DENVER, NC (Dec. 8, 2015) – Popular Canadian welder-turned-racer Sarah Cornett-Ching announced her 2016 racing plans today. As many anticipated, she will continue to race with Tony Blanchard and RACE 101 during 2016, focusing primarily on chasing the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year title while sprinkling in some ARCA Racing Series and CARS Super Late Model Tour events along the way.
“I’m really energized about running in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series,” said the 24-year old driver from Summerland, British Columbia. “We raced a handful of events with them last year, I really liked how the races were organized, the parity of the rules package and what it offered me as a driver. As my career continues to advance, I’ll be racing on some of the same tracks and with a lot of the same drivers and teams. Combine that with the added value that the NASCAR brand can bring to me and my partners, it was really a no-brainer.”
Though 2016 will see her competing primarily under the NASCAR K&N Pro Series banner, Cornett-Ching will start her major-event schedule at the same place her career began, the Daytona International Speedway. Once again, she will compete in the ARCA Racing Series event at the 2.5-mile tri-oval as a precursor to the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited. Other ARCA starts are tentatively planned at larger tracks where her career path will take her in the future. Immediately following that contest, she will drive over to New Smyrna Speedway for the K&N Pro Series East season opener the next day.
“The K&N Series has a great mix of tracks and is a really good place to build my skill-set and improve my confidence as a driver, but ARCA still offers valuable opportunities for big-track and radial tire experience ,” she explained. “Seat time is seat time, no matter what I’m driving. So to have laps around places like Chicago, Talladega or Kansas is extremely valuable, especially when I have an opportunity to move up to Xfinity or the Truck Series in the future.”
In addition to full-sized stock car events with NASCAR and ARCA, Cornett-Ching plans to race in the CARS Super Late Model Tour and similar races. After notching a top-ten finish in her first super late model start over Thanksgiving weekend, she found those cars a fun and competitive alternative to sitting dormant during off-weekends.
“I loved racing the super late model at Kenly (Southern National Motorsports Park),” she said. “There are a lot of chances to race on K&N or ARCA off-weekends and it’s always a good thing to stay fresh. So many drivers came through those cars on the way to K&N success, and ultimately the top three tiers of NASCAR – Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and so many more. There’s a pattern there. And to have a prestigious super late model tour in our backyard, we’d be crazy not to run a few events with them as time permits.”
Sarah’s first NASCAR K&N Series start of 2016 will be at New Smyrna Speedway as part of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing on Sunday night,February 14. As a warm up and chance to learn the racetrack, she will also be running a super late model in the Redeye 100 at New Smyrna after the first of the year.
For the second consecutive season, Sarah will also be teamed up with two key charities – the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation and Pit Stops for Hope. In addition, the RACE 101 team is actively welcoming new business relationships of all types for 2016 and beyond as Cornett-Ching’s career continues to evolve and more partnership announcements are expected in the near future.
