K&N Pro Series News & Notes: Iowa
McReynolds Looks To Sweep At Iowa Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If Brandon McReynolds ends up in Victory Lane this weekend with a season sweep at Iowa Speedway, he’ll make history as the track’s first repeat winner.
Since 2007, the first year the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West ran at Iowa, no driver has captured the overall win more than once.
McReynolds earned his first NASCAR victory in the Casey’s General Store 150 on May 16, this season’s first of two annual combination races between the K&N East and West at the .875-mile oval.
He led twice for 22 laps, including the final eight, to take the victory from K&N East points leader William Byron. In doing so, he became the second West driver in 12 races to win the combination race at Iowa.
McReynolds better watch out, Bryon will be looking for redemption. Bryon led a race-high 128 laps and finished runner-up after being beaten on a restart by McReynolds in May. A win by Byron will make it two consecutive wins for the K&N Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender.
RACE #ThanksKenny 150
PLACE Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
DATE Friday, July 31
TIME 8 p.m.
TV SCHEDULE NBCSN, Thursday, August 6, 7 p.m.
TRACK LAYOUT .875-mile paved oval
2014 WINNER Brandon Jones (East), Greg Pursley (West)
2014 POLE SITTER Jesse Little (East), David Mayhew (West)
EVENT SCHEDULE Garage opens: 9 a.m.; Practice: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.; Final Practice: 1:30-2:30 p.m.; Driver Autograph Session: 3:15-4:15 p.m.; Qualifying: 5 p.m.; Driver Introductions: 7:30 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT Edward Williams, (641) 791-8038 [Call: (641) 791-8038] , ewilliams@iowaspeedway.com
TWITTER @iowaspeedway
EVENT HASHTAG #ThanksKenny150
NASCAR IMC CONTACT Brooke Franceschini, (386) 631-6142 [Call: (386) 631-6142] , bfranceschini@nascar.com, @BrookeFran04
FAST FACTS:
The Race: The #ThanksKenny 150 marks the 13th NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway, and the final event at the track in 2015. It’s the ninth of 14 races overall on the 2015 K&N East schedule, and the seventh of 13 races overall in the K&N West.
The Procedure: The race will be run in two segments with a five minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75. The starting field is 36 cars, including provisionals. The first 28 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials. The remaining eight spots will be awarded through the provisional process. Note: Each driver will be credited with a finish and points respective to the series they’ve designated.
The Track: Iowa Speedway is a .875-mile paved oval with the turns banked 12-14 degrees, four degrees of banking in the backstretch and 10 degrees in the frontstretch. The track opened in 2006 and the first NASCAR sanctioned race was a K&N Pro Series combination event on May 20, 2007 won by Joey Logano. NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events were added in 2009.
The Records: The one-lap series qualifying record at Iowa was established by Kyle Busch on May 17, 2009 at 135.484 mph (23.250 seconds). The 150-lap race record was set by Ben Rhodes on May 17, 2014 at 93.287 mph (1 hour, 24 minutes, 25 seconds).
IOWA SPEEDWAY RACE NOTES:
Past Champions at Iowa: Three drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East have won at Iowa Speedway and then gone on to win the championship that same year, Joey Logano (2007), Dylan Kwasniewski (2013) and Ben Rhodes (2014). Only two drivers have achieved the feat in the K&N Pro Series West, Greg Pursley (2011, 2014) and Kwasniewski (2012).
Oldest Record in The East: Of the tracks on the 2015 K&N East schedule, Iowa Speedway has the oldest qualifying record. It was set by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch on May 17, 2009.
Hutchens Pulling Double Duty: Trey Hutchens will be competing in two NASCAR Touring Series events this weekend. He will run in the K&N Pro Series East’s #ThanksKenny 150 on Friday and then head to North Carolina’s famed Bowman Gray Stadium to compete in Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race.
Pole Sitter Slump Coming to an End? Prior to the May K&N Pro Series combination event, only two pole sitters have gone on to earn the win, Kyle Busch (2009) and Cole Custer (2013). In May, both victors, Brandon McReynolds and William Byron, earned the pole award in his respective series.
Chevrolet Still Dominating the Competition: Despite McReynolds’ winning in with his Toyota in May, Chevrolet is still ahead of the competition at Iowa Speedway. Chevrolet has won seven of the 12 combination events, while Toyota has earned four and Ford has tallied one.