Will Baize Return To The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East?

"ROY" Hunter Finished His 2016 #KNEast Season 4th in the Points

The nineteen-year-old from Kentucky finished third in the ARCA/CRA Super Series final standings last season. He earned two wins; one at Indiana's Illiana Motor Speedway and the other at Michigan's Flat Rock Speedway.

Consistency proved the path to Hunter Baize’s solid NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut season. After a crash in his series inauguration at New Smyrna procured him the last place finish; Baize earned one top-five and ten top-ten finishes of the fourteen race series.

“We had a good year,” said Baize. “I felt like I was pretty consistent, showed good speed and overcame issues. HScott and my team always gave me a good car and equipment, we just had some bad luck. But I always felt like we could go out there and be competitive.”

With his on track dependability, the driver of the No. 13 Bicycle Playing Cards / Pine Mountain Firewood Chevrolet for HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, finished fourth in the Championship Point Standings and earned the coveted Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award.

“It feels great to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award,” Hunter reported “The competition in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East this year was really good. I had to battle Tyler and Spencer for the title, but the entire rookie class, like Harrison Burton and Dominique Van Wieringen, was really talented.”

Unfortunately, not much about this rookie’s currant activity could be located via the internet. At this level of competition, an online presence is a must for a race car driver; but I digress.

“Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you all had a great day with your loved ones. Stay tuned for announcements on Hunter's 2017 plans in the coming weeks!” via Hunter Blaize Racing Facebook Page.

NASCAR Race Mom is anxiously awaiting to report that announcement.

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Source

Photo Source:NASCAR via Getty Images

Suárez Dominates at Dover

Daniel Advances in XFINITY Chase 

With a dominant car that opened leads of more than six seconds after the final restart on Lap 152 of 200, Daniel Suárez won Sunday’s rain-delayed Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway and earned a spot in the Round of 8 in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase.

The Mexican-born driver grabbed the top spot from eventual third-place finisher Justin Allgaier on Lap 155 and quickly pulled away. Ty Dillon passed Allgaier for the runner-up spot in the closing laps but finished 5.625 seconds behind Suárez, who won for the first time at Dover and the second time this season.

"I’m very proud of this team – the 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry," Suárez said. "They did a really good job today, and the guys just brought an amazing car. We had a ton of speed. This is one of those races that you would feel bad to lose."

Suárez’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Erik Jones, didn’t share the good fortune of the race winner. The winner of the Coors Light Pole in Saturday’s rain-shortened qualifying session, Jones developed a vibration in his right front wheel and made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 100.

A caution on Lap 139—after fast-closing Suárez tangled with Justin Marks in Turn 1 and sent Marks’ No. 42 Chevrolet into the outside wall with enough force to lift all four wheels off the pavement—gave Jones the opportunity to get back on the lead lap with a wave-around, but Jones had to pit for two seconds of fuel with seven laps left and fell to 16th at the finish.

"I'm disappointed, you know?" Jones said. "It's not how we wanted to run, for sure. Not a good day for us. Just frustrated and just really disappointed in how the first couple weeks have gone in the Chase.

"We've run so strong all year, and now to kind of fall on our face here the last couple weeks has been unfortunate. Just need to have a good day at Charlotte. We need to make up four points, get to the next round and start over. Hopefully, we can do that."

Jones and Dillon, who wrecked while battling in the top five last weekend at Kentucky, remained outside the top eight in the Chase standings, with an elimination race looming on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the Chase field will be trimmed from 12 to eight.

Dillon is three points behind 15th-place finisher Brennan Poole in eighth place, with Jones, who leads series regulars with five victories this season, four points back in 10th.

Suárez, an alumnus of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, expressed regret at the incident that ended Marks’ day. Suárez closed very quickly on new tires and hit Marks’ Chevy from behind when both cars moved to the bottom of the track to pass a lapped car.

"I want to apologize to the 42," said Suárez, who leads the Chase standings by two points over seventh-place finisher Elliott Sadler, who won last Saturday at Kentucky. "It wasn’t my intention to wreck him that way. I felt like I had the inside line and he went to the bottom and I apologize for that."

Notes: The race was delayed from a scheduled Saturday start because of rain. ... Corey Lajoie finished a career-best sixth, his second straight top 10 in an XFINITY race. ... J.J. Yeley’s eighth-place finish was a season-best. ... Ryan Blaney finished fourth in a substitute role for Joey Logano, who opted not to compete in the XFINITY event, when it was postponed to Sunday, the same day as the Chase for the Sprint Cup elimination race at the Monster Mile. ... Alex Bowman ran fifth in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race - Drive Sober 200
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Delaware
Sunday, October 02, 2016

1. (5) Daniel Suárez, Toyota, 200.
2. (7) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
3. (6) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (3) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 200.
5. (4) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 200.
6. (19) Corey LaJoie, Toyota, 200.
7. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (25) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
9. (13) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
10. (22) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200.
11. (9) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 200.
12. (11) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199.
13. (10) Regan Smith(i), Chevrolet, 199.
14. (20) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 199.
15. (12) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 199.
16. (1) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 198.
17. (16) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 198.
18. (18) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 198.
19. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 198.
20. (21) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 197.
21. (2) Drew Herring, Toyota, 196.
22. (17) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 196.
23. (29) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 196.
24. (23) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 195.
25. (28) Brandon Hightower, Dodge, 194.
26. (33) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 191.
27. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 191.
28. (31) David Starr, Chevrolet, 190.
29. (38) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 184.
30. (40) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 160.
31. (15) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, Accident, 137.
32. (26) Jeff Green, Toyota, Ignition, 103.
33. (24) BJ McLeod #, Ford, Electrical, 75.
34. (34) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 65.
35. (39) Matt Waltz, Chevrolet, Engine, 64.
36. (32) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Accident, 58.
37. (37) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, 57.
38. (36) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 44.
39. (30) Josh Wise(i), Ford, Engine, 1.
40. (27) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Accident, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 104.076 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 55 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 5.625 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 35 laps.

