QUALIFYING: Hayley Nabs New Smyrna Pole
First K&N East Pole For NASCAR Next Driver
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Cameron Hayley in just his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start won the 21 Means 21 presented by Coors Brewing Company Pole Award in qualifying on Sunday for the New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS at New Smyrna Speedway.
It is the first pole position for Hayley, 17, in the K&N Pro Series East after winning six a year ago in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. The Canadian driver out of Calgary, Alberta, moved from West to East this year and took over the car that Dylan Kwasniewski won the K&N East championship with last season.
Hayley, who is a member of the NASCAR Next program, posted a fast lap time of 18.477 seconds for an average speed of 93.522 mph on the .48-mile Florida oval. NASCAR Next is an industry initiative to spotlight young, talented drivers.
Ben Rhodes, another NASCAR Next driver, will start from the outside pole position after recording a 18.507-second lap (93.370 mph).
The second row is made up of Brandon McReynolds with a time of 18.516 seconds (93.325 mph) and rookie Brodie Kostecki with a time of 18.549 seconds (93.159 mph).
Reigning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Lee Pulliam qualified fifth with a time of 18.591 seconds (92.948 mph) and is making his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut.
Kenzie Ruston, Austin Hill, Gray Gaulding, Scott Heckert and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.
The New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS – the series’ inaugural event at the track – is set to take the green flag at 7:30 p.m. ET.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
NKNPS East New Smyrna 2/16/14 Qualifying
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 98 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet 18.477 93.522 2 2
2 41 Ben Rhodes * Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 18.507 93.370 2 2 0.030
3 16 Brandon McReynolds NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 18.516 93.325 2 2 0.039
4 43 Brodie Kostecki * Arcoplate Toyota 18.549 93.159 2 2 0.072
5 11 Lee Pulliam * Don Valley North Toyota Toyota 18.591 92.948 2 2 0.114
6 96 Kenzie Ruston Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet 18.605 92.878 2 2 0.128
7 22 Austin Hill * A&D Welding Ford 18.616 92.823 2 2 0.139
8 20 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Chevrolet 18.622 92.793 2 2 0.145
9 34 Scott Heckert Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet 18.625 92.779 2 2 0.148
10 33 Brandon Jones Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet 18.674 92.535 2 2 0.197
11 6 Daniel Suarez Sunoco Race Fuels Toyota 18.687 92.471 2 2 0.210
12 1 David Garbo, Jr. * Gsrbo Lobster Toyota 18.701 92.401 2 2 0.224
13 97 Jesse Little Vanacore Homes/NTI Chevrolet 18.706 92.377 2 2 0.229
14 15 Nick Drake * NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 18.763 92.096 2 2 0.286
15 52 Matt Tifft Federated Auto Parts Dodge 18.787 91.978 2 2 0.310
16 24 Brennan Newberry Qore24 Chevrolet 18.810 91.866 2 2 0.333
17 46 Brandon Gdovic American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota 18.838 91.729 2 2 0.361
18 21 Mackena Bell Special Smiles Toyota 18.849 91.676 2 2 0.372
19 75 Nathan Russell * VSI Racing/Russell Stone Products Chevrolet 18.873 91.559 2 2 0.396
20 4 Sergio Pena UTI/NASCAR Technical Institiue Toyota 18.877 91.540 2 2 0.400
21 31 Kaz Grala * OzLINK Chevrolet 18.900 91.429 2 2 0.423
22 71 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Contracting Chevrolet 18.920 91.332 2 2 0.443
23 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota 18.932 91.274 2 2 0.455
24 99 Patrick Staropoli * PEAK Toyota 18.945 91.211 2 2 0.468
25 07 Clint King * Warehouse Design Chevrolet 18.979 91.048 2 2 0.502
26 42 Jay Beasley * Toyota Racing Development Toyota 19.004 90.928 2 2 0.527
27 18 Sam Hunt Paragon Energy Holdings Toyota 19.010 90.900 2 2 0.533
28 2 Ryan Gifford Toyota Racing Development Toyota 19.114 90.405 2 2 0.637
29 51 Rusty Skewes * Top Gun Motorports Chevrolet 19.163 90.174 2 2 0.686
30 55 Jerry Dawson * EXIT Realty Chevrolet 20.137 85.812 2 2 1.660
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
Sources: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR PR