K&N Pro Series West News & Notes
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will join the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series in Southern California this week with the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale Speedway. Irwindale, just 36 miles down I-210 from Auto Club Speedway, is a half-mile short-track jewel that features weekly Whelen All-American Series racing and has played host to the K&N Pro Series West 21 times since 1999.
The NAPA Auto Parts 150 will be Race No. 2 on the 2014 schedule for the K&N West, which opened on Feb. 27 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Pursley was victorious in the West’s last trip to Irwindale in 2011.
Irwindale Speedway is hosting their first K&N Pro Series West race since July 2011 and is embracing the return of the series to their track.
“We’re pleased to have the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West back at Irwindale Speedway,” said Doug Stokes vice president of communications for the Irwindale Event Center. “Putting up a strong showing at Irwindale is always a good sign for any race team. This is the track that always asks the max from cars, drivers and crews and that consistently has produced some of the most competitive races on the K&N West calendar.”
In addition to the 21 K&N West events, the facility hosted the Toyota All-Star Showdown from 2003-11 including several NASCAR series over that span, but always including the K&N Pro Series West.
Of the cars entered into the NAPA Auto Parts 150, only a dozen or so have experience at the track in a K&N car, with a handful of them having just one start under their belts. Pursley is the only past winner in the field. Jack Sellars leads all drivers with 18 Irwindale starts followed by Brett Thompson with 15. Both Sellars and Thompson are expected to be on hand for the race on Saturday.
Brandon McReynolds has three K&N West starts to his credit, but the NAPA 150 is his first at Irwindale. It will be his first at any series track not named Phoenix International Raceway where each of his three entries occurred.
Patrick Staropoli is making his K&N West season début at Irwindale. The Harvard graduate has made three K&N Pro Series East starts this season and is fourth in the point standings with a pair of top-ten finishes.
The Phoenix opener commonly draws drivers from NASCAR’s other series and this year was no exception. But four of the top-five in series’ points are not on hand at Irwindale. Only Greg Pursley, fourth, will participate in the NAPA Auto Parts 150. Points leader Cole Custer is a part-time K&N Pro Series competitor, while Brennan Newberry (2nd) and Nick Drake (3rd) are full-time K&N East drivers, competing at Greenville Pickens Speeday on March 22nd. Fifth-ranked DJ Kennington is a perennial championship contender in the Canadian Tire Series.
As a lead-in to the series’ return to Southern California, K&N Engineering is hosting a Meet & Greet event at its Victoria Gardens store at 7833 Monet Ave, in Ranch Cucamonga. Several drivers are participating from 7 to 8 pm PT on Thursday, March 20.
Throughout the season, last year’s series’ Rookie of the Year, Dylan Lupton is making school visits with the message that young people can chase their dreams and still remain in school. In conjunction with the Irwindale event, Lupton is making stops at Jefferson Middle School in San Gabriel, CA from 9 to 9:45 am PT and Las Palmas Middle School in Covina, CA, From 1:10 to 1:50 pm PT. Both visits are on Thursday, March 20.
The one-lap qualifying record is by Butch Gilliland on June 19, 1999 at 17.871 seconds, 100.722-mph. The 150-lap race record is by Austin Cameron at , 1 hour, 0 minutes, 16 seconds 75.664-mph on Oct. 23, 2004.
Whelen Southern Modified Tour News & Notes
JR Bertuccio scored a surprise victory in Whelen Southern Modified Tour action last Saturday at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, N.C. It was Bertuccio’s first triumph in 56 combined starts between NASCAR’s two Whelen Modified Tours. After two events Bertuccio leads Andy Seuss by a single point in the standings while three-time defending champion George Brunnhoelzl III is five points back.