Quinnton Bear and Noah Gragson Join Wauters Motorsports for SpeedFest 200

Noah Gragson at 9 pm ET on Monday, January 25, 2016. Photo - Courtesy of Wauters Motorsports

Noah Gragson at 9 pm ET on Monday, January 25, 2016. Photo – Courtesy of Wauters Motorsports

Noah Gragson is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, January 25, 2016 at 9 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.

Bear Set to Start in 15 SLM Races for Wauters in 2016 

Quinnton Bear, of Avon, Indiana and Noah Gragson, the Las Vegas, Nevada high school junior are set to pilot the Wauters Motorsports Toyota Camrys in the annual SpeedFest 200 at Crisp Motorsports Park – Home of the Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia on Jan. 31.

This will be Bear’s second start at the D-shaped, banked oval.  He competed in the JEGS Series at the famed Crisp Motorsports Park in 2015.  The 19 year old has two previous Super Late Model (SLM) starts in the Champion Racing Association (CRA) division in 2015, where he finished fifth at Winchester Speedway and ninth at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Bear, who finished third in overall points and was name rookie of the year in the JEGS Series in 2015, will also compete in 15 SLM races with Wauters Motorsports in both the CRA Series and the Southern Super Series (SSS) in 2016.  

“Cordele is a fun little racetrack; it is narrow and has no wall on the backstretch, which is a little sketchy,” says Bear.  “I was able to adapt fairly quickly last year and I’m hoping for the same thing this year in a Super Late Model car.  I’m extremely excited about running against drivers such as Kyle Busch next weekend.  My goal is to get a lot of seat time in 2016 in the SLM cars, be competitive and make sure I am able to compete for the win at each event. I have 100% faith in Richie (Wauters), the car and the team and I’m ready to run with the big dogs and hopefully be very competitive with them this season.”

Gragson, in just his first year in stock car racing, was second in overall points and the rookie of the year winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West division in 2015.

“This will be my first race at this track,” says Gragson. “I’ve been watching videos and trying to learn as much as I can before I get to Georgia next week.  I’m super excited about racing with top NASCAR names like Kyle Busch at SpeedFest – that will be cool!  I’ve been watching Richie’s (Wauters) teams in the past and the awesome results they have had in SLM cars and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I’m honored and a little humbled to be able to drive for the Wauters Motorsports guys.  It really is a great opportunity for me to race with them.  My goal is to learn as much as I can and be competitive for him and the team in SpeedFest.”

On track action begins for the ARCA/CRA SpeedFest 2016 at Crisp Motorsports Park – Home of the Watermelon Capital Speedway Saturday, Jan. 30 with practice and qualifying.  The 200-lap CRA SLM event will follow the JEGS/ CRA Pro Late Model race Sunday, Jan.31 at 2 pm.

Speed51.com will provide trackside coverage and additionally will have live PPV video broadcast of SpeedFest.