QUALIFYING: Rhodes Rolls to Pole
Bristol Award His 2nd Straight In K&N Pro East
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ben Rhodes had to wait until nearly the end of line to make his qualifying lap, but that didn’t matter.
The 17-year-old from Louisville, Ky., earned his second straight 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Co. in Friday’s qualifying for the PittLite 125 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Rhodes went out 37th of 38 cars and posted a lap of 16.036 seconds (119.656 mph) around the high-banked half-mile in advance of Saturday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race.
The rookie knocked Brandon Gdovic off the provisional pole. Gdovic had a lap of 16.045 (119.589) and will start on the front row.
Rookie Austin Hill qualified third at 16.059 (119.484). Cale Conley and Gray Gaulding rounded out the top five.
Kenzie Ruston was sixth, followed by Cameron Hayley, rookie Lee Pulliam, Matt Tifft and Jesse Little.
Points leader Daniel Suarez qualified 17th. Suarez won the first two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races of the season and has won the last four NASCAR touring series races he’s entered, including a pair of NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series events.
The PittLite 125 is scheduled to take the green flag at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
NKNPS East Bristol 03/13/14 Lineup
POS. CAR DRIVER TEAM TIME SPEED
1 41 Ben Rhodes, Louisville, Ky. * Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 16.036 119.656
2 46 Brandon Gdovic, Yorktown, Va. American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota 16.045 119.589
3 22 Austin Hill, Winston, Ga. * A&D Welding/Don-Rich Ford Ford 16.059 119.484
4 47 Cale Conley, Vienna, W. Va. PMC Chevrolet 16.127 118.981
5 20 Gray Gaulding, Colonial Heights, Va. Krispy Kreme Chevrolet 16.140 118.885
6 96 Kenzie Ruston, El Reno, Okla. Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet 16.142 118.870
7 98 Cameron Hayley, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet 16.155 118.774
8 11 Lee Pulliam, Semora, N.C. * Don Valley North Toyota 16.184 118.562
9 52 Matt Tifft, Hinckley, Ohio Federated Auto Parts Dodge 16.184 118.562
10 97 Jesse Little, Sherrills Ford, N.C. NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet 16.189 118.525
11 07 Clint King, Denton, N.C. * King Oil Products/Warehouse Design Toyota 16.190 118.518
12 33 Brandon Jones, Atlanta, Ga. Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet 16.195 118.481
13 71 Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass. Grimm Const./National MS Society Chevrolet 16.249 118.087
14 24 Brennan Newberry, Bakersfield, Calif. Qore24 Chevrolet 16.255 118.044
15 18 Sam Hunt, Midlothian, Va. Drive Technology Toyota 16.260 118.007
16 77 Anderson Bowen, Suwanee, Ga. * Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 16.264 117.978
17 6 Daniel Suarez, Monterrey, Mexico Toyota Racing Development Toyota 16.277 117.884
18 7 Michael McGuire, Vinton, Va. * Woods Towing & Transportation Toyota 16.277 117.884
19 31 Kaz Grala, Westborough, Mass. * OzLINK Chevrolet 16.282 117.848
20 0 Cole Custer, Ladera Ranch, Calif. NAPA Auto Parts/Haas Automation Chevrolet 16.325 117.538
21 43 Brodie Kostecki, Perth, Australia * Arcoplate Toyota 16.333 117.480
22 15 Nick Drake, Mooresville, N.C. * NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 16.373 117.193
23 2 Ryan Gifford, Winchester, Tenn. UTI/NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota 16.396 117.029
24 99 Patrick Staropoli, Plantation, Fla. * PEAK Toyota 16.401 116.993
25 34 Scott Heckert, Ridgefield, Conn. Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet 16.421 116.850
26 4 Sergio Pena, Winchester, Va. Toyota Racing Development Toyota 16.474 116.474
27 81 Jeremy Burns, Simpsonville, S.C. * Tomato Vine/BBR Chevrolet 16.526 116.108
28 4 Ronnie Bassett, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C. * Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota 16.539 116.017
29 1 David Garbo, Jr., Stonington, Conn. * Big Machine Records/Garbo Lobster Toyota 16.582 115.716
30 26 Dylan Presnell, Sevierville, Tenn. AmericanMountainRentals.com Toyota 16.682 115.022
31 14 Trey Hutchens, Lexington, N.C. * Borla Exhaust Chevrolet 16.698 114.912
32 42 Jay Beasley, Las Vegas, Nev. * Toyota Racing Development Toyota 16.743 114.603
33 21 Mackena Bell, Carson City, Nev. Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota No Time #
34 55 Jerry Dawson, Saugus, Mass. * Alliance Lending/EXIT Realty Chevrolet 18.675 102.747 #
35 19 Chuck Buchanan, Jr., Hildebrand, N.C. * Spring Drug Chevrolet 17.78 107.919 #
36 12 Brandon Glover, Cuba, N.Y. * Amer. Legion Post 772/Rinker Oil Dodge 16.864 113.780 #
Did Not Qualify: Zach Bruenger * (54), Akinori Ogata (56)
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender # Provisional
Sources: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR PR