QUALIFYING: Benjamin Breaks Track Record
Easley Native to Sit On K&N Pro East Pole at Greenville
EASLEY, S.C. – Kyle Benjamin, a native of Easley, South Carolina destroyed the track record in group qualifying to sit on the 21 Means 21 Pole for Saturday’s Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway.
Benjamin, driver of the No. 40 MDM Motorsports Toyota ran a lap of 19.144 seconds at 94.024 mph to capture the pole on Saturday afternoon. The previous track record was a lap of 20.534 seconds at 87.659 mph set by Brett Moffitt back in April of 2011. The newly paved corners at Greenville Pickens Speedway is what’s attributing to the faster lap times.
Last season, Benjamin finished second at the speedway during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East’s visit in March, and he won the September race. Benjamin is second on the all-time list of laps led at the speedway. He only needs to lead 95 laps on Saturday night to surpass Brett Moffitt’s record of 356 laps led.
Starting alongside of Benjamin on Saturday night will be Dillon Bassett, driver of the No. 44 Bassett Gutters and More Ford. Bassett ran a lap of 19.195 seconds at 93.774 mph, which was just 0.051 seconds slower than Benjamin’s lap. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina driver is looking to rebound from a disappointing finish at New Smyrna Speedway during the series’ season opener.
Ruben Garcia Jr. in the No. 6 SUNOCO Toyota will start third in only his third race at the half-mile track. The qualifying effort is the best of Garcia Jr.’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career. He finished 19th in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 last year, but he rebounded to finish eighth in the series’ September visit to Greenville Pickens Speedwy.
Harrison Burton, son of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, Jeff Burton, will start fourth. Enrique Baca rounded out the top-five.
Tyler Dippel will start sixth, followed by Todd Gilliland, Jay Beasley, Reid Wilson and Ronnie Bassett Jr.
The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 will get underway at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Follow along on Race Central Live for updates throughout the night.
NKNPS East Greenville 4/8/17 Qualifying
K&N Pro Series East
Series:K&N Pro Series East
PRINTABLE VERSION
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 40 Kyle Benjamin MDM Motorsports Toyota 19.144 94.024 3 3
2 44 Dillon Bassett Bassett Gutters and More Ford 19.195 93.774 2 3 0.051
3 6 Ruben Garcia Jr SUNOCO Toyota 19.447 92.559 3 4 0.303
4 12 Harrison Burton Dex Imaging Toyota 19.447 92.559 4 5 0.303
5 9 Enrique Baca * Next Gen/Peak Performance Chevrolet 19.463 92.483 3 4 0.319
6 30 Tyler Dippel TyCar Ford 19.483 92.388 2 4 0.339
7 16 Todd Gilliland NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 19.494 92.336 4 4 0.35
8 42 Jay Beasley Honda Generators Toyota 19.595 91.86 2 4 0.451
9 66 Reid Wilson * TruNorth Warranty Programs Chevrolet 19.596 91.855 2 3 0.452
10 4 Ronnie Bassett Jr Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet 19.646 91.622 2 4 0.502
11 23 J P Morgan www.SoldByJackieMorgan.com 19.706 91.343 3 4 0.562
12 13 Hunter Baize U. S. Forensic Chevrolet 19.72 91.278 4 5 0.576
13 2 Collin Cabre UTI/NTI Toyota 19.721 91.273 1 4 0.577
14 17 Chase Purdy * Bama Buggies/Textron Off Road Toyota 19.743 91.172 2 4 0.599
15 4 Chase Cabre * Max Siegel Inc Toyota 19.78 91.001 4 4 0.636
16 28 Dylan Murry * Gorsline Company Ford 19.859 90.639 3 5 0.715
17 49 John Holleman IV Midway Mobile Storage Ford 20.125 89.441 2 5 0.981
18 5 Luis Rodriguez Jr * Next Gen/PEAK Performance Chevrolet 30.693 58.645 1 1 11.5491.540
* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Sources: Hunter Thomas, NASCAR HomeTracks.com