Greg Pursley (left) led the championship standings at this time a year ago. Now, it's his teammate at Gene Price Motorsports, Dylan Kwasniewski (right), who is leading the points.
 Getty Images for NASCAR

News & Notes: K&N West Heads To Vegas

Kwasniewski Leads The Charge To His Hometown Track

By Kevin W. Green, NASCAR

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Consistent finishes are usually the sign of an experienced veteran race driver. But in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this year, it’s second-year driver Dylan Kwasniewski who is the mark of consistency.

The Las Vegas resident, who celebrates his 17th birthday on Thursday, is the only driver to finish in the top five in each of the first six races this year. Those consistent finishes have paid off, giving Kwasniewski a solid lead in the championship standings.

The driver of the No. 03 Royal Purple/Rockstar Ford aims to keep his momentum rolling when the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West heads to his hometown for the Star Nursery 200 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 2.

Although Kwasniewski will be racing on his home track, he knows the competition will be tough. And in order to win, one of the drivers he will need to beat is defending series champion Greg Pursley, who is Kwasniewski’s teammate at Gene Price Motorsports.

Pursley led the standings a year ago and won at Las Vegas, with Kwasniewski finishing second. This year, however, it is Kwasniewski who is leading the charge heading to Sin City. He is the only driver with multiple wins this year and holds a 17-point lead over Pursley in the point standings.

“He’s got a year under his belt in these cars and he’s our competition now,” Pursley said of his young teammate. “I’m sure we’ll be racing him for the win again.

“He’s progressing a lot as a driver and we’re really proud of him” Pursley said. “I think he’s matured a lot since last year. Since the beginning of the year, he’s been on fire. He’s doing a great job. It’s good to see him doing that.”

Pursley is returning to Vegas with the same equipment he ran with a year ago and aiming for the same results.

“We put all our stuff in it that we won with last year,” he said. “So, we’re going to go with it that way. Hopefully, we can do good there and lead some more laps like we did last year and possibly win the race again.”

Self Captures First Win With Brainerd Victory

Michael Self celebrates his first career series win at
Brainerd International Raceway. Getty Images for NASCAR

Chases Down Kwasniewski To Take Lead In Closing Laps

By Kevin W. Green, NASCAR

BRAINERD, Minn. – Michael Self scored his first career win in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West with a victory in the Brainerd 125 at Brainerd International Raceway on Saturday.

The 21-year-old from Park City, Utah chased down Dylan Kwasniewski in the closing stages of the inaugural series race on the 2.5-mile road course and took the lead coming to the white flag. Kwasniewski, who had dominated the competition, was battling transmission issues as the race wound down.

Self had run in third behind teammates Kwasniewski and Greg Pursley for most of the race. He picked off Pursley with 10 laps to go and then overcame more than a three-second deficit to get to the lead. He made the move past Kwasniewski entering Turn 9 on the 48th lap and pulled away in the No. 21 Rockwell/Golden Gate Meat/RCR Chevrolet to win by a margin of 4.859 seconds.

POS	DRIVER
1	Michael Self
2	Dylan Kwasniewski
3	Greg Pursley
4	Derek Thorn
5	David Mayhew

Despite the mechanical problems, Kwasniewski held on to finish second. Pursley was third, with Derek Thorn fourth and David Mayhew fifth. Completing the top 10 were Eric Holmes, Jonathon Gomez, Austin Dyne, Dylan Hutchison and Carl Harr.

With his win, Self locked up a spot in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at the UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway next February during Speedweeks.

Kwasniewski, meanwhile, was able to extend his lead by two points in the championship standings.

The 16-year-old from Las Vegas, who led a race high 32 laps on Saturday, has 263 points over Pursley with 246. Mayhew is third, followed by Thorn and three-time series champion Holmes. Self, who had a previous best finish of fourth in 33 series starts, moved from eighth to sixth in the standings. He is followed by Gomez, Cameron Hayley, Daryl Harr and Dyne.

The Brainerd race featured eight lead changes among five drivers. It was slowed by just one caution.

This was the sixth event on a 15-race schedule and the second of four road course races for the series this year.

The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule will be the Star Nursery 200 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 2.

LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | RESULTS | POST-RACE AUDIO: MICHAEL SELF | POST-RACE AUDIO: DYLAN KWASNIEWSKI | POST-RACE AUDIO: GREG PURSLEY

Michael Self wheeled the No. 21 Rockwell/Golden Gate
Meat/RCR Chevrolet to his first career win at BIR on Saturday.
Getty Images for NASCAR

News & Notes: K&N West 1st Visit To BIR

Kwasniewski Looks To Extend Lead
In Championship Standings
 

By Kevin W. Green
 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West makes its inaugural visit to Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway this week as part of the Fourth Annual Street Car Showdown on Saturday, May 26.

The event on BIR’s 2.5-mile road course is the sixth event of a 15-race schedule and the second of four road course events for the series this year.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Kwasniewski heads to Minnesota first in the championship standings – with a 15-point lead over his teammate, defending series champion Greg Pursley. While Kwasniewski looks to build on his point lead, Pursley aims to gain ground in hopes of capturing back-to-back titles.

"I'm really excited about the inaugural K&N West race at Brainerd,” said Kwasniewski. “I think the fact that it's new for all of us West drivers levels the field just that much more. I'm happy that Royal Purple stepped up to sponsor this race and I'm confident I can bring my No. 03 Ford home in the winner’s circle this time."

Kwasniewski, of Las Vegas, is the first driver to capture more than one win in the series this year. He scored a victory earlier this month at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway and was credited with a win as the top finishing West driver in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on Saturday.

Although he had a record setting season as a rookie last year, Kwasniewski did not have much success in road course events. His best finish in the three races was 25th. But with a fourth-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah last month, he appears to have turned things around this year.

"We did have a lot of bad luck on road courses last year and that's frustrating for me because I grew up racing karts on many different kinds of open wheel tracks,” Kwasniewski said. “I feel that I didn't have the opportunity to showcase my ability to race these kinds of tracks last year. Miller was definitely a boost to my confidence. I really enjoy racing road courses because you have to be on your game with all the turns, shifting and elevation changes all the time. I think finishing well in the road courses we have on the schedule is going to be important to winning the championship.”

Pursley, meanwhile, has the best road course stats among the series regulars. The driver of the No. 26 Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery Ford has three wins, all at Miller Motorsports Park, along with six top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 11 series road course starts.