Kevin Conway (born April 15, 1979) is an American professional stock car racing driver who currently races in the Blancpain Super Trofeo Championship. He is the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year (ROTY), 2014 Super Trofeo World Champion, and two-time North American Super Trofeo Series Champion. Conway has raced in motocross, legends, the World Karting Association, United States Automobile Club (USAC), American Speed Association (ASA), NASCAR's regional K&N Pro Series West, and all three of NASCAR's national touring series.
A protege of Cup Series winner Ernie Irvan and longtime test driver for Cup teams, Conway is best known for his association with the male enhancement product ExtenZe from 2009 to 2011. The sponsorship led ultimately to Conway's first full-time NASCAR season and ROTY effort in 2010, but also led to lawsuits from former teams due to unpaid sponsorship funds. Conway appeared on Shark Tank in 2021 as a business partner for the company “Phoozy”, which made specialized smartphone cases.
Racing career
Early career
Conway began his career racing at age six, running AMA motocross, go-karts, and winged midget cars. Moving to Charlotte, North Carolina as a teenager, Conway became the youngest legends car national champion in 1994, at the age of 15. Conway would later race late model stock cars in NASCAR's regional Dodge Weekly Racing Series.
2002–2005
Conway moved to major-league stock car racing in 2002, when he made his debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. His first race came in the No. 17 Eagle One/Valvoline Chevrolet for A. J. Henriksen, Ernie Irvan, and George deBidart at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he started fifth and finished thirteenth after a rear axle problem late in the race. In his next race that fall at Lowe's he finished seventh. Conway also served as a test driver for NASCAR Winston Cup Series team MB2 Motorsports.
In 2003, Conway made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Atlanta in the No. 22 for Bost Racing, qualifying 27th and finishing 33rd. In 2004 he made his career debut in the Winston West Series at Fontana in the No. 28 Ford owned by Ernie Irvan, racing against Cup Series regular Ken Schrader and future Cup drivers Clint Bowyer and David Gilliland. Conway qualified and finished fifth after leading much of the race. Conway attempted three Busch Series races in 2004, failing to qualify for all three. In 2005, Conway signed to run the No. 03 Chevrolet for Gary Keller and Mark Smith, but failed to qualify for the first two races of the season. He made his only start of the season at Darlington Raceway in the No. 43 Channellock/Supra Boats Dodge for the Curb Agajanian Performance Group, where he finished 29th.
2006
In 2006, he declared for Busch Series Rookie of the Year honors, driving the No. 58 Carver Racing Dodge, which was in the process of purchasing equipment from Glynn Motorsports. After the team switched to the No. 40 for Richmond, the team suspended operations, leaving Conway out of a ride after four starts. He competed in the West Series once again at Irwindale Speedway for James Pritchard, where he finished eighth.
2007
In 2007, Conway joined Joe Gibbs Racing's Busch program, signing on for eight races in the team's No. 18 Chevrolet. Conway brought sponsorship from Z-Line Designs, who partnered with him on the recommendation of former driver Lake Speed, and shared the ride with drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Brad Coleman and Aric Almirola. Conway struggled in the ride, having an average finish of 29.4, 9 positions worse than his teammates in the same ride. He was released at the end of the 2007 season, though Z-Line would continue to sponsor JGR.
2009: Various Cup/Nationwide teams
After spending the 2008 season out of NASCAR, Conway returned in 2009 with sponsorship from his male enhancement product ExtenZe. He began racing midway through the season in the No. 87 for Braun Racing (using the No. 87 owners points from NEMCO Motorsports), and had a career-best fifteenth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway. He also ran a race for R3 Motorsports and later K Automotive Racing to finish out the Nationwide season. He made his first Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix, finishing nineteenth in Rob Fuller's truck, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for a Sprint Cup race in the No. 70 TRG Motorsports Chevy.