(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
Reporter Derek Pernesiglio interviews K&N Pro Series East Busch North Throwback 100 winner Harrison Burton in victory lane at Thompson Speedway Saturday
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the United Site Services 70 on Saturday, July 15.
Below is a look at the race itself and some of the selected participants.
United Site Services 70 Race Setup
• Harrison Burton continued his breakout sophomore season last week at Thompson, winning for the fourth time in the last six races to open a 22-point lead atop the standings as he chases his first career series title.
• Burton and Todd Gilliland are the only two drivers are the only ones to finish in the top 10 in all eight races to date.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway
History
• The track opened in 1990 on the site of the old Briar Motorsports Park road course and immediately became New England’s largest sports facility of any kind. Measuring 1.058 miles in length, it is the largest speedway in the region, and with seating for nearly 100,000 people, it has the largest capacity of any venue.
• Tommy Ellis won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race held at New Hampshire, winning a 300-lap combination event involving both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• NHMS has hosted 70 previous NASCAR K&N Pro Series East events. The track plays host to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, as it has every year since 1997.
Notebook
• The list of winners at New Hampshire is a virtual who’s who of NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition, including Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano, current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson, current NASCAR XFINITY Series title contender William Byron, four-time series champion Andy Santerre, and multi-time series champions Mike Stefanik, Jamie Aube, Brad Leighton and Mike Olsen.
• There have been 30 different winners in K&N Pro Series East competition at NHMS, including active driver Eddie MacDonald with three wins.
• Ten times in series history a driver has won at NHMS en route to the K&N Pro Series East title that season. It’s happened seven times since 2004, and four drivers won twice at NHMS during their run to the title — Ricky Craven (1991), Brad Leighton (1999), Joey Logano (2007) and Ryan Truex (2010).
Loudon Data
Race: #9 of 14 overall
Race Date: Saturday, July 15, 6:45 p.m. ET
Track Layout: 1.058-mile slightly banked asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: 7 degrees (turns), 2 degrees (straightaways)
Race Length: 70 laps (74.06 miles)Qualifying/Race Data
2016 Winner: Corey LaJoie
2016 Pole Sitter: Kyle Benjamin
1-lap Qualifying Record: Ben Rhodes, 128.580 mph (29.622 seconds, July 2014)
70-lap Race Record: 102.861 mph (William Byron, 2015)
Selected Driver Highlights
Hunter Baize (No. 13 Reynolds Wrap Toyota)
• Sits seventh in the series standings with one top five and five top-10 finishes in eight races.
• Finished fourth at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for his best career finish and first top five since Iowa Speedway last season.
• Started sixth and finished sixth last season in his only series career start at NHMS.
Ronnie Bassett Jr. (No. 04 Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet)
• Sits fourth in the standings with one win, five top fives and five top 10s through eight races.
• Won the season opener at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway for his first career K&N Pro Series East victory.
• Heads into the weekend on the strength of three straight top fives after three consecutive finishes of 14th or worse dropped him out of the series point lead.
• Has two top 10s, including a best finish of sixth, in three career starts at NHMS.
Harrison Burton (No. 12 DEX Imaging Toyota)
• Holds the K&N Pro Series East points lead with four wins, seven top fives and eight top 10s in eight races this season.
• Won at Bristol for his first career K&N Pro Series win.
• Also has wins at South Boston, Memphis and Thompson this season.
• Leads the series with seven top-five finishes this season and is one of only two drivers to finish in the top 10 in every start.
• Finished seventh last season in his only career start at NHMS.
Chase Cabre (No. 4 Max Siegel Inc. Toyota)
• Sits fifth in the standings with three top fives and five top 10s in eight races this season.
• Posted a career-best finish of second at Memphis (Tenn.) International Raceway.
• Won the pole for both legs of the Twin 100s at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway on May 6, his first two career series poles.
• Enters the weekend having posted five consecutive top-10 finishes.
• Has never competed with the K&N Pro Series East at NHMS.
Ruben Garcia Jr. (No. 6 UTI/NTI Toyota)
• Sits sixth in the standings with two top fives and six top 10s in eight races this season, having already matched or set new career highs for top fives and top 10s.
• Finished a career-best second at Bristol in the spring
• Was the 2015 NASCAR Peak Mexico Series champion with four wins, 15 top fives and 41 top 10s in 61 career starts in that series.
• Finished 20th in his only career start at NHMS.
Todd Gilliland (No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota)
• Is the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, having scored six wins, 11 top fives and 13 top 10s in 14 races in 2016.
• Became the youngest champion in NASCAR touring series history at 16 years, five months, and joined his grandfather Butch Gilliland as a K&N West champion (1997).
• One of only two drivers to finish in the top 10 in all eight races this season, he sits second in the current K&N East standings with five top fives and eight top 10s through eight races.
• Won at Michigan’s Berlin Raceway for his first win of the season in the East.
• Finished second at NHMS last season after qualifying seventh.
Trey Hutchens (No. 14 Hutchens Motorsports Chevrolet)
• Making his fourth K&N Pro Series East start of the season as part of a part-time schedule.
• Has one top 10 in four career starts at NHMS, finishing a career best eighth in this race last season.
• Finished 10th at Memphis for his best finish of the season.
Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet)
• Making his second consecutive series start and third of the season as part of a part-time schedule.
• Leads all active drivers with three career wins at NHMS, including a sweep of the two races at the track in 2008.
• In 28 career starts at NHMS, MacDonald has five top fives, 14 top 10s and seven qualifying efforts inside the top five.
• Has seven career series wins, most recently at Bristol in 2014.
Chase Purdy (No. 17 Bama Buggies/Textron Off-Road Toyota)
• Is third in the standings with two top fives and four top 10s through eight races.
• Finished a career-high second in the first of two 100-lap events at South Boston and matched that effort two weeks ago at Berlin.
• Won his third consecutive pole last week at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, giving him five straight starts on the front row entering the race at NHMS.
• Is the highest-ranking rookie in the K&N Pro Series East after eight races.
• Has never competed at NHMS.
Andy Seuss (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet)
• The Hampstead, New Hampshire, native is making his first career K&N Pro Series East start.
• The two-time NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion has 22 career Modified victories.
• Has made 16 previous starts at NHMS in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, with one top five and four top 10s, finishing a career-best fourth in 2013.
Up To Speed
• The 2017 season is the 31st for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• The 2017 schedule features 14 races at 13 different tracks across the United States.
• Ronnie Bassett Jr. earned his first career win in the season opener at New Smyrna.
• Point leader Harrison Burton earned his first career win at Bristol and became the series’ first four-time winner this season with a victory at Thompson.
• Chase Purdy has won three straight poles heading to NHMS.
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