HAMPTON, VA :: Dylan Kwasniewski edged Daniel Suárez to win the Visit Hampton VA 175 in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition at Langley Speedway on Saturday.
It marks the third win this season for the 18-year-old Las Vegas driver, one of 13 drivers named to the 2013 NASCAR Next program earlier this month. The triumph was his eighth overall in K&N Pro Series action as he collected five while racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West over two seasons.
Kwasniewski, who started from the outside pole position, led a race-high 132 laps in making his first appearance at the .396-mile track, slipped by pole sitter Brett Moffitt on Lap 46 to put his No. 98 Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet out front to stay. He faced multiple challenges throughout the event, with the final one coming in a green-white-checkered finish as he held off Suárez – who had a career-best series finish.
“It was tough holding off (Suarez) on those restarts, but I felt we were the car to beat,” said Kwasniewski. “I would have preferred not to have all those and just stay out front, but we stayed calm and didn’t spin the tires or anything. I’m really happy to get out of here with the win.”
“In the first five or so laps after the restarts his car was really strong,” said Suárez. “I think if we had some longer runs in there, then maybe we could have done something.”Suárez, from Monterrey, Mexico, tried everything possible to get the edge in the closing laps, but just couldn’t combat the power of the Kwasniewski machine.
Jesse Little mounted a charge on the green-white-checkered finish for third place. The result equals his best series finish first accomplished last October at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway.
“Qualifying getting rained out put us in a bit of bind (in terms of starting position), but we had a car good enough to drive up through the field,” he said. “Everybody raced me clean and it was a blast getting up here. Our time is coming. I really feel that.”
Cale Conley and Ryan Gifford crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth, respectively, while Matt Tifft, Ben Kennedy, Austin Dyne, Eddie MacDonald and Brandon Gdovic completed the top 10.
The lineup for the race had been set per the rule book after qualifying was cancelled due to showers earlier in the day.
The race was slowed due to caution 12 times for 62 laps which was a series high in both categories in three outings at the Southeastern Virginia track.
Kwasniewski is competing in the K&N East this season after winning the championship last year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. And with this win he took the points lead from Moffitt, who battled a tight race car all night long and fell to second in the standings. Ben Kennedy, Brandon Gdovic and Ryan Gifford – all K&N East winners this season – hold down the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
“We needed the win to get past (Moffitt) in points,” said Kwasniewski. “Now, we have to stay here.”
The Visit Hampton VA 175, the seventh event of a 15-race series schedule, is scheduled to air on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on June 27.
The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule is the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway on July 13.
