K&N East Statistical Advance: Daytona
Analyzing The UNOH Battle At The Beach
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East pulls a quick turnaround from Sunday’s season opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and heads into Tuesday’s UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway – the season’s second points race. Below is a look at the performance of the series and selected drivers at Daytona, as well as, some other statistical trends:
Daytona Race Setup
• After last season’s non-points combination event with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, this year’s edition of the UNOH Battle At The Beach is a championship points race for the K&N Pro Series East.
• With a win Sunday night at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, Daniel Suárez has six top-three finishes in his last eight series starts dating back to last season.
• Just four drivers – Gray Gaulding, Ryan Gifford, Cameron Hayley and Sergio Peña – on this year’s entry list participated in last season’s inaugural Daytona short-track event.
AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY:
History
• Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959 – won by Bob Welborn.
• Lights were installed in the spring of 1998 and the track underwent a repave in 2010. The backstretch skid pad was widened during that repave, allowing for the possibility of a temporary oval that is now utilized for the UNOH Battle At The Beach.
Notebook
• The full 2.5-mile tri-oval at Daytona has played host to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 133 times, the NASCAR Nationwide Series 44 times and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 14 times.
• The inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach was held on Feb. 18-19, 2013. Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model feature, Steve Park was victorious in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race and Cameron Hayley took the checkered flag in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series event. All three were non-points races.
• This is the series’ first standalone event at the Florida facility.
• The UNOH Battle At The Beach will be telecast live by FOX Sports 2 beginning with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Whelen Southern Modified Tour at 7 p.m. ET followed by the K&N East race at approximately 8:45 p.m. FOX Sport 1 will re-air the K&N East event on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
• Additionally, Motor Racing Network (MRN) will begin its coverage of the UNOH Battle At The Beach at 6:45 p.m. The broadcast will be streamed live at MRN.com and simulcast by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.
• This is the series’ third standalone race in the state of Florida and 11th overall with eight combination races with the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Daytona from 1988 to 1997.
• The Daytona short track is one of four tracks less than a half-mile on the series schedule with Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., and Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway being the others.
• This is the only event scheduled on a Tuesday this season.
Daytona Data
Race: #2 of 16 (2/18/14)
Track Layout: .37-mile temporary asphalt oval
Race Length: 150 laps (55.5 miles)
Banking/Corners: No banking
Qualifying/Race Data
2013 Pole Winner*: Greg Purlsey and Derek Thorn won twin qualifying races
2013 Race Winner*: Cameron Hayley
1-Lap Qualifying Record: To be established
150-Lap Race* Record: Cameron Hayley, Ford, 1 hour, 22 minutes, 15 seconds, 45.503 mph, Feb. 19, 2013
* Non-points combination event with NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
Selected Driver Information:
Jay Beasley (No. 42 Toyota Racing Development Toyota)
• Made series debut on Sunday night at New Smyrna and finished 24th.
• Made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West starts in 2013 with a top finish of 11th.
• Claimed late model division title at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and earned NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship for Nevada.
• Honored with the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards in December 2013.
• In first season with Rev Racing.
Mackena Bell (No. 21 Special Smiles Toyota)
• Has two top fives and four top 10s in 21 career series starts.
• Finished eighth on Sunday at New Smyrna Speedway.
• Earned first career top-five finish in April 2013 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
Gray Gaulding (No. 20 Krispy Kreme Chevrolet)
• Has a pole, three top fives and nine top 10s in 15 series career starts.
• Finished second to Cameron Hayley in last year’s Battle At The Beach.
• Scored a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s season opener.
• Best 2013 East finish was second in April at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
• Became the youngest pole winner in NKNPS East history (15 years, 2 months, 15 days) in April 2013 at Richmond.
• Became the youngest race winner in NKNPS West history (15 years, 8 months, 30 days) in November 2013 at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.
• Became the youngest pole winner in NKNPS West history (15 years, 8 months, 16 days) in October 2013 at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Brandon Gdovic (No. 46 American Messaging/WindStax.com Toyota)
• Has a win, nine top fives and 21 top 10s in 40 series career starts.
• Posted a ninth-place finish on Sunday at New Smyrna.
• Claimed first series win in April 2013 at Greenville Pickens.
• Has six top-10 finishes on half-mile tracks in series career.
Ryan Gifford (No. 2 Toyota Racing Development Toyota)
• Has a win, a pole, 15 top fives and 20 top 10s in 55 career series starts.
• Finished fourth a season ago in the Daytona event.
• Scored first series victory in April 2013 at Richmond.
• Has five series career top-five finishes and a pole (Martinsville (Va.) Speedway) on half-mile tracks.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Cameron Hayley (No. 98 Cabinets By Hayley Chevrolet)
• Won last year’s UNOH Battle At The Beach
• Won pole position in second K&N East start on Sunday at New Smyrna and finished second in the race.
