K&N Pro East Stat Advance: Greenville

By admin April 5, 2017 Greenville-Pickens, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East

Analyzing The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East heads next to the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina, on Saturday, April 8. Below is a look at the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 and some of the selected participants.

Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 Race Setup:

  • Ronnie Bassett Jr. leads the early NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings thanks to his win in the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway in February.
  • Bassett joins a host of drivers seeking their first Greenville Pickens Speedway win, with Kyle Benjamin being the only previous Greenville winner entered in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150.
  • The last three drivers to win at Greenville in the spring — Ben Rhodes, William Byron, and Justin Haley — all went on to win the series championship.

At Greenville Pickens Speedway:

History:

  • Opened on July 4, 1946, as a dirt track. The surface was converted to asphalt in April 1970.
  • Held 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71, including the first flag-to-flag televised event.
  • David Pearson (1959) and Ralph Earnhardt (1965, 66) are among the famed drivers that have won championships at the track.
  • Junior Miller won a pair of NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour races at Greenville in the 2006-07 seasons.

Notebook:

  • This is the series’ 17th visit to Greenville Pickens Speedway.
  • The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East held its inaugural race at Greenville on June 6, 2006, and has returned every year since.
  • Justin Haley, who won the 2017 series championship, and Kyle Benjamin won the two races at Greenville last season.
  • Darrell Wallace Jr. is the only driver in series history to win two races at Greenville (2010, 2012).
  • In the first 16 K&N East events, there have been five drivers that have won from the pole: Joey Logano (2007), Brett Moffitt (2011), Dylan Kwasniewski (2013), Ben Rhodes (2014) and Kyle Benjamin (2016).
  • Logano, Austin Dillon (2008), Brandon Gdovic (2013), Wallace (2010), Rhodes (2014), Byron (2015) and Justin Haley (2016) all earned their first career K&N East win at Greenville.

Greenville Data:

Race: #2 of 14 overall

Race Date: Saturday, April 8, 7 p.m. ET

Track Layout: .500-mile semi-banked paved oval

Banking/Corners: 5 degrees

Race Length: 150 laps (75 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data:

2016 Winner: Justin Haley

2016 Pole Sitter: Kyle Benjamin

1-lap Qualifying Record: Brett Moffitt, 87.659 mph (20.534 seconds, April 2011)

150-mile Race Record: Brandon Gdovic, 72.058 mph (April 2013)

Category Leaders at New Smyrna:

Wins

Darrell Wallace Jr. … 2

14 other drivers … 1

Poles

Brett Moffitt … 3

Ben Rhodes … 2

Kyle Benjamin … 2

9 other drivers … 1

Laps completed

  1. Eddie MacDonald … 1,636
  2. Ryan Gifford … 1,317
  3. Brett Moffitt … 1,163

Laps led

  1. Brett Moffitt … 356
  2. Kyle Benjamin … 262
  3. Darrell Wallace Jr. … 171

Selected Driver Highlights:

Hunter Baize (No. 13 U.S. Forensic Toyota)

  • Finished fourth in the final series standings as a rookie last season with one top five and 10 top 10s in 14 starts.
  • Posted a career-best finish of fifth at Iowa in July.
  • Qualified 13th and finished seventh at New Smyrna in the season opener.
  • Has a career-best finish of 10th in two starts at Greenville.

Ronnie Bassett Jr. (No. 04 Bassett Gutters & More Chevrolet)

  • Earned his first career win in the season opener at New Smyrna in February.
  • Has three top five finishes in six career starts at Greenville, including a second-place finish at the track in 2014.
  • Qualified third and finished third in this race last season.

Kyle Benjamin (No. 40 MDM Motorsports Toyota)

  • Making his 2017 series debut at Greenville.
  • Finished second in the final K&N Pro Series East standings in 2016 with three wins, nine top fives and 11 top 10s in 14 races.
  • Swept both pole positions at Greenville last season, finishing second in this race and winning the fall race at the track.
  • Is second all-time in laps led at Greenville with 262 and is the only driver entered this weekend with a win at the track.
  • Has an average starting position of 4.7 and average finishing position of 5.0 in three career starts at Greenville.

Harrison Burton (No. 12 DEX Imaging Toyota)

  • Finished seventh in the final series standings a year ago with one top five and five top 10s in 14 starts.
  • Won the pole, the second of his career, at New Smyrna in February and finished fourth to equal his career-best finish set at Columbus last summer.
  • Finished 15th and ninth, respectively, in two starts last season at Greenville.
  • Is the son of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Jeff Burton.

Collin Cabre (No. 2 UTI/NTI Toyota)

  • Finished a career-best sixth in the final series standings in 2016 with four top fives and six top 10s in 14 starts.
  • Won the season finale at Dover in 2015, site of his only career win.
  • Has made three career starts at Greenville, finishing 11th once and 15th twice.

Tyler Dippel (No. 30 TyCar Ford)

  • Finished third in the final series standings last season with one win, one top five and eight top 10s in 14 races.
  • Won at Mobile in March of 2016 in only his second career series start.
  • Finished 23rd in the season opener at New Smyrna.
  • Finished a career-best eighth in this race last year at Greenville, his first of two starts at the track.

Todd Gilliland (No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota)

  • Is the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, having scored six wins, 11 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 races in 2016.
  • Became the youngest champion in NASCAR touring series history at 16 years, five months, and joined his grandfather Butch Gilliland as a K&N West champion (1997)
  • Won three of the first four K&N Pro Series West races this season, including a sweep of Twin 100s at Irwindale on March 25, to give him 11 career K&N Pro Series wins.
  • Plans to run both the full K&N East and K&N West schedules in 2017.
  • Has never competed at Greenville.

Chase Purdy (No. 17 Bama Buggies/Textron Off Road Toyota)

  • Made his K&N Pro Series debut at New Smyrna and finished eighth.
  • Has never competed at Greenville with the K&N East, but he race at the track last season in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
  • Team is owned by former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver David Gilliland.

Up To Speed:

  • The 2017 season is the 31st for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
  • The 2017 schedule features 14 races at 13 different tracks across the United States.
  • Ronnie Bassett Jr. earned his first career win in the season opener at New Smyrna.
  • This marks the 11th consecutive year that the K&N Pro Series East season will race at least once at Greenville.

Sources: Travis Barrett, Special to NASCARHomeTracks.com