Bassett Emerges Among Front Runners

By admin May 21, 2014 Anderson, Caraway, East Carolina, Greenville-Pickens, Hickory, NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Southern National

Winston-Salem Driver And Family Team On The Rise

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dillon Bassett made his debut among NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national point leaders this month, ranking as the No. 2 driver in the nation for the first three weeks of the season.

Bassett, 17, of Winston-Salem, N.C., didn’t plan to introduce his name to a national audience with such success.

“This is just the way it’s happening,” Bassett said. “Going into the season we had no intentions of being in championship point standings. We just wanted to focus on our equipment and try to win races.”

His only sure plan for 2014 was moving into the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series from touring series late model competition. Bassett won the UARA series championship with three wins in 2013 after being its top rookie in 2012.

The second generation driver launched his full time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series career in March. Over eight weeks he raced at six tracks and won twice at one of the most difficult – Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway – and posted single-race wins at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C., and East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, N.C. He has also raced at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, N.C., Anderson (S.C.) Motor Speedway and Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway. Each track has its own distinctive characteristics.

“We had a great start. I’ve already won four. I only won three in all of last year,” Bassett said. “We’ve been running really good. It’s hard to say if we’re going to keep up this schedule. I might just run another 18 races. Right now we’ll try to keep going.”

Ronnie Bassett Sr., a past NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track champion, planned on a two-prong racing program for both his sons this year. Ronnie Bassett Jr., 18, is running the full NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule while Dillon is racing as much as possible in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. The complication is that both cars share much of the same team. Dillon sat out this past weekend because Ronnie was racing with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series at Iowa Speedway in Newton. Bassett Jr. placed eighth in the event and is ninth in series points with a record of two top-fives and three top-10s in six starts.

“Toward the end of last year we decided I’d run some NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races this year to get use to NASCAR and their routine of how they run events. Points and championships were not part of the plan,” Bassett said.

“Growing up, dad never had us racing weekly at one track. I think I’ve run at 50 tracks in several states. That helped me and the team learn to adjust to different tracks. We can be fast out of the box.”

Bassett Sr. raced full time from 1993-2001 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. He topped a five-year stint in stadium stocks with a championship in 1997. He then raced in the sportsman division from 1998-2001, with a best point race finish of second in 2000.

“Dad said winning a track championship is cool, but to be a series driver you have to go to a new track every week and run good. We’re hoping I can run a few NASCAR K&N Pro Series races at the end of the season,” Bassett said.

Bassett Sr. is car owner for both sons and Seth Smith works with both as crew chief. Team members include Jason Stanley and David Laws. Bassett’s Ford Fusion is based on a Greg Marlowe chassis and powered by a Charlie and Robert Long-built engine. Sponsors include Draco Springs, Butler Trailer Manufacturing and Rex Young Art Gallery. Bassett will be a senior at Union Grove Christian School in Lexington, N.C., this fall.

The Bassett brothers had similar success as they began their careers in Legends and Bandoleros. Bassett Jr. was a Bandolero Bandit national champion in 2006 and won track and state championships.

At age 8 in 2004, Dillon Bassett began his career in Bandolero Bandits. He also won a national championship in 2006 and three national championships in 2007. A major race win came at age 11 in 2008. He won a bandit feature event at Bowman Gray, his family’s home track. A moderately successful Carl Edwards-style victory lane back flip brought roaring approval from the stadium crowd.

He moved to Legends cars in 2009 and won more national championships. He tested the waters of full-size limited late models in 2010 and won a track championship the following year. He moved onto the UARA series and then the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR