Monday, September 24, 2018

K&N Pro Series East Featured at the ‘Magic Mile’ Triple Header

K&N Pro Series East Featured at the ‘Magic Mile’ Triple Header

Brandon McReynolds Wins & Tyler Ankrum Clinches the Series Title

Brandon McReynolds celebrates his first career #NASCAR K&N  Pro Series East win at New Hampshire
Brandon McReynolds celebrates his first career NASCAR K&N
Pro Series East win at New Hampshire. (Photo by Adam Glanzman)


Saturday’s New England short track showdown at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) hosted three different divisions in a unique tripleheader aimed at highlighting three of the best short track divisions from both the United States and Canada. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Pinty’s Series joined the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for the event. 

NASCAR Race Mom is partial to the K&N Pro Series, where you can get acquainted with the ‘NASCAR Stars of Tomorrow’ in an ‘Up & Close’ setting.

The K&N Pro Series’ ‘Apple Barrel 125’ was the first series race at NHMS not held on a Cup weekend in nearly two decades. The race was the longest at the track for the series since 2011.

“It will be a little different being there without one of the top three series, it’s a little weird,” said Tyler Ankrum, the California rookie who leads the K&N Pro Series East standings with four wins — one of them at Loudon in July. “Every NASCAR track we’ve gone to all year, the Cup Series is there with us. You need to still be on top of your game, though — you should be on top of your game no matter what. You want to feel like a Rick Hendrick or a Joe Gibbs is watching you at these types of tracks, and they should be watching us. We’re the next thing — along with the Modifieds and the Pinty’s guys.”

Chase Cabre set the fast time in practice. #NASCAR
Chase Cabre set the fast time in practice. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)


Practice belonged to Chase Cabre. After Friday’s two practice sessions, it was Chase who paced the field in preparation for the thirteenth race of the fourteen-race championship points schedule. Brandon McReynolds, who posted a time of 29.498 seconds (129.121 mph) was just one-thousandth of a second behind Cabre.

Derek Kraus led the field to green for the ‘Apple Barrel 125 #NASCAR
Derek Kraus led the field to green for the ‘Apple Barrel 125’
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Derek Kraus, a native of Stratford, Wisconsin, topped the qualifying charts with a time of 29.273 seconds (130.113 mph) around the 1.053-mile oval. Kraus’ pole marks the seventh of his K&N Pro Series career and second at New Hampshire.

Tire strategy played a key role at NHMS. #NASCAR
Tire strategy played a key role at NHMS. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Race format included two scheduled breaks in the ‘Apple Barrel 125’, during which, teams had the opportunity to change tires, adjust on the setup and get the car dialed in for the final laps. If the team put on new tires on the first stop, they were allowed to put that first scuffed set on during the second break; or they could ride it out and put on the new tires during the second stop.

After getting passed for the lead in the winding laps, Brandon McReynolds capitalized on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Apple Barrel 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

It is the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory of McReynolds’ career in his 24th attempt dating back to 2011.

“It was pretty wild” said McReynolds. “I’ve always watched a lot of film on this place seeing races of my Dad when he won here so it’s a pretty special place to me — they call it the ‘Magic Mile’ which is pretty fitting.”

Brandon’s father, Larry, is a twenty-three-time NASCAR Cup Series winning crew chief including a 1996 win here at New Hampshire.



With a 13th place finish, Tyler Ankrum officially clinched the  2018 championship. #NASCAR
With a 13th place finish, Tyler Ankrum officially clinched the
2018 championship. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)


Despite a thirteenth place finish, Tyler Ankrum clinched the 2018 K&N Pro East title with one race remaining. Ankrum, a seventeen-year-old native of San Bernardino, California had yet to finish outside of the top-ten prior to today’s race, however, with teammate Tyler Dippel finishing just one spot ahead in twelfth, Ankrum leads Dippel by 50 points. The maximum a driver can earn in an event is fourty-eight.  Ankrum has four wins with an average finish of 4.3 this season.


The K&N Pro Series East season closer will be held at Dover International Speedway on Friday, October 5th.

Source: NASCAR.com

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