Have you ever wondered where all these young, talented guys like Trevor Bayne, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch come from? Well, have you? If you have, I have an answer to your question. Before they had careers in some of NASCAR's top series, they were competing in a little bit lower series of NASCAR. A series called the K&N Pro Series. It is divided into two divisions. One is the East Division, the other is the West Division.
The K&N Pro Series is somewhat of a development stage for some of motorsports finest talent. And I had the greatest opportunity in attending one of their recent races. The east division was set to make an appearance at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia. And I was set on making an appearance at the race myself. I set out on an 8 hour drive with my father and younger brother. Two hours of our trip was spent in Atlanta traffic. Upon our arrival at our hotel, we were surprised to find that Sam Hunt, who is a driver in the series, and his team were staying at our hotel. After a few hours spent eating dinner and just relaxing, my father took my brother to swim in the pool. When they returned to our hotel room, they informed me that Coleman Pressley, who is a crew chief for X Team Racing in the series and friends with Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano, was down in the lobby. I went to the lobby to see if they were right, and sure enough, there sat Coleman. I went up to him and introduced myself, also informing him that I am a huge fan of Joey Logano. He invited me to stay and chat for a while. After talking about Joey Logano leading final practice, and a few jokes about Danica Patrick, another surprise guest showed up. Mr. Corey LaJoie from the series joined us. Coleman introduced me to Corey. Eventually, all the guys from X Team Racing showed up and I was introduced to them as well. Including the driver Coleman is crew chief for, Daniel Suarez. After a few more jokes and watching a bit of the truck race, I decided to head back to our hotel room. Before I left though, Coleman invited me to come by the X Team hauler the next day at the race and check out the car and everything. Then we said our goodbyes and I went on my way.
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| Credit to Reba Robinson |
I arrived at Gresham the next morning. We made our way back to the garage entrance and parking area. We purchased our passes and headed on our way. As I walked down a line of cars, haulers, and teams, I felt at home. It's moments like those when you realize that racing really is your one true passion. I watched as first practice began and cars were racing in and out of the garage area. I took a seat at some picnic tables next to the infield concessions area while I waited for first practice to end. When it did, I took off walking again. Next thing I knew, I ran into Dylan Kwasniewski. Kwasniewski, who is normally in the West Division, was making his 2nd of three appearances in the East Division this year. He was driving the #20 for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was really laid back and cool to talk too. After a few minutes of talking, a picture, and wishing him good luck, I headed on my way. A while later I met the other Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Darrell Wallace Jr. Bubba, as he is better known, was such a great guy. He gave me a little insight into some of the stuff they'd been working on during their practice time.
Earlier during the week I had won a hero card from Sergio Pena. I figured since I was here, I should take the time to thank him personally. So I tweeted him asking where he was at so I could thank him. In return, he invited me to come by the hauler and he would personally give me the card instead. I headed over to the Hattori Racing hauler of Pena. I don't believe I've ever met someone as lively and friendly as Pena. When I reached the hauler, Sergio greeted me happily. He handed me the hero card then also offered me a hug as well, which I happily accepted. We talked for a few minutes, discussing the long drives that we both had to make, and just different things. Then I asked if we could take a picture. Much like everyone else, Sergio was happy to oblige. I've gotta say, he was probably one of the coolest, most down to earth people I met all day.
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Pole Sitter Cale Conley
Credit to Kevin Lyles/NASCAR on NASCARHometracks.com |
For awhile I just hung around the concessions picnic tables since it was hot, and those were shaded. Next they had qualifying tech for all the K&N cars. Then came the driver and crew chief meeting. Afterwards, I got an up close and personal view for qualifying. Cale Conley collect the pole position, with Dylan Kwasniewski grabbing second, followed by Brett Moffitt in third, Kyle Larson in fourth, and Corey LaJoie in fifth. Darrell Wallace Jr., Sergio Pena, Ben Kennedy, Brandon Gdovic, and Bryan Ortiz rounded out the top ten in qualifying.
Directly following qualifying was the mandatory driver autograph session. Which meant that all the guys I hadn't had a chance to meet before hand, would be available now. Including Cale Conley, who's girlfriend Emma Blaney insisted I stop by and meet. And good thing I was already in the pit area, considering the huge line of people I saw waiting to be let on the track for the session. I headed to the first guy I saw and went from there, collecting autographs and pictures with many of the ones there. Dylan Presnell was first. Then I found Chase Elliott. Luckily I got to him then, because that's who everybody went for when the track opened to everyone else. I went on to meet others. Kyle Larson was one of them. Little did I know that he would end up winning the race. Corey LaJoie was another. I actually ran into him a couple times that day, and he remembered me from the hotel. When I met him at the autograph session, he asked what I thought of the glasses that his girlfriend Kirsti had just given him. I told him that they looked great, which was clearly not the answer he was hoping for. But Kirtsi, Kyle Larson, and I all found his reaction quite humorous.
