Reigning K&N Pro Series West Champ Claims First East Victory
Dylan Kwasniewski, the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, bested the legendary .533-mile high-banked oval and the other 35 competitors on Saturday to win the DRIVE4COPD 125 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship season opener. Kwasniewski's victory was his first on the East series as he begins his quest for the 2013 championship one season after claiming the West title.
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The sign reads, ‘Welcome To The Last Great Colosseum’ at the tunnel entrance of Bristol Motor Speedway.
Dylan Kwasniewski, 17, bested the legendary .533-mile high-banked oval and the other 35 competitors on Saturday to win the DRIVE4COPD 125 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship season opener.
Kwasniewski, the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion out of Las Vegas, Nev., took the lead on Lap 30 after pole sitter and race leader Michael McGuire got tangled up with lapped traffic under caution. Kwasniewski – behind the wheel of his No. 98 Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet – was able to hold off Brett Moffitt on seven restarts to pick up his first East victory in his fifth series outing.
Moffitt was followed by Ryan Gifford – racing out of the Rev Racing stable – in third. McGuire rebounded from the early incident to finish fourth while CJ Faison came home in the fifth position.
Gray Gaulding, Eddie MacDonald, Jimmy Weller, Ben Rhodes and Ben Kennedy rounded out the top 10.
Kwasniewski, who led a race-high 96 laps, is competing for a K&N East championship in 2013 with Turner Scott Motorsports in its first full season of competition. It’s his sixth overall K&N Pro Series triumph in 29 career starts.
The race was slowed due to caution eight times for a total of 37 laps and there was just one lead change.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to action on Saturday, March 23 for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 125 presented by G-Clean at Greenville (S.C) Pickens Speedway.
