Suarez Edges Hayley at New Smyrna
Second Career K&N East Win For D4D, NASCAR Next Driver
NEW SMYRNA, Fla. – Offseason did nothing to slow Daniel Suárez’s momentum.
The Monterrey, Mexico, driver held off Cameron Hayley in a door-to-door battle of NASCAR’s rising stars to win the New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS Sunday night at New Smyrna Speedway. The race was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener and the inaugural visit to the banked half-mile.
Driving for Rev Racing and NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity, the 22-year-old Suárez picked up his second career victory and gave Rev Racing its 13th win since 2010.
“The car was really good tonight on the long runs,” said the victor. “It was really awesome on the high line in Turns 1 and 2.”
It marked Suárez’s sixth top-three finishes in eight NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races dating back to last year. And it was his second straight NASCAR touring series win; Suárez won the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series finale at Mexico City in November. Suarez is also a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young, talented drivers.
Hayley, 17, won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Company earlier in the day. But it was Suárez and Brandon Jones, 16, who led the way for most of the night. Jones led 34 laps before giving way to Suárez on Lap 48 and eventually finishing third.
“We dropped back early on and that’s what we had planned,” said Hayley. “We wanted to be sixth at the halfway break and that’s where we were. I could have been a little more aggressive there at the end with Daniel, but it was a good night for the No. 98 Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet.”
Ben Rhodes and Lee Pulliam rounded out the top five. It was the series’ debut for Pulliam, the two-time defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion.
A late race caution set the stage for tense closing laps. Pulliam restarted alongside Suárez, slipped up and dropped out of the top five.
That allowed Suárez to get away and Hayley to move back into second.
With four to go, Hayley muscled his way alongside Suárez. They rubbed and stayed side-by-side, with Suárez leading by inches to the white flag and beating Hayley to the finish by .083 seconds.
“I was waiting for (Pulliam) and I don’t know where Cameron came from, said Suárez. “I knew his car was fast since he was the polesitter, but he kind of snuck up on me.”
Kenzie Ruston finished sixth, followed by Gray Gaulding, Mackena Bell, Brandon Gdovic and rookie Kaz Grala.
Ruston led four laps in the early going and became the first female driver in the series to lead a lap since Danica Patrick in September 2010 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will get right back at it. The series will be part of the UNOH Battle At The Beach Tuesday on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway, along with the non-points special event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tours.
With the quick turnaround, Suárez and his No. 6 Sunoco Race Fuels Toyota have to put this win behind them pretty quickly.
“It would be great to get two wins in three days, but we have to keep working hard to make that happen,” said Suárez. “We’re off to a good start and want to keep it going.”
Hayley won last year’s inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona which was a non-points combination event with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, but this year’s edition is a championship points event for the K&N East.
“We’ll head up to Daytona on Tuesday to redeem myself for tonight and get the win,” Hayley said.
The New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS will air on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday at 9 a.m.
LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | RESULTS | AUDIO: SECOND-PLACE CAMERON HAYLEY
Sources: NASCAR PR
NKNPS East New Smyrna 2/16/14 Results
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPSE New Smyrna 2/16/14
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 11 6 Daniel Suarez Sunoco Racing Fuel Toyota 150 48 5 Running
2 1 98 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet 150 42 Running
3 10 33 Brandon Jones Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet 150 42 1 Running
4 2 41 Ben Rhodes * Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 150 40 Running
5 5 11 Lee Pulliam * Don Valley North Toyota 150 39 Running
6 6 96 Kenzie Ruston Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet 150 39 1 Running
7 8 20 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Chevrolet 150 38 1 Running
8 18 21 Mackena Bell Special Smiles Toyota 150 36 Running
9 17 46 Brandon Gdovic American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota 150 35 Running
10 21 31 Kaz Grala * OzLINK Chevrolet 150 34 Running
11 24 99 Patrick Staropoli * PEAK Toyota 150 33 Running
12 15 52 Matt Tifft Federated Auto Parts Dodge 150 32 Running
13 16 24 Brennan Newberry Qore24 Chevrolet 150 31 Running
14 3 16 Brandon McReynolds NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 150 30 Running
15 14 15 Nick Drake * NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 150 29 Running
16 12 1 David Garbo, Jr. * Garbo Lobster Toyota 150 28 Running
17 22 71 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Contracting Chevrolet 150 27 Running
18 13 97 Jesse Little Vanacore Homes/NTI Chevrolet 150 26 Running
19 23 4 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota 150 25 Running
20 4 43 Brodie Kostecki * Arcoplate Toyota 150 24 Running
21 9 34 Scott Heckert Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet 150 23 Running
22 20 4 Sergio Pena UTI/NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota 149 22 Running
23 25 2 Ryan Gifford Toyota Racing Development Toyota 149 21 Running
24 29 42 Jay Beasley * Toyota Racing Development Toyota 149 20 Running
25 19 75 Nathan Russell * VSI Racing/Russell Stone Products Chevrolet 148 19 Running
26 28 7 Clint King * Warehouse Design Chevrolet 135 18 Off Track
27 7 22 Austin Hill * A&D Welding Ford 116 18 1 Off Track
28 27 18 Sam Hunt Paragon Energy Holdings Toyota 104 16 Running
29 30 51 Rusty Skewes * Top Gun Motorsports Chevrolet 66 15 Accident
30 26 55 Jerry Dawson * EXIT Realty Chevrolet 58 14 Handling
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Cameron Hayley, Time: 18.477 Seconds, Speed: 93.522 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 5 mins, 52 secs Average Speed: 65.587 mph Margin of Victory: .083 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 31-35; 67-72; 137-141. 3 for 16 laps.
