PIT BOX: K&N Pro East Rolls Into Greenville
Historic Half-Mile Serves As Championship Proving Ground
• It’s never too early to start to think of championship implications, especially as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East heads to historic Greenville Pickens Speedway Saturday for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150. In each of the last three seasons, the eventual season champion has picked up a win at the flat half-mile in South Carolina. All three of those drivers were from HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, which bodes well for Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Tyler Dippel. The 15-year-old Wallkill, New York, driver is coming off his first career series win at Mobile International Speedway. It’s Spencer Davis, though, who enters the third race of the season with the championship points lead on the strength of back-to-back runner-up finishes. In six career K&N Pro East races, Davis hasn’t finished worse than sixth and a strong performance at Greenville can establish the 17-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia, as the driver to beat. NASCAR Next driver Kyle Benjamin, Ronnie Bassett Jr., and Dippel’s teammate Justin Haley are all still within 10 points of the lead.
ON TRACK
NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST
Race: Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway
Date: Saturday, March 26, 7 p.m. PT
Telecast: NBCSN, April 2, 7:30 p.m. ET
Twitter: #WhitakerChevy150, #KNEast
RACE CENTRAL | ENTRY LIST | TRACK PAGE
| Day/Time | Event |
|---|---|
| Saturday, March 26 | |
| 10:30 a.m. | Garage opens |
| 12:45 p.m. | Rookie/Spotter Meeting |
| 1:45 to 2:30 p.m. | Practice |
| 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. | Final Practice |
| 4:45 p.m. | Driver/Crew Chief Meeting |
| 5:15 p.m. | Qualifying |
| 6:00 p.m. | Driver Autograph Session (On Track) |
| 7:00 p.m. | Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 |
NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES
• Thomas Tillison rode the track championship at Oklahoma’s Salina Highbanks Speedway to a second-place finish last year in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. He’ll open his title defense Saturday as the A Modifieds headline the track’s season-opening Easter / Spring Shootout. Out west, the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway gets underway Saturday night. Scott Gafforini won his record sixth Super Late Model track championship last season on the .375-mile asphalt oval. In addition, Tennessee’s Kingsport Speedway had its opener rained out this past weekend and will take the green flag on the season Saturday.