DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will head to Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 presented by G-Clean on Saturday, March 23. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series and selected drivers:
Greenville Race Setup:
• The nine previous NASCAR K&N Pro Series East history at Greenville Pickens Speedway have produced eight different race and pole winners.
• Brett Moffitt is the only active driver with a win at GPS. He is also the only driver in series history to record two poles there, and holds the track qualifying record. He also possesses track records for top-five finishes and laps led.
• Eddie MacDonald’s eight starts are the most in series history at GPS, and he’s tied with Moffitt for the most top-10 finishes at the track with five.
• The 2013 season-opener winner, Dylan Kwasniewski, made his NKNPS East debut at GPS in this race a year ago and drove from the rear to finish seventh.
AT GREENVILLE PICKENS SPEEDWAY:
History
• Opened on July 4, 1946 as a dirt track. The race surface was converted to asphalt in April, 1970.
• Held 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71, including the first flag-to-flag televised event.
• David Pearson (1959) and Ralph Earnhardt (1965, 66) are among the famed drivers that have won championships at the track.
Notebook
• The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East held its inaugural Greenville Pickens Speedway race on June 6, 2006 and has returned every year since.
• In this event last year, Darrell Wallace Jr. became the first multi-time race winner at the track.
• Brett Moffitt is the only driver to capture two poles at GPS.
• In the first nine NKNPS East events there have been two drivers that have won from the pole: Joey Logano (2007) and Moffitt (2011). Moffitt also set the track qualifying record in this event in 2011.
• Logano, Austin Dillon (2008) and Wallace (2010) earned their first career NKNPS East wins in events at Greenville.
Greenville Pickens Speedway Data
Race: #2 of 15 overall, #1 of 2 at GPS
Track Layout: .5-mile asphalt oval
• Race Length: 150 laps (75 miles)
• Banking/Corners: 5 degrees
ACTIVE SERIES CAREER LEADERS:
Wins
1. Brett Moffitt … 9
2. Eddie MacDonald … 6
3. Dale Quarterley … 6
Poles
1. Brett Moffitt … 8
2. Dale Quarterley … 4
3. Cale Conley … 2
Eddie MacDonald … 2
Top Fives
1. Dale Quarterley … 31
2. Brett Moffitt … 29
3. Eddie MacDonald … 28
Top 10s
1. Eddie MacDonald … 76
2. Dale Quarterley … 67
3. Brett Moffitt … 35
Laps Completed
1. Eddie MacDonald … 20,466
2. Dale Quarterley … 18,816
3. John Salemi … 8,182
Laps Led
1. Brett Moffitt … 1,532
2. Dale Quarterley … 706
3. Eddie MacDonald … 668
SELECT DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Cale Conley (No. 47 Tait Towers Toyota)
• Has a win, two poles and three top fives in 20 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career races. Those top fives all came in 2012, including his first victory at Columbus Motor Speedway, as did his first pole at Gresham Motorsports Park.
• Has an average finish of 24th with a best result of 19th in four career starts at Greenville Pickens Speedway.
Austin Dyne (No. 99 KMC Wheels Chevrolet)
• Finished 23rd in his NKNPS East debut last week at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Had eight top 10s in 14 NKNPS West starts last year to capture Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
Gray Gaulding (No. 20 Krispy Kreme Toyota)
• Made his NKNPS debut with a runner-up finish in the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway in February.
• Finished sixth in his first official NKNPS East start last week at Bristol.
Brandon Gdovic (No. 46 Aquis Communications/WindStax.com Toyota)
• Has 13 top 10s in 26 career NKNPS East starts with a best finish of third at GPS in 2012.
• Had more than twice as many top 10s last year (nine) as he had during his 2011 rookie season (four).
• Has a pair of top fives and an average finish of 11th in four career starts at GPS.
Ben Kennedy (No. 96 Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet)
• Has 11 top 10s in 28 career NKNPS East starts with a best finish of third on two occasions.
• Nine of those top 10s came last year during his second full season.
• Has an average finish of 14.5 and a best result of ninth in four career races at GPS.
Dylan Kwasniewski (No. 98 Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet)
• Has an win and three top 10s in four career NKNPS East races. Earned that first win last week at Bristol.
• Finished seventh in this race at GPS last year after starting at the rear (29th) due to the rainout lineup.
• The 2011 NKNPS West Sunoco Rookie of the Year and 2012 series champion.
• Had five wins, seven poles, 20 top fives and 24 top 10s in 28 career NKNPS West starts.
Jesse Little (No. 97 NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet)
• Has a pair of top 10s in eight career NKNPS East starts with an average finish of 14th.
• Finished third last fall at GPS, his best career finish to date.
Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet)
• Has six wins, two poles and 76 top 10s in 159 career starts.
• Tied with series champion Kyle Larson for the most top-10 finishes last year with 12.
• Has five top 10s with an average finish of 10th and a best result of third in eight career starts at GPS.
• His eight starts at GPS are the most of any competitor at the track.
Brett Moffitt (No. 11 Don Valley North Toyota Scion Toyota)
• Has nine wins, eight poles, 22 podiums and 35 total top-10 finishes in 48 career starts. Is tied for 12th in NKNPS East history in wins and ranks 12th in poles.
• Has finished in the top three in the final standings in each of his four seasons in the series, and has earned multiple wins each year.
• Has a win, two poles, five top 10s, an average finish of seventh and 295 laps led in six career starts at GPS.
• Holds the GPS qualifying record as well as track-best marks for career laps led and top-five finishes (4).
Bryan Ortiz (No. 4 Nike Toyota)
• Has nine top 10s in 15 NKNPS East races with a best result of third at Bowman Gray Stadium. Also finished third in the non-points event at Daytona’s short track in February.
• Ranked fifth overall and second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings to teammate Kyle Larson in 2012.
• Recorded finishes of 11th and sixth at GPS in 2012.
Kenzie Ruston (No. 34 AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet)
• Made NKNPS East debut last week at Bristol with an 11th-place finish.
• The finish at Bristol was the best by a female driver in NKNPS East action since Danica Patrick crossed the line sixth at Dover International Speedway in 2010.
Daniel Suárez (No. 6 Rev Racing Toyota)
• Has six top 10s in 17 career NKNPS East races with a best result of fifth, twice. Both top-fives occurred at Columbus.
• Finished 10th in this race a year ago, his only previous start at GPS.
• Has two wins, six poles and 22 top 10s in 47 career NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series races.
UP TO SPEED:
• The 2013 season is the 27th for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• The 2013 schedule features 15 races at 13 different tracks across 11 states.
• The competition season opened with the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on Feb. 19 on the short track at Daytona International Speedway. Cameron Hayley won the K&N Pro Series feature.
• Dylan Kwasniewski took the checkered flag in the first points race of the season on March 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He assumed the lead from polesitter Michael McGuire on Lap 30 and held it the rest of the way.
