Blaney, Wallace Making A Name For Themselves At The National Level

By Travis Barrett, Special to NASCAR Home Tracks
September 14, 2012 - 5:00pm

Darrell Wallace Jr. has finished top-10 in each of his first three Nationwide Series starts(Getty Images for NASCAR)

With sudden ascension of drivers like Darrell Wallace Jr. and Ryan Blaney to national series success, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East is living up to its billing as a top feeder ground for the upper reaches of NASCAR. Both Wallace and Blaney have turned success at the development series level into not only starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – but into impressive runs garnering attention beyond the touring ranks.

Both made trips to Iowa Speedway in early August that translated into Top-10 finishes in a Nationwide Series race.

“I only told a few people this, but when I'm racing against Ryan, to me finishing better than seventh means finishing better than Blaney,” Wallace said. “Winning at Dover last year was pretty big, and also making a step into a Nationwide car and finishing ninth (in my debut). That was a pretty big deal – but I was a little frustrated, because Blaney finished seventh.”

With the rising stars of the sport competing against one another regularly in the K&N Pro Series, they have already begun to measure themselves – and their future prospects – against one another.

Blaney, 18, has started just four K&N Pro Series races this season, posting a pair of runner-up finishes, though his career has taken off this summer. Where Wallace's track has taken a larger arc toward the national series, Blaney's has been a bit of a meteoric rise.

The son of noted World of Outlaws and Sprint Cup Series driver Dave Blaney had a partial Nationwide Series schedule with Tommy Baldwin Racing to start the season, and recently inked a deal with Penske Racing to run in the Nationwide cars for a handful of races. He’s also competing part time in the Camping World Truck Series.

“I think it's right on schedule. Maybe it's a little bit ahead of time for what we thought, but we were fortunate to get where we're at right now,” said Blaney, who has two Truck starts this season with a sixth-place finish at Bristol and an 11th-place run at Atlanta. “I think it's going right as planned right now... You have to try to get in there as young as you can and learn as much as you can early.”

Blaney's performance has earned him three-differernt rides at the national series level this year. Getty Images for NASCAR

Though Blaney hasn't had as much experience in the K&N Pro Series as Wallace or point leader Brett Moffitt has, he has noticed how much there is to be gained from competing there.

“It's a really good series,” he said. “It teaches you about heavier cars and gets you on some bigger race tracks. It's a really good feeder series to get into the Trucks or the Nationwide cars.

“It's a great series to get started in.”

Wallace burst onto the K&N Pro Series scene as a rookie in 2010 – as a 16-year-old out of the Drive For Diversity program – and finished second in the final series standings that season. He followed that by winning three of 12 races in 2011, plus three pole awards, and now competes this season under the Joe Gibbs Racing banner after originally signing there in 2009.

While the on-track results haven't set the world on fire in the JGR Toyotas after the team won the 2011 series championship with Max Gresham, the development process away from the track has been instrumental in getting Wallace's career to the next level.

“Missing everything in school you wanted to go to. When I was just starting out, there were parties and football games I wanted to go to, and my dad would say, 'No,'” said Wallace, who just signed a contract extension with JGR. “Now, I don't regret missing out on those things. That's what you've got to have. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and miss out on a lot of things, but you've got to look down the long road. It all pays out.”

Wallace has made three NASCAR Nationwide starts in his career, all of them this year, and has yet to finish outside the Top-10. He finished a career-best seventh at Iowa Speedway in August.

Those who haven't yet made their national series debuts – like 15-year-old Chase Elliott, who is prohibited by a minimum age requirement – has taken notice of what his competition is doing.

“When I look up on Saturday nights and see guys like Darrell and Ryan Blaney, buddies of mine that I race against in the (K&N) Series, being extremely competitive in the Nationwide Series, that's definitely a confidence booster in itself,” Elliott said. “To know that we go out and race on Friday and Saturday nights, short-track racing, and have a good time with it and do the best we can – then to see those guys have success in the Nationwide Series, that's pretty cool to watch.”

For both Blaney and Wallace, the pressure is not eased by simply having made inroads into NASCAR's national series.

Blaney, in particular, carries scrutiny simply because of his surname.

“I think that's an added bonus,” Blaney said. “My dad and the Blaney name is known, obviously, and it's opened some bridges up. It's definitely helped out. The name is just a bonus.

“Even though I have to carry it around, at the same time, I've still got to prove that Ryan Blaney can do it. I've got to prove that I can do this – when it gets to that point, a name can only mean so much.”

Like the “Next 9,” which could soon be replaced by the “9 Now.”

