Brennan Newberry is Building Momentum in K&N Pro Series

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Brennan Newberry is our next guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, March 3rd at 9 pm ET. Fans can call 347-996-5176 during the LIVE broadcast to interact with Brennan Newberry and our Fan4Racing panel. 

Last Thursday at Phoenix International Raceway, Brennan Newberry made his third start of the 2014 season after racing in two K&N Pro Series East events during Speedweeks. The K&N Pro Series West season opener, the Talking Stick Resort 75, is the first of 14 races on their schedule this year. Newberry plans to return for their next race at Phoenix on November 6, 2014.

Brennan Newberry and his team left Phoenix, the jewel of the desert, proving to everyone they have what it takes to bring home wins in 2014. For the Bakersfield, CA native, the good run came close to Newberry’s west coast roots and in front of his hometown friends and family, as well as his sponsor, Qore-24 executives. Newberry and Crew Chief John Monsam led their 24 team to a runner-up finish giving them plenty of momentum as they head to their next event at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 15th.

The Talking Stick Resort 75 was a spectacular one-day show, with both practice sessions, qualifying and the race all held during the heat of the day. After the first of two practice sessions, Newberry and Monsam knew they had a strong car with a lot of speed. The NTS Motorsports No. 24 team recorded their fastest lap of 27.687 and sat fourth on the speed charts following both practice sessions.

For qualifying Newberry, rolled off pit road 12th of 29 cars and after two green-flag circuits, Newberry posted a time of 27.846, giving the team a start on the outside of the fourth row in eighth.

“Although we didn’t grab the pole in qualifying, the track changes so much as the sun goes down, in the race and I knew we would be fast toward the end,” said Newberry going into the event.

With the green flag at 5:15 pm and after starting eighth, Newberry worked his way into sixth when the first caution flag of the race waved on the second lap. Restarts reinforced the No. 24 team’s strong showing throughout the race, as they there were several cautions and one red flag condition.

“We had a car that was great on short runs so I had to make sure that I made every restart count,” said Newberry after the race.

With a strong Arizona sun still shining, Newberry was saving his equipment and waiting for the car to come to him as the racing surface cooled closer to sunset. On lap 15 of 75, Newberry found himself in seventh working lap traffic while keeping the leaders within his sight. The second caution came on lap 28 and Newberry radioed his team;

“We started out a little bit free but the car is really coming to me now.”

At 25 laps to go, Newberry worked his way into the top-five and was catching the leaders while laying down lap times that topped the charts. As the track cooled, the No. 24 Qore machine heated up and began picking the way to the front. After an extended clean-up in turn one, the red flag was out, with 15 laps remaining. After 13 minutes of cooling on the backstretch, Newberry restarted inside the top-five with 12 laps left to race.

At three laps of competition remaining, Newberry placed himself inside the top-three when a caution came out, to set-up a green-white-checkered finish. Newberry had just two laps to catch the leader. Trouble for the second-place car set Newberry on the outside of the front row for a restart in overtime.

Coming to the white flag after the restart, Newberry kept close to the leader and had four corners to make a pass with one mile left to race. Newberry made his way to the bumper of the front-runner and raced him clean going into turn three. On lap 80 and with the checkered flag within sight, Newberry finished with a very strong second place.

Photo - Chris Anderson/CIA

Photo – Chris Anderson/CIA

“Phoenix is my favorite track,” Newberry said. “We’ve had a lot of speed in the cars this year and came in with a lot of confidence. At the end, though, I wanted to race the leader clean, so we are happy with second tonight.”

“After Phoenix, we have a lot of positive momentum going into our next event at Bristol. I knew our car was going to be fast in Arizona and I have to thank John Monsam and my entire NTS Motorsports crew for the Chevrolet Impala they gave me to race. Coming close to the end of the race, having a shot at the win against Cole Custer was amazing. Putting on a great show in front of my family and Arizona-based sponsor, Qore-24 Purifier, makes the trip back to the east coast even sweeter.

Crew chief, John Monsam agrees with his team’s driver and sees this race as a big step in the right direction toward their bigger goals.

“It was a great trip for the Qore-24 NTS Motorsports team. I am so pleased with the progress that Brennan, the team, and I are making with our communication. We have taken a big step in our progression this week and our goal is to always be a top-five team. With that comes the opportunity to win races and with wins comes championships. I have to thank Bob Newberry, Dwayne Gaulding, Doug Howe, and everyone at NTS Motorsports. I look forward to being part of Brennan’s first win.”