Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, and Daniel Suarez - Before They Became #NASCAR Stars

2011 K&N Pro Series West Season Finale at Phoenix Raceway

Ryan Blaney earned his first NASCAR victory in style November 12, 2011 at Phoenix Raceway with a triumph in his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West debut in the Casino Arizona 125.

Ryan Blaney celebrated in Victory Lane in his first K&N Pro Series West
race  at Phoenix in 2011. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Blaney, then just 17 years old, took the lead for the third and final time on Lap 104 and cruised to victory following a spirited battle with Alex Bowman that saw the pair swap the lead five times through the race’s final 55 laps.

“Right at the start of the race we were tight,” Blaney said of the event at the time. “It got worse and worse that first segment. We dropped back to 11th before the break. (Crew chief) Trent Owens made great changes to free us up and help us turn a whole bunch through the center and that put us over the edge to beat the other cars there at the end. So, it was a great night. It didn’t start off looking so well, but it ended up good.”

You might recognize several of the drivers who finished in the 2011 race’s top-ten.

The 2011 race winner, Ryan Blaney will start today’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event from pole.

Alex Bowman who will be taking over Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s popular #88 Cup Car next year had to settle for second after also leading the 2011 race on three different occasions.

“It’s definitely not as successful as we would like for it to be,” Bowman said of the 2011 race. “Overall, everybody did a good job. It was definitely a hard fought race. We probably over adjusted just a little bit there at the break.”

The third place finisher in 2011, Chase Elliott will be battling for the final spot in the #MENC final four today.

“For us to come out here, first race at this track and first race in the West, that was fantastic,” said the then 15-year-old. “The biggest thing I look forward to from tonight is momentum for next year. We have a lot of good things going on at the shop back in Dawsonville (Ga.). We’re really looking forward to next year. This is a heck of a way to end the season. Obviously, two spots better would have made it even better, but we’ll take it and move on.” (Chase Elliott)

Daniel Suarez finished the race in sixth position.

At you can tell from the list of young drivers above, the K&N Pro Series is where you can learn about the future NASCAR Stars in an close and fan friendly environment.

NASCAR Race Mom viewed the race from the PIR Media Center.  I was there doing PR for my son, Moses Smith.  Below are just a few photos I snapped for the event in 2011.

2011 #NASCAR Casino Arizona 125 - Phoenix Raceway

Ben Kennedy #96 (Started 8th Finished 15th )

Team Owner Bill McAnally His driver Todd Gilliland Won This Year’s Championship

NRM’s Son Moses Smith #16 going through tech (Started 29th Finished 17th )

Spencer Gallagher #23 (Started 35th Finished 27th )

Alex Bowman #25 (Started 9th Finished 2nd)

Daniel Suarez #76 (Started 2nd Finished 6th)

2011 K&N Pro Series
West-Casino Arizona 125
Race Results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Laps
1	4	11	Ryan Blaney	125
2	9	25	Alex Bowman	125
3	12	94	Chase Elliott	125
4	10	20	Eric Holmes	125
5	5	9	Derek Thorn	125
6	2	76	Daniel Suarez	125
7	6	98	Chad Boat	125
8	16	10	Brandon Davis	125
9	19	8	Johnny Borneman, III	125
10	3	17	David Mayhew	125
11	23	81	D.J. Kennington	125
12	11	74	Carlos Iaconelli	125
13	20	13	Todd Souza	125
14	17	88	Jessica Brunelli	125
15	8	96	Ben Kennedy	125
16	27	52	Ryan Philpott	125
17	29	16	Moses Smith	125
18	21	51	Carlos Vieira	125
19	34	37	Robbie Brand	125
20	38	2	Carl Harr	124
21	24	89	Brian Wong	82
22	37	38	John Wood	82
23	1	26	Greg Pursley	81
24	13	50	Dylan Presnell	77
25	26	6	Luis Martinez, Jr.	77
26	14	29	Brennan Newberry	77
27	35	23	Spencer Gallagher	77
28	39	7	Greg Rayl	73
29	40	1	Brady Flaherty	73
30	22	31	Jason Bowles	70
31	32	71	Daryl Harr	67
32	7	21	Michael Self	64
33	18	3	Dylan Kwasniewski	64
34	31	61	Brett Thompson	64
35	30	54	Justin Philpott	57
36	36	41	Jason Fraser	53
37	15	75	Dylan Lupton	53
38	28	22	Jonathon Gomez	36
39	33	14	Travis Milburn	22
40	25	24	Cameron Hayley	22

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