“They picked these nine guys for a reason, because they're the most promising in K&N Series now,” Blaney said. “There's definitely a good possibility that we'll all be up there (in the national series). For sure, there's a good possibility that at least half of us will be.

“Hopefully it's all nine of us and everybody knows our name in the bigger series someday. These guys are good – they're really good racers, and they're smart, too. It's a really good group of racers.”

Blaney and Wallace know what it takes to win at national series tracks, having K&N Pro Series victories at Phoenix and Dover to their credit. Getty Images for NASCAR

Huffman Works For A Ride

Sweat Equity Gains Army Veteran An Opportunity To Race

By Jerry F. Boone, Special To NASCARHomeTracks.com 

The braking point markers were whizzing by at an alarming rate.

500. 400. 300.

Zack Huffman was charging down the front straight of Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, heading nearer and nearer to the infamous right-left-right complex of corners that make up the track’s signature chicane.

200.

He stood on the brake pedal and pushed with all his might.

100.

And never got his rent-a-ride racecar to slow down enough to make the corners.

It is what happens when you try to convince a short track car it’s a road-course warrior.

But Huffman wasn’t overly concerned.

“Ya just drive what ya got,” he explained. “I keep out of everyone’s way and try to have a good time out there,” he said.

Normally, Huffman is a regular at the Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway oval near his hometown of Manteca, Calif., but on occasion he gets to run with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

The 33-year-old is not your typical rent-a-ride racer on the NASCAR tour. Rather that writing a healthy check and slipping into the seat of a pristine car prepared by one of the front running teams, Huffman pays for his rides with sweat equity.

During most K&N series race weekends, you can find him under the hood of the No. 38 Ford Fusion, working on the car for someone else to drive. The Ford is owned by John Wood, and is entered by Ryan Philpott Racing. It is available to drivers looking for a taste of NASCAR racing, but who don’t have the budget for a top of the line ride from one of the high profile teams.

But when there is no one to rent the car for a series race, Huffman gets the chance to drive it for the cost of fuel and tires and post-race repairs.

Huffman finished 20th at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., and 17th at Colorado National Speedway near Denver. At the NAPA Auto Parts Salute to the Troops 125 on the Portland road course, he squeezed into the field with a 28th-spot qualifying run.

AZack Huffman negotiates the chicane at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway
during practice for the NAPA Auto Parts Salute to the Troops 125. Jerry Boone

For people who know Huffman and his history, they know for him to compete in the “Salute to the Troops” race was especially gratifying. Long before he got behind the wheel of a NASCAR stock car, he was serving in the military.

“He entered the Army right out of high school,” said Wes Huffman, his father. “His mother and I had to sign for him, because he was only 17 at the time.”

Wes said Zack’s family has a history of military service that goes back generations.

“I had a bunch of National Guard uniforms and stuff hanging around when Zack was growing up, and he’s put that stuff on over the weekends and played Army with it,” he said.

So while most of his high school classmates went off the college, Zack went off to war.

“I wasn’t big into school, but I liked working on machines and figured the Army would let me do something for my country while getting more training,” the younger Huffman said.

He finished his training just in time to be sent to Iraq in Operation Desert Fox, which was part of the run up to the invasion of Iraq, but before the 9-11 attacks.

He was sent back to Iraq after 9-11.

His first tour saw him mostly in support areas, working on equipment headed to or returning from battle. During his second trip to Iraq, things became much more intense.

“We spent a lot of 16-hours days in the heat, driving equipment in convoys. Our convoys came under fire a number of times.”

Part of his job was to go into combat zones with the military version of a wrecker truck to bring back equipment that had been damaged or disabled.

“The combat guys would set up an area and try to keep it safe, but there was firing all around while we were trying to do our job. Some guys freeze up and just can’t even move under those conditions. My second nature was to just focus on the equipment. You just had to put all that other stuff out of your mind and concentrate on what you were supposed to be doing, but I’ll admit there were times I’d hook up to a vehicle and just tow it out of danger as fast as I could.”

He was injured when, during a blinding dust storm, his vehicle went off the road and down an embankment.

“There was zero visibility,” he said.

“It is the type of place where if you weren’t there, you can’t imagine what it was like. I’ve seen enough for a couple of lifetimes.”

"People ask me if I ever get scared in a race car," he said. "Hell, these guys just want to beat me...they aren't trying to kill me. I've been in that situation, and racing is a lot safer."

His dual role as a mechanic and driver keeps Huffman busy on race weekends. On Saturday of the Portland weekend, he spent far more time under the car than in it.

After the second round of practice, he climbed out the driver side window, shed his driving suit and dove under the hood for more tuning and repairs. He was in familiar territory.

