Inducted for auto racing, Ken Barnhart was considered a top drag racer.  In 1958, he won the prestigious Class Championship at the Automobile Timing Association of America (ATAA) and in 1959 Ken won the Top Speed and Class Championship at the Midwest Championships. He was the Class Top Eliminator at the 1959 ATAA World Series of Drag Racing, the Class Winner at the Oswego Dragway Season Championship and the Class Runner-up at the National Hot Rod Association’s (NHRA) Fifth Annual Nationals in Detroit.  He claimed two classes in two different cars in the Top Twenty Benefit Meet in 1960. In 1961, Barnhart won the Class Championship at the Top Twenty and at the NHRA Nationals. In 1962, he was the Class Eliminator and Top Speed winner at the World Series of Drag Racing. In 1970, Barnhart won the Super Stock Class B title at the World Series of Drag Racing and the Class Championship at the NHRA Nationals. The following year, he was Class Runner-up at the NHRA Spring Nationals.