia, leading the opening 36 laps and finishing 4th and moving up to 2nd in points. He would once again struggle in the Apple 225, finishing 9th and dropping to 3rd in the standings leading up tho the penultimate round of the season, the Fastenal 200 at Ajax Superspeedway. In that race, via pit strategy Kidd cycled into the race lead and led 28 laps, but was controversially turned by Diego Orkedi while he was trying to make a block. While Kidd was able to recover to as high as 5th, he wound up finishing 15th and was officially eliminated from championship contention. He would lead 28 laps in the Ajax Season Finale, and finished 2nd to close out the season.

Kidd would score 2 wins, 6 top 5's and 13 top 10's over the course of the 16 race season, finishing a career best 3rd in the final standings.

**2021**

Kidd started the 2021 season rolling off 9th in the Ajax 200. He would lead 16 laps during the middle stages of the race, but would bounce back to kick off the season with a 5th place finish. Kidd would score yet another top 5 finish at West Virginia, finishing 3rd, and would move up to 2nd in the standings. However, that would be short lived as the following week at Advocare Speedpark, his home track, he'd be caught up in an accident with Nick Painter and recorded his first DNF of the year, finishing 21st and dropping to 9th in points. The following week, Kidd would bounce back by scoring his first pole of the season for the Arris 200 at The Stoneyard, leading the only 77 laps but only brought home a 6th place finish. He would score his best finish of the season the next week at Denver, a 2nd place effort, but would follow that up with a 14th place run and his 2nd DNF of the season in the AutoZone 200 at Belltown. Kidd's up and down season would continue with a 6th place result in the Subway Grand Prix at the Streets of Computerville, but after that the 25 year old would start to stabilize his season and become a serious title contender. A 4th place finish in the Windows 300 was followed up by his first win of the season in the Colgate 199. Kidd would follow that up with an 8th place effort in the Panasonic 200 at Blu-Ray, but then would put together arguably the best comeback of the 2021 ASCA season in the Amp Energy 200 at the Michigan Road Course. In this race, Kidd was running 6th on a lap 21 restart when Devin Smith locked up the brakes heading into turn one, missing the corner and nearly slamming into the outside wall. While trying to merge back onto the racing line, Smith ran into Kidd's right rear tire, which eventually cut that tire down and forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop. The pit stop put Kidd on an alternate strategy, which eventually worked in his favor after a timely caution for Derek Lewis blowing his engine. Kidd would be the leader on the subsequent restart and drive off into the sunset for his 2nd victory of the season and 2nd in three weeks at the time. The win would cut the gap between Kidd and points leader Randle Woods down to 15 points with just 5 races remaining. However, that's as good as things would get for Kidd as he would start next week's Northern 200 weekend by crashing in opening practice and starting the race in 22nd position. Despite this, Kidd would drive all the way up to the 7th spot by the end of the night, but would still lose 7 points to Randle Woods who finished 2nd and led the most laps. He would finish 4th in the next week's WesBanco 250 at West Virginia, but would lose 3 more points to Woods before disaster would strike in the Apple 225. In that race which was delayed 6 hours due to rain, Kidd started 14th and struggled mightily in the early going, even in danger of getting lapped by Randle Woods before he spun on lap 58 racing the points leader, slamming the inside wall and getting clobbered by teammate Doug Bowden at roughly 165 miles per hour. The accident would take Kidd virtually out of title contention as Woods would go onto win that race, but more importantly would separate his shoulder and put the rest of his season in jeopardy. Even with all the pain, Kidd would still qualify the car and start the penultimate race of the season, the Fastenal 200 at Ajax Superspeedway, but would step out of the car for Ross Jackson after the first caution and Jackson would only be able to muster a 19th place result, which officially eliminated Kidd from title contention and dropped him to 3rd in points. He would go onto race all 200 laps in the Ajax Season Finale at Belltown however, finishing in 6th to close out the season.

Kidd would score 2 wins, 7 top 5's, and 12 top 10's over the course of the 16 race season, and would once again finish 3rd in the final standings.

## **In Popular Culture**

**Television and film apperances**

Kidd has made appearances on YouTube, being featured in a video with popular YouTuber *Pewdiepie* playing GTA VI as well as playing said game in a video with *KYRSPEEDY and The Crew*.

Kidd served as a special guest analyst during the 2021 Tinder 125 for *ADRA TV*.

**Magazines**

Kidd has appeared on the cover of magazines, most recently on the cover of *The Fallon Corner* in a 2020 preseason edition.

**Video Games**

Kidd has been a driver in all of the ASCA Racing series of games by 313Games which were released beginning in 2019. Kidd was featured as the cover athlete on the inaugural game for the franchise, ASCA Racing Season 5, which was released in 2019.