• Was championship runner-up to Derek Thorn last season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
• Has a win, six poles, 19 top fives and 26 top 10s in 34 career K&N West starts.
• Was the youngest (15 years, 23 days) driver to start K&N West race in August 2011.
• Takes over the Turner Scott Motorsports car that Dylan Kwasniewski drove to the K&N East championship in 2013.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Scott Heckert (No. 34 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet)
• Has two top 10s in 15 career series starts.
• Claimed top-10 finishes last season on road courses at Virginia International Raceway in Alton and Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
• Is in first season with Turner Scott Motorsports.
Sam Hunt (No. 18 Paragon Energy Holdings Toyota)
• Has two top 10s in 23 career series starts.
• Earned first series career top-10 finish in October 2012 at Greenville.
Brandon Jones (No. 33 Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet)
• Has one top-five finish and two top-10 finishes in just eight career series starts.
• Collected a series-best finish of third in Sunday’s season opener at New Smyrna.
• First top 10 came in June 2013 race at Iowa Speedway with a seventh-place showing.
• Made NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut last August at Bristol and followed with starts at Iowa and Martinsville.
Jesse Little (No. 97 Vanacore Homes/NTI Chevrolet)
• Has six top fives and eight top 10s in 22 career NKNPS East races with a best finish of third on two occasions, most recently at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., in June 2013.
• Was 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year for the K&N Pro Series East and finished ninth in championship standings.
• Closed last season with a top-10 finish in four of his last six series outings.
• Made K&N Pro Series West, in which his father, Chad, was the 1987 champion, debut last November at Phoenix.
Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet)
• Has six wins, two poles, 31 top fives and 83 top 10s in 173 career series starts.
• Has finished in the top 10 in points for six consecutive K&N East seasons.
• Season-best finish in 2013 was a runner-up effort at the August Iowa date.
• Has made starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in addition to the K&N Pro Series West and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Brandon McReynolds (No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota)
• Has two top fives and seven top 10s in 13 career series starts.
• Both top-five finishes came at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in 2012 and 2013.
• Will race a full K&N West schedule this season with Bill McAnally Racing.
• Has made a start each in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Brennan Newberry (No. 24 Qore24 Chevrolet)
• Has made just two K&N East career starts.
• Has three poles, a top five and three top 10s in 11 K&N Pro Series West starts.
• Has made 31 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts with a pole at Daytona a season ago.
• Slated to run a full K&N East schedule with NTS Motorsports teammate Gray Gaulding.
Sergio Peña (No. 4 Toyota Racing Development)
• Has three wins, seven top fives and 19 top 10s in 40 career NKNPS East starts.
• Placed 21st in last year’s inaugural Battle At The Beach.
• Made three K&N West starts last season with a pair of top-five finishes.
• Back with Rev Racing and Drive For Diversity after being with the program for the 2010-11 seasons.
Lee Pulliam (No. 11 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota)
• Made K&N East debut on Sunday at New Smyrna and finished fifth.
• Is a two-time and reigning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion and joins Larry Phillips (5) and Philip Morris (4) as the only multi-time series title winners.
• Has 73 career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series wins over 157 starts dating back to 2009.
Ben Rhodes (No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet)
• Has three top fives and six top 10s in just eight K&N East starts.
• Finished fourth in Sunday’s season-opening race at New Smyrna Speedway.
• Claimed a season-best finish of third in the June Iowa event last year.
• Finished second in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series portion of the UNOH Battle At The Beach a year ago.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Kenzie Ruston (No. 96 Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet)
• Has four top fives and seven top 10s in 15 career series starts.
• Placed sixth on Sunday at New Smyrna; led four laps and became the first female K&N East driver to lead a lap since Danica Patrick at Dover in September 2010.
• Best career finish of third, recorded in April 2013 at Greenville, is the best finish by a female driver in NKNPS East history.
• Finished sixth in the final K&N East standings last season which is the best in series history for a female driver.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Daniel Suárez (No. 6 Toyota Racing Development Toyota)
• Has two wins, nine top fives and 16 top 10s in 31 career NKNPS East starts.
• Claimed a season-opening win on Sunday at New Smyrna.
• Earned first series win at Columbus last season en route to a third-place finish in final point standings.
• Was the championship runner-up to Rodrigo Peralta last season in the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series after finishing third in the 2012 standings.
• Has five career Toyota Series victories and 10 pole wins in 43 career starts.
• Is in second season with Rev Racing for the NKNPS East.
• Is a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights young talent in the sport.
Matt Tifft (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Dodge)
• Has three top 10s in 14 K&N East career starts.
• Scored a NKNPS East season-best finish of sixth last season at Langley Speedway in June.
• Made four K&N Pro Series West starts in 2013 with a best finish of fifth in September on the road course at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Sources: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR PR