Hill Still the King of the Monster Mile
Closes K&N Pro East With 2 Straight Wins; Rhodes Takes Title
DOVER, Del. — Austin Hill mastered the Monster Mile. Again.
The 20-year-old from Winston, Georgia, returned to the track where he recorded his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win a year ago and put on a dominating display Friday in the Driver Sober 150. Not even a tire issue could keep Hill from becoming the first driver since 1997 to close out the series season with back-to-back wins.Like South Carolina’s Greenville Pickens Speedway earlier this month, Hill again shared Victory Lane celebration with fellow NASCAR Next driver Ben Rhodes.
The 17-year-old Rhodes, from Louisville, Kentucky, clinched the series title with a race remaining back on Sept. 6 in a race Hill won. Rhodes finished 15th at Dover and officially received the championship trophy from NASCAR President Mike Helton at the Monster Mile. Rhodes had also previously secured the K&N Pro East Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors.
Hill’s No. 22 A&D Welding/Don Rich Ford outdistanced Kaz Grala by 5.136 seconds to take the checkered flag. Hill joined Brett Moffitt as the only series drivers to win twice on the one-mile, high-banked concrete oval.
Hill’s day was nearly ended in a Lap 93 incident when he got together with Brennan Newberry in a battle for the lead. Newberry wound up spinning, while Hill was subsequently forced down pit lane with a flat tire. However, Hill was able to stay on the lead lap, came back out 13th, and marched his way back to the front.
He took the lead on Lap 120 and pulled away for the victory.
Grala, 15, scored his career best finish. Scott Heckert, Eddie MacDonald and Brodie Kostecki rounded out the top five.
Sergio Pena finished sixth, followed by J.J. Haley, Gray Gaulding, Ryan Gifford and Dylan Presnell.
Rhodes finished with a 60-point margin over Turner-Scott Motorsports teammate Cameron Hayley and 78 over Gaulding. Brandon Jones and Hill rounded out the top five. Rhodes gave Turner-Scott its second straight championship, following Dylan Kwasniewski last season.
The Drive Sober 150 will air on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10 a.m.
Rhodes will be honored for his championship season along with NASCAR’s other touring series champions on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards in the Grand Ballroom of the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: RACE WINNER AUSTIN HILL | AUDIO: SECOND-PLACE KAZ GRALA AND THIRD-PLACE SCOTT HECKERT | AUDIO: CHAMPION BEN RHODES
NKNPS East Dover 9/26/14 Results
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPSE Dover 9/26/16
PRINTABLE FORMAT (PDF)
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 9 22 Austin Hill * A&D Welding/Don Rich Ford 150 48 5 Running
2 5 31 Kaz Grala * NETTTS Chevrolet 150 42 Running
3 8 34 Scott Heckert Project Lifesaver Chevrolet 150 41 Running
4 16 71 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Contracting Chevrolet 150 40 Running
5 12 43 Brodie Kostecki * Arcoplate Toyota 150 39 Running
6 23 4 Sergio Pena Universal Technical Institute Toyota 150 38 Running
7 7 10 J.J. Haley * Braun Auto Group Chevrolet 150 37 Running
8 17 20 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Chevrolet 149 36 Running
9 20 2 Ryan Gifford Honda Generators Toyota 149 35 Running
10 24 26 Dylan Presnell Amtrol/Well X Trol/American Mountain Rentals Toyota 149 34 Running
11 26 46 Brandon Gdovic American Messaging/Windstax Toyota 149 33 Running
12 21 4 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * Bassett Racing Chevrolet 149 32 Running
13 2 98 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet 149 32 1 Running
14 25 96 Kenzie Ruston The Deleware Office of Highway Safety Chevrolet 148 30 Running
15 3 41 Ben Rhodes * Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 148 30 1 Running
16 27 42 Jay Beasley * Toyota Racing Development Toyota 148 28 Running
17 11 21 Mackena Bell Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota 148 27 Running
18 14 0 Cole Custer NAPA Auto Parts/Haas Automation Chevrolet 147 26 Running
19 22 52 Matt Tifft Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 146 25 Running
20 29 18 Milka Duno * RAB Racing Toyota 145 24 Running
21 6 33 Brandon Jones Lucas Oil Chevrolet 142 23 Running
22 10 6 Daniel Suarez Sunoco Toyota 133 22 Accident
23 1 97 Jesse Little NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet 130 22 1 Running
24 4 27 Kyle Benjamin * Benjamin Motorsports Ford 107 20 Accident
25 19 24 Brennan Newberry Qore24 Chevrolet 93 19 Drive Shaft
26 18 25 Anderson Bowen * Turn 1/Texas Corral Toyota 82 18 Accident
27 28 1 Trey Hutchens * Gunma Toyopet Toyota 77 17 Ignition
28 13 15 Nick Drake * NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 69 16 Accident
29 15 5 Codie Rohrbaugh * Grant County Mulch Toyota 51 15 Accident
30 30 29 Chad Finley * Auto Value/AirLiftcompany.com Ford 4 14 Engine
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Jesse Little, Time: 23.384 Seconds, Speed: 153.951 mph
Failed to Qualify: (2) Dale Quarterley (#32), John Salemi (#12).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 38 mins, 31 secs Average Speed: 91.355 mph Margin of Victory: 5.136 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 53-58 (#05 Backstretch – FP #26); 70-73 (#15 Backstretch – FP #04); 79-83 (Debris – FP #4); 88-91 (#25 Frontstretch – FP #2); 94-98 (#24 Turn 2 – FP #46). 5 for 24 laps.
Lap Leaders: Jesse Little 1-14, Cameron Hayley 15-67, Austin Hill * 68-95, Ben Rhodes * 96-116, Austin Hill * 117-150.
Total Laps Led: Austin Hill * 62, Cameron Hayley 53, Ben Rhodes * 21, Jesse Little 14. 4 changes involving 4 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Ben Rhodes * 640, Cameron Hayley 580, Gray Gaulding 562, Brandon Jones 551, Austin Hill * 546, Jesse Little 546, Kaz Grala * 542, Scott Heckert 526, Kenzie Ruston 522, Nick Drake * 507
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate
Sources: Tom Bryant, NASCAR PR