Lap Leaders: Cameron Hayley (grid), Austin Hill * 1-3, Kenzie Ruston 4-7, Gray Gaulding 8-12, Brandon Jones 13-47, Daniel Suarez 48-150.
Total Laps Led: Daniel Suarez 103, Brandon Jones 35, Gray Gaulding 5, Kenzie Ruston 4, Austin Hill * 3. 5 changes involving 6 drivers.
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
STANDINGS
2014 Unofficial Driver Standings: New Smyrna
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPSE New Smyrna 2/16/14
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Daniel Suarez 48 1 1 1 1
2 Cameron Hayley 42 1 0 1 1
3 Brandon Jones 42 1 0 1 1
4 Ben Rhodes * 40 1 0 1 1
5 Lee Pulliam * 39 1 0 1 1
6 Kenzie Ruston 39 1 0 0 1
7 Gray Gaulding 38 1 0 0 1
8 Mackena Bell 36 1 0 0 1
9 Brandon Gdovic 35 1 0 0 1
10 Kaz Grala * 34 1 0 0 1
11 Patrick Staropoli * 33 1 0 0 0
12 Matt Tifft 32 1 0 0 0
13 Brennan Newberry 31 1 0 0 0
14 Brandon McReynolds 30 1 0 0 0
15 Nick Drake * 29 1 0 0 0
16 David Garbo, Jr. * 28 1 0 0 0
17 Eddie MacDonald 27 1 0 0 0
18 Jesse Little 26 1 0 0 0
19 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * 25 1 0 0 0
20 Brodie Kostecki * 24 1 0 0 0
21 Scott Heckert 23 1 0 0 0
22 Sergio Pena 22 1 0 0 0
23 Ryan Gifford 21 1 0 0 0
24 Jay Beasley * 20 1 0 0 0
25 Nathan Russell * 19 1 0 0 0
26 Clint King * 18 1 0 0 0
27 Austin Hill * 18 1 0 0 0
28 Sam Hunt 16 1 0 0 0
29 Rusty Skewes * 15 1 0 0 0
30 Jerry Dawson * 14 1 0 0 0
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate
STANDINGS
2014 Unofficial Owner Standings: New Smyrna
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPSE New Smyrna 2/16/14
Pos Owner Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 Max Siegel #6 48 1 1 1 1 1
2 Mike Curb #98 42 1 0 1 1 1
3 Steve Turner #33 42 1 0 1 1 1
4 Steve Turner #41 40 1 0 1 1 1
5 Shigeaki Hattori #11 39 1 0 1 1 1
6 Benjamin Kennedy #96 39 1 0 0 1 1
7 Bob Newberry #20 38 1 0 0 1 1
8 Jennifer Satterfield #21 36 1 0 0 1 1
9 Rick Gdovic #46 35 1 0 0 1 1
10 Steve Turner #31 34 1 0 0 1 1
11 Bill McAnally #99 33 1 0 0 0 1
12 Ken Schrader #52 32 1 0 0 0 1
13 Bob Newberry #24 31 1 0 0 0 1
14 Bill McAnally #16 30 1 0 0 0 1
15 Bill McAnally #15 29 1 0 0 0 1
16 Shigeaki Hattori #1 28 1 0 0 0 1
17 Rob Grimm #71 27 1 0 0 0 1
18 Jason Little #97 26 1 0 0 0 1
19 Ronnie Bassett #04 25 1 0 0 0 1
20 Andrew Kostecki #43 24 1 0 0 0 1
21 Harry Scott, Jr. #34 23 1 0 0 0 1
22 Max Siegel #4 22 1 0 0 0 1
23 Max Siegel #2 21 1 0 0 0 1
24 Max Siegel #42 20 1 0 0 0 1
25 Daniel Russell #75 19 1 0 0 0 1
26 David King #07 18 1 0 0 0 1
27 Bryan Hill #22 18 1 0 0 0 1
28 Shayne Lockhart #18 16 1 0 0 0 1
29 Rusty Skewes #51 15 1 0 0 0 1
30 Derek Beatrice #55 14 1 0 0 0 1