Huffman and his dad haul their tires and equipment in a semi-enclosed trailer they tow behind the family car. When the race days are over, they drive through the night so he can go to work maintaining equipment at an Army depot near their home.

“I still love working on machines,” he said.

Huffman said he realizes he’s probably never going to make it to racing’s big leagues, and he’s fine with that.

“I’m too old to have any team interested in picking me up,” he said, “and the series is too expensive for someone like me, with a wife and family and a job, to run full time.

“Still, I enjoy working on the cars and learning everything I can about them. It would be nice to maybe get involved as a crew on one of the other, better funded teams.”

So he races within his limits.

That means that he began the Portland race at the end of the field and held his position for as long as he could.

“I’m getting so that I kind of like road course racing,” he said. “I didn’t at first, but it’s growing on me.”

The brakes went out first, so he had to use the gearbox and engine more and more to keep the car under control, and began slowing for the chicane on the front straight about where other competitors were still hard on the throttle.

“But then the clutch went out,” he said, ending his race after 28 of the 63 scheduled laps.

“At this level, we just run stuff until it breaks,” he said. “And it broke.”

He’ll take the car home and fix it again before the next race at Albuquerque, N.M. It’s what he does. And if no one signs on to fill the driver’s seat, maybe he’ll get to drive it again before the season’s over.

Zack Huffman spends much of his time at the track working on the race cars. Jerry Boone

Pursley Dominates In Portland Victory

Fourth K&N West Win In 2012
For Defending Champ

By Shon Sbarra, NASCAR

Greg Pursley led every lap en route to the NAPA Auto Part Salute To The Troops 125 victory
in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West action on Sunday at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.
(Craig Mitchell Dyer/Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

PORTLAND, Ore. – NASCAR K&N Pro Series West points leader Greg Pursley was the class of the field in the NAPA Auto Parts Salute To The Troops 125 on Sunday at Portland International Raceway.

The driver of the No. 26 GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water Ford – hailing from Newhall, Calif. – started the day with his fourth Coors Light Pole Award and then led all 63 laps en route to his fourth win of the season and the 13th of his series career.

Even though it appeared Pursley was on cruise control at times; that was not the case from his point of view.

“After the pit stop, I really couldn’t save anything,” Pursley said. “Those guys were fighting hard for position. I had to run (hard) and hope there wasn’t going to be a green-white-checkered.”

The triumph – Pursley’s first in Portland – erased some bad memories. Last season with a very similar performance throughout the race, engine problems forced him to the garage and an early end to his day.

“We’re really happy to get out of here with a win,” Pursley stated. “We really love coming here to Portland and we’ve done well here, but never could get a win until today.”

POS	DRIVER
1	Greg Pursley
2	Michael Self
3	Eric Holmes
4	Dylan Kwasniewski
5	Derek Thorn

The rapidly improving Michael Self battled a stomach ailment all weekend, but was able to persevere and claim second place. It was his fifth top-10 performance in his last six outings.

“When that first yellow came out I realized that my stomach was rolling over on itself, but once it went green the adrenaline kicked in and I was fine,” Self said. “Despite being sick, we’re really having a lot of fun right now and getting some good finishes.”

Three-time series champion Eric Holmes crossed the line in the third position, but hoped for a little more.

“That race was a lot of fun today,” Holmes stated. “I thought we had something for (Pursley). On the second-to-last restart I got a really good jump and almost beat him into (Turn) 1. I was hoping to do the same on the last (restart), but he jumped that start a little. He did what he had to do there.”

Kwasniewski worked his way up to a fourth-place finish after starting 11th on the grid while Derek Thorn started from the rear of the field due to an unapproved change to his car after qualifying and came home in fifth.

David Mayhew, Brian Wong, Dale Quarterley, Jim Inglebright and Austin Dyne rounded out the top-10 finishers. The race was slowed due to caution just four times for 15 laps.

It was the first wire-to-wire victory in the series since Dylan Kwasniewski accomplished the feat on May 5 at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway. Pursley last went the distance on June 11, 2011 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Pursley extended his lead over teammate Kwasniewski to 15 points with three races remaining with Mayhew, Thorn and Holmes completing the top five.

The NAPA Auto Parts Salute to the Troops 125 will air on SPEED on Sept. 6 at 3 p.m. ET.

The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule is at NAPA Speedway in Sandia, N.M, on Sept. 29.

RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | GREG PURSLEY POST-RACE AUDIO | MICHAEL SELF POST-RACE AUDIO | ERIC HOLMES POST-RACE AUDIO

Greg Pursley en route to his NAPA Auto Parts Salute To The Troops 125 victory.
(Craig Michell Dyer/Getty Images for NASCAR)