MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (March 29, 2016) – After a mediocre finish in their NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) debut together at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, Young’s Motorsports and Reid Wilson vowed to deliver more at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway.
Mission accomplished.
Embracing a track where passing is difficult and traditional short track morals come to fruition, the Young’s Motorsports team led by crew chief Andrew Abbott came to play in this past Saturday night’s Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150.
Utilizing the first practice session to dial-in their No. 66 TruNorth Warranty Programs / MDA Summer Camp Chevrolet – the time spent doing so paid dividends.
In final practice, Wilson quickly maneuvered a fast time inside the top-five. From there, the Young’s Motorsports driver remained in the top-10 throughout the entire session – shifting their focus to qualifying.
Earning a top-10 starting position, Young was ready to do battle. From the moment the green flag dropped – Wilson went to work.
In a night where passing proved to be more than challenging, he moved into ninth for a short time before handling woes set in backsliding the former CARS Pro Cup competitor back to 11th before the halfway break.
Once the caution flew for the halfway break on Lap 75, the team went to work. With tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, Wilson was given the all-clear to fight hard once the race restarted.
Fight hard he did.
As the track glistened into darkness, the speed of the No. 66 TruNorth Warranty Programs / MDA Summer Camp Chevrolet showed with Wilson quickly maneuvering back inside the top-10. Settled in eighth, Wilson stalked his prey as the laps ticked away moving around Noah Gragson for seventh with 35 laps to go.
Closing in on the finish, Wilson found himself on the bumper of the No. 3 of Kaz Grala. In typical short track style, Wilson waited for the right moment to make his move – that happened when Grala fell into the clutches of the Young’s Motorsports team on Lap 134, moving the team to sixth where they took the checkered flag.
“I’m incredibly proud of this Young’s Motorsports team,” said Wilson. “We had been saying in the days leading up to Greenville-Pickens that we were going to have a fast car and something we could contend with. We proved that during the race. We’re satisfied with sixth, but we’re not done yet, we’re just getting started.”
Wilson credited the success of his team for their ability to keep up with the ever-changing track conditions as the sun went down and the track fell upon nightfall.
“The key with us … was keeping the car pinned down to the bottom in the center of the corners, coming out of both two and four,” Wilson explained to reporters after the race. “As long as I could get down to the bottom, stay down there and just get a run straight up off — all the way to the wall — I could save my tires all night long and it burned our stuff up so much less than some of the other guys up front.”
“I can’t believe some of the teams we beat. We were as fast as the guys up front late in the race, and we beat three of the four HScott (Motorsports with Justin Marks) cars at the end of the day. For us, as a smaller team trying to build this program, that’s a big deal.”
The Young’s Motorsports team hosted several fans fighting muscular dystrophy, a cause that Wilson not only supports, but draws attention to through the power of Motorsports both on and off the track.
“It was huge to have the kids here from the MDA Summer Camp and to be able to give them a memory that they’ll hopefully keep with them for a long time to come,” Wilson added. “I’ve worked with the MDA for several years now, and it always means a lot to be able to make an impact like that in the lives of the kids that they work with. I’m grateful and blessed to be a small part of that.”
While the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to competition at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Apr. 16, the Young’s Motorsports will prepare for the third race of their limited schedule in 2016 rejoining the circuit on Monday, May 30 for the ComServe Memorial Day Classic at Dominion (Va.) Raceway. It will be the series’ inaugural visit to the short track.
For more on Reid Wilson, please visit ReidWilsonRacing.com or click on his Facebook page.
Wilson tweets too. Follow him @reidwilson66.
