Jesse Little at 9:30 pm ET on Thursday, July 14, 2016
Photo – Courtesy of RJR
Jesse Little is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR Weekend Preview, Thursday, July 14, 2016 at 9:30 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @AaronBearden93 with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
Competing this weekend with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is what third generation racer, Jesse Little is all revved up about. Little is returning to competition this weekend in the Rette Jones Racing No. 29 as a previous race winner at the one-mile oval.
Looking to revisit Victory Lane this weekend, Little and his Matt Noyce led team are preparing for Saturday afternoon’s United Site Services 70.
“I’ve been looking forward to this coming weekend for a long time,” said Little. “I picked up my first win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in New Hampshire in 2014 with Chad Little Outdoor Power Equipment on board and I’m fortunate to have them help out again for this year’s race. I feel confident in myself along with my Rette Jones Racing that we have what it takes to send our Toyota Camry to Victory Lane.”
Earlier this season Little competed with Rette Jones Racing at Mobile International Speedway, finishing third in his season debut. That along with his 2014 victory at NHMS gives Little and his team some reason for optimism this weekend.
“I was running third in 2014 and I was challenging for the lead when the two leaders wrecked and I scooted by,” Little recalled. “I couldn’t believe it happened. Of course, that’s not ideally how I wanted to win my first race, but we were contending all day long and we’re just in the right place and the right time to take advantage of some others misfortunes.
“We need to find ourselves in a similar scenario this weekend. It’s an incredibly short race. Only 70 laps long. That will go by in a hurry, but as a team we need to make sure we’re doing our job to put not only our No. 29 Chad Little Outdoor Power Equipment Toyota Camry out front, but my teammate Dominique Van Wieringen too.”
In addition to having won at NHMS, Little’s experience gives him some advantage over his competitors with a tight schedule for the weekend.
“Compared to other races in the past, our schedule is very, very condensed,” added Little. “Our practice will be over before we know it and then we’ll have group qualifying. That bit us at Bristol, but hopefully all that bad luck is in the past and we’ll have a granite effort all weekend.
“The track really suits my driving style where we reach high speeds, but also have to drive the corners similar to that of a short track. Matt (Noyce, crew chief) knows the feeling I’m looking for and we’ve spent a lot of time this week bouncing ideas off each other. New Hampshire here we come.”
At the age of 15.Little made history by becoming the youngest driver to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, making his series debut at Richmond International Raceway. With 43 series’ starts he has two wins, three poles, 12 top-fives and 20 top-ten finishes.
Little is a member of the NASCAR Next program, an industry initiative spotlighting the sport’s rising stars and boosting fan recognition around talented young drivers making their way toward NASCAR Sprint Cup Series mainstays.
In addition to Chad Little Outdoor Power Equipment, the team’s No. 29 entry will carry support from the NASCAR Technical Institute, UTI, Performance Friction Brakes, Racing Electronics, Penske Shocks and Mac’s Speed Shop in the ninth race of the 2016 season.
Making his 45th career K&N Pro Series start Saturday, the Sherrills Ford, North Carolina native has three poles, two wins at New Hampshire and Iowa Speedway, 13 top-fives and 21 top-ten runs over a span of five seasons and 44 starts.
Adding to his limited schedule in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, 19-year-old Little, is also running select NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, including Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season, under an alliance between Team Little Racing, ThorSport Racing and Rette Jones Racing.
The United Site Services 70 practice is Friday, July 15 from 6 to 6:45 pm ET with a final practice from 6:55 to 7:15 pm ET. Group qualifying will take place a short time later at 7:30 pm ET. The race will take the green flag the next day, Saturday, July 16 around 6:45 pm ET after the NASCAR XFINITY Series AutoLotto 200. Follow all the action on Race Central powered by Speed51 at the NASCAR Hometracks website.
The K&N Pro Series East, United Site Services 70 will broadcast on NBC Sports Network on Thursday, July 21 at 11:00 pm ET.