K&N Pro East Stat Advance: VIR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will visit their first road course of the season Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., for the Biscuitville 125. Below is a statistical performance of the series and selected drivers.

Biscuitville 125 Race Setup:
• This will be the series’ fourth visit to the track with the inaugural Biscuitville 125 taking place August 24, 2013.
• Prior to the 2013 event at VIR, the K&N Pro Series East had not competed on a road course since July 2010 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut. Saturday’s event will be the sixth one held on a road course since 2013.
• Justin Haley enters VIR three points out of first and six points ahead of Spencer Davis.
• The top five are within 19 points of first headed into this weekend.

At VIRginia International Raceway:
History
• Originally opened in 1957 and was closed from 1974 to 2000 when it was reopened by Harvey Siegel.
• Offers five track configurations. The Full Course is 3.27 miles in length while the Patriot Course stretches for 1.1 miles entirely inside the Full Course. The North Course measures 2.250 miles in length and the South Course covers a distance of 1.65 miles. The Grand East Course is the longest configuration at 4.2 miles and is made up of the Full and Patriot courses. The K&N Pro Series East will be competing on the North Course this weekend.
• The track has previously hosted numerous test sessions for NASCAR’s top-three national series.

Notebook
• This is the fourth NASCAR-sanctioned race at VIR.
• There have been three different winners in the series’ three visits to the track – Dylan Kwasniewski (2013), Scott Heckert (2014) and Sergio Pena (2015).
• The most cautions in a K&N race at VIR was seven (2014) while the fewest is three (2013). The most caution laps were 17 in 2015 while the fewest were 13 in 2013.
• In three races, the lead has changed hands an average of 5.33 times with a high of eight lead changes last season.
• The average starting position for the winner is fifth while the pole sitter has an average finish of 5.66.
• VIR is one of three road courses on the series’ schedule this season joining New York’s Watkins Glen International and New Jersey Motorsport Park.
• There are only two drivers – Sergio Pena and Brian Henderson – from Virginia on the entry list.

VIR Data
Race: #5 of 14 overall
Race Date: Saturday, April 30 at 3:45 p.m. ET
Track Layout: 2.250-mile road course
Race Length: 55 laps (123.75 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Race Winner: Sergio Pena
2015 Pole Sitter: Scott Heckert
1-Lap Qualifying Record: Scott Heckert, Chevrolet, 87.324 seconds (92.758 mph), August 29, 2015
55-Lap Race Record: Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 1 hour 54 minutes 53 seconds (66.981 mph), August 24, 2013.

VIRginia International Raceway Leaders:
Wins
Scott Heckert … 1
Dylan Kwasniewski … 1
Sergio Pena … 1

Poles
Scott Heckert … 2
Dylan Kwasniewski … 1

Laps Completed
Kenzie Ruston … 164
Scott Heckert … 163
Brandon Gdovic … 123
Nick Drake  … 121
Gray Gaulding … 121
Austin Hill … 121

Laps Led
Scott Heckert … 47
Dylan Kwasniewski … 39
Cameron Hayley … 25
Gray Gaulding … 24
Daniel Suarez … 17
Austin Hill … 11

Selected Driver Highlights:
Ronnie Bassett Jr. (No. 02 Bassett Gutters Ford)
• Is ranked sixth in the standings with two top fives and three top 10s.
• In his only start at VIR in 2014, he finished 17th after starting 23rd.

Kyle Benjamin (No. 40 FEVR Chevrolet)
• Is first in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings with three top fives and four top 10s.
• This will be his first start at VIR
• In his lone road course start at New York’s Watkins Glen International, he finished 14th after starting 19th.
• Is a member of the 2015-16 NASCAR Next class.

Collin Cabre (No. 2 UTI/NTI Toyota)
• Is eighth in the standings with one top 10 finish.
• In his VIR debut last season, he finished fourth after starting 14th.
• Is a member of Drive for Diversity (D4D) class and Rev Racing.

Spencer Davis (No. 41 FEVR Chevrolet)
• Heads into VIR third in the standings with three top fives.
• This will be his road course debut in the K&N East.

Tyler Dippel (No. 38 East-West Marine/TyCar Chevrolet)
• Is ranked fourth in the standings with one win and three top 10s.
• Earned his first K&N East victory at Mobile in just his second start.
• This will be his series road course debut.

Noah Gragson (No. 55 AlertID/Speed Vegas/Colliers International Ford)
• Heads into VIR ranked seventh in the standing with two top-10 finishes.
• In his lone K&N East road course start at New York’s Watkins Glen International, he finished eighth (2015).
• In his road course debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at California’s Sonoma Raceway last season, he finished seventh after starting 12th.

Kaz Grala (No. 3 NETTTS Toyota)
• Is ranked fifth in the K&N East standings with two top fives and three top 10s.
• In his two starts at VIR he’s finished fifth (2014) and second (2015).
• He has an average start of ninth and an average finish of 3.5 at the Virginia road course.

Justin Haley (No. 5 Braun Auto Chevrolet)
• Heads into the weekend second in the standings with one win, three top fives and four top 10s.
• In his VIR debut last season, he finished fifth after starting third.

Austin Theriault (No. 1 Hattori Motorsports Toyota)
• Is 10th in the K&N East standings with one top-five finish.
• This will be his first series road course start.

Dominique Van Wieringen (No. 30 Durobyte Ford)
• Heads into the weekend ranked ninth with one top-10 finish.
• She will be making her VIR and K&N East road course debut.

Other Driver Notes:
• Defending VIR race winner Sergio Pena will try to become the first repeat winner at the track in series history. In his two starts at VIR, he’s finished fourth (2014) and first (2015).
• Gracin Raz will be making his third K&N East start of the season and his first road course start in the East. In his K&N West road course debut at Sonoma last season, he finished 12th after starting 21st.

Up To Speed:
• The 2016 season is the 30th for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• The 2016 schedule features 14 races at 13 different tracks across the United States.
• Third-generation driver Todd Gilliland earned his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory in his series debut at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway.
• Tyler Dippel collected his first series win in just his second series start at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway.
• Justin Haley recorded his first K&N East win at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway after leading a total of 28 laps.
• Chad Finchum earned his first series victory at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway.