DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: Any questions about how Dylan Kwasniewski would handle the switch from one coast to the other in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series were quickly answered by the 17-year-old, regarded as one of stock car racing’s rising stars.
The 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, Kwasniewski had more than proved himself in two years of competition in the western division of NASCAR’s top developmental series. Looking for a different challenge, the Las Vegas, Nev., native has moved to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for 2013. The positive returns proved to be immediate as he won the East season-opener last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in dominant fashion.
As a K&N Pro Series West rookie in 2011, it took Kwasniewski nine races before he first reached Victory Lane. Counting three races last year, he won in his fourth overall K&N Pro Series East appearance.
After he earned this season-opening win at Bristol – a facility unlike any other he had raced out west – the beginning of the season now starts to setup well for Kwasniewski to chase another championship in the east since up next is the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 presented by G-Clean at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway this Saturday.
Kwasniewski made his first K&N Pro Series East appearance in this event at Greenville a year ago. After starting at the rear due to the rainout lineup, he was able to drive to a seventh-place finish at the venerable half mile. While he certainly doesn’t have the same amount of experience at GPS as East veterans like Brett Moffitt or Eddie MacDonald, Kwasniewski has found plenty of success in K&N Pro Series West action on asphalt short tracks, where four of his five wins in that series were recorded.
The transition from the high concrete banks of Bristol to the flat, abrasive asphalt of Greenville will be a challenge for Kwasniewski – as it will for all competitors – but he’s proved in his short career to be adept at adaptation. In 32 combined starts between the K&N Pro Series East and West that include everything from bullrings to road courses to one-mile speedways, Kwasniewski has finished outside the top 10 on just six occasions.
| RACE: | Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 pres. by G-Clean |
|---|---|
| PLACE: | Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway |
| DATE: | Saturday, March 23 |
| TIME: | 8 p.m. ET |
| TV: | SPEED, TBA |
| TRACK LAYOUT: | Half-mile asphalt oval |
| 2012 WINNER: | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 2012 POLESITTER: | None (rain) |
| EVENT SCHEDULE: | Practice 1-1:45 p.m., Final Practice 2:15-3 p.m., Qualifying 6 p.m.; Driver Autograph Session 7 p.m. |
| TRACK CONTACT: | Tammy Hawkins, (864) 269-0852, [email protected] |
| TRACK TWITTER: | @GP_Speedway |
| EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: | #WhitakerChevy150 |
| NASCAR CONTACT: | Jason Cunningham, (704) 201-6658, [email protected], Twitter: @NASCAR_NE |
FAST FACTS
The Race: The eighth edition of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 pres. by G-Clean will mark the 10th all-time event for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at Greenville Pickens Speedway, and the first of two in 2013.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field will be 30 cars, including provisionals. The first 26 starting positions will be based on two-lap time trials and the remaining four will be filled through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps (75 miles) straight through with no tire changes.
The Track: Greenville is a half-mile asphalt oval with five degrees of banking in the turns. The facility opened in 1946 with a dirt racing surface and was paved in 1970. There were 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races held there from 1951-71.
Race Winners: The nine previous K&N Pro Series East races in Greenville have produced eight different winners. Only Darrell Wallace Jr., who took the checkered flag in this event last year, has won at the track twice.
Pole Winners: Like with race winners, there has been only one driver to earn multiple poles at GPS: Brett Moffitt. Moffitt set the qualifying record at 20.534 seconds (87.659 mph) in the 2011 season-opener, and his 2010 pole eclipsed Joey Logano’s series record as the youngest pole winner at 16 years, eight months.
GREENVILLE RACE NOTES
Moffitt the Master at GPS: Among the current entrants for the 2013 version of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway, nobody has found as much success at the historic half mile as Brett Moffitt. In five previous appearances there Moffitt has a win, three top fives and an average finish of seventh. He’s the only driver in series history to earn two poles at the track, and he led all 150 laps from that first starting position en route to his 2011 triumph. Last fall at GPS he led all but two laps – the last two – as he was passed by Corey LaJoie coming to the white flag.
Rookies Run Well at GPS: A track that one might think would favor the veterans has, in fact, proved to be great place for rookies to shine through the years. Rookies have won three of the nine all-time K&N Pro Series East races at Greenville, and many others have turned in top performances. Moffitt, Joey Logano and Cole Whitt all captured the pole while Logano, Austin Dillon and Darrell Wallace Jr. earned wins at GPS in their series debuts. Other rookies to finish in the top five at the track include: Ben Stancil and Ricky Carmichael (2008); Josh Richards and Moffitt (2009); Whitt and D.J. Shaw (2010), Coleman Pressley, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott (2011); Jesse Little and Kyle Larson (2012).
Consecutive Wins to Start a Season: The season-opening winner at Bristol Motor Speedway, Dylan Kwasniewski doesn’t have history on his side if he wants to return to Victory Lane this week in Greenville. The only time in the first 26 years of the K&N Pro Series East that a driver captured the first two checkered flags of a season was Sean Caisse in 2006. Caisse did, however, get one of those wins at GPS – the first one. Caisse followed that with another victory at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway before Bryan Chew ended the brief run at Holland (N.Y.) Motorsports Complex.
HOME TRACKS: Porter Looks To Defend GPS Title
Toby Porter’s first full-time season of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action netted the track championship at Greenville Pickens Speedway in 2012. A former touring series driver, the Greenville native Porter had run part-time at his home track since he turned 16 in the early 1990s, but had never run for a championship prior to last season. The full-time commitment turned out to be worth the effort, however, as Porter nabbed 13 wins and top 10-finishes in all 21 of his Late Model races at GPS to add his name to the backstretch wall that features so many historically-significant track champions. Porter will look to defend his title at GPS in 2013.
LAST TIME OUT: Bristol
The 2013 regular season was launched with the DRIVE4COPD 125 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on March 16. Here are some highlights:
• Next9 driver Dylan Kwasniewski began his first full-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season in Victory Lane. Last year’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, this was his fourth career East appearance.
• Also in just his fourth career K&N Pro Series East appearance, Michael McGuire captured the Bristol pole and led the first 29 laps before he was spun out just after a caution flag came out. He blended back into the field in 26th and worked his way through the field to fourth place at the end.
• Brett Moffitt crossed the line second for his 22nd podium finish in 48 career starts.
• Rev Racing’s Ryan Gifford finished third, the exact same result he record at Bristol in 2012.
NEXT TIME OUT: Pensacola
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track next for the NAPA 150 on Saturday, April 13 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. It will mark the inaugural event for the series at the half-mile asphalt oval, which is the site of the Snowball Derby, the famed annual Super Late Model event. Five Flags has previously played host to only one NASCAR-sanctioned event – a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in 1953.
