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The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East makes its annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, July 11, 2014.
Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM) driver Ben Rhodes continued his dominance last time out at Langley Speedway for his fourth consecutive victory and his fifth in the last six races.
The 17-year-old driver is pulling away in the points standings and has a comfortable 73 point lead on second-place Gray Gaulding.
Rhodes will look for his fifth consecutive victory in Friday’s Granite State 100 and try to tie Ricky Craven’s mark set back in 1991 during the Busch Series North days.
His teammate, 15-year-old Kaz Grala, is looking forward to racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and will be his first time racing on a track one mile in length.
“The closest I have seen was Iowa (Speedway), which was 7/8ths (of a mile),” Grala said on the Fan4Racing radio show Monday night. “Loudon should be a little bit different, especially with it being flatter, I think it’s probably a feel like other NASCAR tracks, so it’s definitely going to be a learning curve for me, but I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Grala hails from Massachusetts and doesn’t feel any pressure racing in front of his family and friends.
“Once the green flag falls, it’s just another race,” he added. “You’re hoping it’s gonna go well in front of your friends and family, but you’re definitely not thinking about that while you’re racing. Probably, it’s more before (the race).”
The TSM driver scored his best career finish with a fifth at Langley and will look to improve on it in Friday’s race.
Like Grala, Cunningham Motorsports driver Anderson Bowen will also race on a one mile track for the first time. Bowen was in a first-lap accident in the ARCA race at Winchester Speedway last weekend.
Australian-born driver Brodie Kostecki returns this week after suffering a wrist injury from a wreck at Iowa back in May. Kostecki won the pole there and led some laps in the early going.
A dark horse to look out for the Granite State 100 is Grimm Racing driver Eddie MacDonald. The Massachusetts driver has the most wins of any active driver at Loudon with three, but hasn’t won at the one-mile track since September 2009.
MacDonald will also be pulling double-duty this weekend, as he will pilot the No. 32 Ford for Go Fas Racing in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
The K&N East race returns to the July weekend after being run in September for the past two years.
Friday’s Granite State 100 will start at 6 p.m. ET and will air on TV on Sunday, July 20 at noon ET on FOX Sports 1. NASCAR Home Tracks will give live updates to follow throughout the race.