I proceeded on to meet Brett Moffitt, who seemed kind of quiet and low lying. But when you made him laugh, he seemed like a totally different guy. Then I went on to Cale Conley, as recommended by Emma Blaney. I got an autograph and a picture, but Emma was nowhere to be seen. However, as I was walking away, Emma was walking towards us. Apparently, I must be easily recognizable because she approached me with the most lively attitude. She asked if I'd gotten my picture with Cale like she told me, and I told her I had. She then told me that Cale is one lucky guy to have met someone as pretty as me. I couldn't believe I'd just been complimented by someone like Emma!
After the autograph session, the K&N cars were moved to behind the pit area to prepare for the local division that were set to run before the K&N guys. After 4 of those races, it was finally time for the Slack Auto Parts 150. And every lap was full of action. here were a handful of cautions, including a few red flags. One of the red flags involved Enrique Contreras, who was transported to the ER after his hard hit into the wall. The final red flag was in the closing laps.
Alright, so here's a bit of a heated opinion from me. I'm probably a bit biased on this, considering I was pulling for Kwasniewski to win. However, this is how it went down. Kwasniewski was running third behind Conley and Larson, with Moffitt following in suit in fourth. As the field came across the line with 8 to go, Moffitt seemed to get a bit impatient. Conley had a bit of a lead over the whole field. As Kwasniewski and Moffitt were exiting turn two, Moffitt who had been bumping into Kwasniewski's rear all through the turn, gave Kwasniewski a hard and very unneeded hit in the rear. This caused Kwasniewski to spin, resulting in some rough left rear damage from the initial hit. However, since this happened at the front of the field, a couple others collect damage while trying to avoid Kwasniewski who was stuck in the middle of the track trying to get his car re fired. I feel like Moffitt could have went about this a completely different way. He had a run on Kwasniewski, and the bottom lane was wide open. However, instead of moving down and completing a clean pass, Moffitt forced an accident to ensue. This marks two weeks in a row in which Moffitt has been involved in an accident with a Joe Gibbs Racing car. It follows his encounter with Darrell Wallace Jr at Bowman-Gray Stadium, which resulted in a more physical argument, which had been stopped before any actually fighting had occurred.
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Race Winner Kyle Larson
Credit Kevin Lyles/NASCAR on NASCARHometracks.com |
After all the carnage was cleared and the track was cleaned, the field went back to caution. They dropped the final green flag with 5 to go. Everyone expected the dominant car of Conley to take the lead as he had during the other restarts and just bring it on home. Kwasniewski had just been taken out, and LaJoie was back in the fourth position. These were two of the few who had really challenged Conley all night. However, rookie Kyle Larson was sitting in second place now. He had given Conley a bit of a challenge before, but he was about to really give Conley a run for his money. The whole lap after the green flag dropped, Larson stayed side by side with Conley. And then coming to the line with four to go, Larson pulled away. After four more laps, Kyle Larson came home the winner. Probably the biggest upset Conley has faced in a long time, after leading almost every lap. It was a big night for Larson. I myself was actually happy for him. And had Conley won, I would have been happy for him as well. However, Conley brought home second, followed by Brett Moffit in third after his incident with Kwasniewski. A quote from Larson during his Victory Lane interview was, "Nobody knows me in the stock car world yet so hopefully this puts me on the map." He continued with, "I'm really excited to get my first (NASCAR) K&N East win in front of a great crowd." Well Kyle, this person from the crowd was happy to watch you get this win. And I'm sure the girl I met earlier in the day who had flown all the way from California to watch you race was pretty ecstatic too.
And as if all this wasn't enough, we had a bit of surprise when we were heading to our car to leave. We walked past a truck that was right across from our, and a man was sitting on the tailgate. This man was oddly to familiar to me. As my father and brother were putting everything in the car, I asked my dad if he wanted to meet Bill Elliott. When he asked me how, I told him that when had all just walked past him and no one recognized him but me. He thought I was absolutely nuts. But of course, he had to go back and see. Sure enough, he discovered that I was right again. My dad had the opportunity to meet someone who he had been a fan of for years. that was the highlight of his day.
So there you have it. My quick summary of my weekend at Gresham Motorsports Park. And the chance at seeing what a race is like from this fans viewpoint. Gresham is a very fan friendly place, that also brings forth great racing. And can bring out the dark side in any driver, no matter how friendly they may be. Below will be links to a couple other articles that talk about the race, including practice and qualifying results, a race summary, and a list of the nights results. And there will also be a link to my pictures from the weekend.
Links:
PRACTICE: Conley Leads Field At Gresham As K&N East Teams Prepare For Slack Auto Parts 150
QUALIFYING: Conley Keeps It Going First Pole For 20-Year-Old After Pacing Practice
Kyle Larson Takes Win At Gresham
http://greshammotorsportspark.com/newsstory.php?id_news=418
Race Results
K&N East Points Standings
Reba's Weekend Pictures
