Caged! regulars will recognise the Walker surname through myself popping up around the raceways and doing photos, reports and these interviews, but the family name has been represented mostly over the past few years by 172 Kenton, whom in his first attempt, qualified for the 1600 World Final at Ipswich.
Like most drivers in the sport, Kenton follows a family line of racing and has been going from a very young age. ‘I’ve been watching and growing up around racing all my life with my Dad racing throughout parts of my childhood. It was always a fond memory of mine, and we grew up going racing nearly every weekend.’ Kenton eventually swapped being a spectator for the race-seat at the age 11 in the popular Ministox formula. ‘Once I was old enough to do so, I started Ministox alongside my brother. If we weren’t racing ourselves, we were going to watch it instead.’
Unfortunately for Kenton, that time out on track came to a very abrupt end early on due to an incident on track at Birmingham Wheels where he suffered injuries to both feet in a crash in his Ministox – a shattered left foot which required reconstruction with pins and wires and a fractured metatarsal in his right foot. This required a minimum of six months in a wheelchair and learning how to walk again. Kenton reflects on his short stint in the formula with fondness however. ‘The Ministox were great fun for the brief period I raced them. I did plenty of meetings in the 3 months or so that I did manage to do. One of the best bits was being able to leave school early on a Wednesday to be able to go to Eastbourne though!’ Kenton laughs.
The crash didn’t fully put Kenton off though. He didn’t come back out in his Junior career due to the the vulnerability of his left foot whilst still growing, but that itch was always there and it eventually needed scratching. ‘I always wanted to get back in the drivers seat and behind the wheel again, as there’s no buzz like it. Being told you can never race again wasn’t the best news, but I eventually came back with a few goes in some Back to Basics rentals and it got me back into that mindset, as I always wanted to do it again.’ Kenton commented on the rental side of things also – ‘I personally think the rentals are a great thing to be able to do if you’re looking at having a go. They are great fun and it’s a cheap night out. I would highly recommend it to anyone to do.’
Having done some of the rentals in the Back to Basics, an avenue which is a great way to get people back in to the sport, or an entry level to get new-blood interested in racing, Kenton began racing again on a more frequent basis in the summer of 2023 at his local track of Yarmouth. ‘I had several talks with my parents about it around the concerns of racing with the foot and we decided to go for it. The original plan was to do a season in Back to Basic Bangers at Yarmouth, which is what I started doing last year and again at the beginning of the year. We then came up with the bright idea of going to Ipswich in the B2B Astra for the World Qualifier after seeing how it fared against the 1600s on the practice night and to see what racing in the 1600s were like. I ended up having a brilliant meeting, but my mind still wasn’t made up, so we decided to do the same for the Yarmouth World Qualifiers, where I had one of my best meetings to date, and from that point on I had fully made my mind up to have a go at the 1600s for the year and just to see what happened from there.’
Kenton couldn’t have asked for much better of a debut year – wins coming at Hednesford, Eastbourne and Yarmouth as well as of strong positions throughout the year aided him in qualifying for his first World Final. ‘The year has been pretty steady at most.’ Kenton humbly reflects. ‘I had some great meetings and some very bad meetings, but that’s the fun of racing. I’d say overall it’s been a pretty average year for me. I kind of just wanted to do this year to get the feel for it and see how it goes and to get comfortable behind the wheel again, but given the outcome, I’m very pleased with how it’s gone. Just to get a win in the formula meant a lot to me as it’s very competitive and there are plenty of great drivers out there. It’s not easy at all to stay out at the front, so to be able to of had a few win this year has felt great.’
Given the year he has had, I got Kenton to identify some of highlights of the year. ‘Corr where do we start! In all fairness, the whole year has been one big highlight in itself for me. Just being able to get back out there and to mix it up with some of the best in the sport has been mega. Some notable highlights for me though has been being able to tick off some new tracks; getting a win at my first time racing at Hednesford and getting a few wins at the local in-front of the home crowd.’
Kenton is that much of a local to Yarmouth that he doesn’t even need to transport his cars there! He works at the track as part of the maintenance team, and some of the benefits that come with that certainly help! ‘Working at the stadium is great and mixing it in with racing is even better, as having the yard at work to use for building and storing the cars in has made it a hell of a lot easier for us and definitely helps a lot.’
Kenton mentioned earlier in the interview that he originally tested the waters with the 1600s in a Back to Basics spec Mk5 Vauxhall Astra, something that turned the heads of some of his peers out on track, but he didn’t stick with the Astras, having dabbled with a few various cars including a Mk6 Ford Fiesta, Mk1 Ford Focus and Focus Estate, but it appears he has found what works for him. ‘The Fiestas seem to be a good all rounder. I’ve seemed to have found my way with them and really enjoy using them. I’ve always wanted to use a Mk7, as they seem like a really good car, so we thought we would try something different for the World Final.’
The 1600 World Final has always been a competitive race, and judging by how close the points have been this season, it looks set to be an even tighter race than usual. It’s a race that you need to be in it to win it, anything can, and does usually happen, but does Kenton have an idea of what he wants to do on the night? ‘I don’t really have a plan as such. I’m just over the moon that I managed to qualify for it. I’d be happy just to finish the race in all honesty, but I guess will see what happens in the night.’
Looking ahead to post-World Final, and what’s in store for Kenton. ‘I’ll be looking at having a full year’s worth of racing and seeing if I can do better than I did this year and aim to not miss a meeting. I want to go out there and have fun and make more memories.’ The 1600s seem to be where Kenton has found his comfort, but is there anything else that takes his eye? ‘I’ve always wanted to have a go in a 1300 Stock Car!’ He admits. ‘It’s always been a formula that’s been a massive part of my life with my dad racing them, and I’ve always wanted to have a go to follow in his footsteps.’
As always, we ask our interviewees to identify their dream 6-a-side team, and with it being close to the 1600 World Final, Kenton has kept it very on-brand with drivers just from the class. ‘My dream 6 a side team in the 1600s would be 15 Jack Maddox, 512 Kieron Rowe, 267 Danny Grady, 165 Charlie Barwell, 415 Scott Cornish and myself.’
Most drivers couldn’t do this without the team behind them, and that is certainly the case where Kenton is concerned, and so he has a few thank-you’s he’d like to finish on. ‘I can’t thank my dad enough for all his hard work and effort he’s put into my cars and building them, I wouldn’t be able to do it without him. I’ve got to say a big thank you to all the boys who come down on a Tuesday night and give me a hand, I wouldn’t be able to do it without them either!’
We wish Kenton all the best of luck for Saturday! The car looks fantastic, let’s hope it goes just as well!