Lead Changes: 11 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: E. Jones # 1-9; D. Suárez 10; E. Jones # 11-36; R. Black Jr. # 37; E. Jones # 38-56; D. Suárez 57-123; E. Sadler 124-126; B. Koch 127-141; C. LaJoie 142; D. Suárez 143-151; J. Allgaier 152-154; D. Suárez 155-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Suárez 4 times for 123 laps; E. Jones # 3 times for 54 laps; B. Koch 1 time for 15 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 3 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 3 laps; R. Black Jr. # 1 time for 1 lap; C. LaJoie 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points:

1. D. Suárez - 2,087; 
2. E. Sadler - 2,085; 
3. J. Allgaier - 2,071; 
4. B. Gaughan - 2,068; 
5. R. Reed - 2,065; 
6. D. Wallace Jr. - 2,064; 
7. B. Koch - 2,058; 
8. B. Poole # - 2,057; 
9. T. Dillon - 2,054; 
10. E. Jones # - 2,053.

NASCAR Release

Photos by Sean Gardner and Sarah Crabill
/NASCAR via Getty Images

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Xfinity Series at Bristol Motor Speedway

Justin Marks Is The 20th First-Time NASCAR XFINITY Series Winner Since 2010

First time winner, Justin Marks won last week in a rain soaked road race.

When trying to find the new faces of the sport, look no further than the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Since 2010, the series has seen 20 different first-time winners, including two that have won this season – Daniel Suárez (Michigan) and last weekend’s winner Justin Marks (Mid-Ohio).

The 20 first-time series winners since 2010 by season: 2016 – Two: Justin Marks (Mid-Ohio) and Daniel Suárez (Michigan)

• 2015 – Two: Erik Jones (Texas) and Ryan Reed (Daytona)
• 2014 – Five: Chris Buescher (Mid-Ohio), Ty Dillon (Indianapolis), Brendan Gaughan (Road America), Chase Elliott (Texas) and Kyle Larson (Auto Club Speedway)
• 2013 – Two: Ryan Blaney (Kentucky) and AJ Allmendinger (Road America)
• 2012 – Four: Nelson Piquet Jr. (Road America), Austin Dillon (Kentucky), James Buescher (Daytona) and Regan Smith (Homestead-Miami)
• 2011 – Three: Trevor Bayne (Texas), Sam Hornish Jr. (Phoenix) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Iowa)
• 2010 – Two: Justin Allgaier (Bristol) and Boris Said (Montreal)

Erik Jones celebrates in victory lane - #NASCAR Xfinity Series, Bristol Motor Speedway

Since 2010, Texas and Road America have seen the most first-time winners with three each.

Since the series inception in 1982, there has been at least one first-time winner in each season. Overall, 146 different drivers have won a NASCAR XFINITY Series race. The inaugural season (1982) saw the most first-time winners at 14, but since then the most first-time winners per season has been six, and it has happened on seven occasions (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2004 and 2006).

Bristol Motor Speedway – the site of Friday’s Food City 300 (7:30 p.m. ET on USA) has been home to six NASCAR XFINITY Series first-time winners – Justin Allgaier (2010), Martin Truex Jr. (2004), Jeff Fuller (1996), Bobby Labonte (1991), Rick Wilson (1989) and Phil Parsons (1982).

NASCAR XFINITY Series

• Next Race: Food City 300
• The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway
• The Date: Friday, Aug. 19
• The Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: USA, 7 p.m. ET
• Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 159.9 miles (300 laps)

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Wade Payne

#NASCAR Rain Wild Road Race

"I knew if the race ended in the rain that we would have a real shot at winning it. I wish my family was here. I'm just really happy." 

Road course expert Justin Marks put a storybook ending to the very entertaining NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with his victory.  Starting from sixteenth on the grid, it was his first career Xfinity win.

Justin Marks driver of the #42 Katerra Chevrolet races on track during the 4th annual
NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

"These are as tough conditions as you can put drivers in," an emotional Marks reported from a makeshift Victory Lane. "It's just really hard on everybody when it's dry and wet and you don't really know what to do, so strategy plays a big role in it. You know, my specialty is road racing in the rain in these stock cars and I don't get much of an opportunity to do it so when that opportunity presents itself, you have to really take advantage of it and I about threw it away today.

Justin Marks  celebrates in Victory Lane after taking first place in the 4th annual
NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Cours

The race winner took time to remember fallen racer Bryan Clausen.  "Bryan's short career in stock car racing came with Chip Ganassi Racing, so it's great to be able to put this thing in Victory Lane to honor him and think about him," added Marks. "He's a real American hero race car driver. Bryan was. They don't make them like that anymore."

Photos by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images

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