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NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race No. 5, Biscuitville 125
VIRginia International Raceway, Alton, Virginia
Race Information: Event: Biscuitville 125, Saturday, April 30 at approximately 3:45 p.m. Local Time Track: VIRginia International Raceway Qualifying: Saturday, April 30 at 1:00 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 2.250-mile permanent road course (North Course)
Welcome To The Old Dominion: After a brief one week break, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to action this weekend at the very popular VIRginia International Raceway, site of Saturday’s Biscuitville 125. Rookie sensation Dominique Van Wieringen will look for her second top-10 finish of the season.
Turning Lefts and Rights: While Van Wieringen has gained notoriety for her impressive speed on the short tracks, she’ll look to continue that form turning rights and left for the first time in her young career as the popular Canadian will make the first of three road course starts aboard the No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion for Rette Jones Racing (RJR).
Back to School: To prepare her for Saturday’s Biscuitville 125, Van Wieringen and car owner Mark Rette recently traveled to Arizona where Van Wieringen participated in an aggressive driving school spearheaded by former NASCAR driver Chris Cook. She spent two days learning the fundamentals of road racing at Chris Cook Performance at Bondurant Racing School. With the techniques she learned, she hopes she’ll have an upper hand
for the first of three road courses on the schedule this season.
Proud Partnership: For the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season, Rette Jones Racing is proud to welcome a partnership with NASCAR Technical Institute (NTI) and Universal Technical Institute (UTI). Through a campus-based school system, UTI offers specialized technical education programs under the banner of several brands, including NASCAR.
Students will learn everything you need to know to work on a wide variety of vehicles as part of their core training on top of 15 weeks of NASCAR-specific courses to learn racing fundamentals.
Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Race Rewind: In the fourth NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season, Van Wieringen made her “Thunder Valley” debut in style. While utilizing practice to become familiar with the rough and tumble 0.533-mile short track, Van Wieringen, as usual, she hustled in qualifying to post the second fastest time.
An unapproved adjustment, however, would send the No. 30 Rette Jones Racing Ford Fusion to the rear of the field, where Van Wieringen had 125 laps to make her march forward. Throughout the race, she kept her nose clean and earned an eleventh place finish at BMS.
Different Track; Same Procedure: For the second consecutive race, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East teams will utilize group qualifying to set the starting lineup for the Biscuitville 125.Instead of the traditional two-lap time trials, multi-car qualifying will be utilized. Each group will participate in a five-minute session and the fastest single lap speed of each car will determine the first 26 starting positions secured into the field by their qualifying lap / speed.
She’s Fast: In the first four races of the season, Van Wieringen has mastered an average starting position of 4.8, qualifying third, second, 12th and second respectively. The Rette Jones Racing development driver holds an average finishing position of 14th with 10 races remaining this season.
Hot Debut: In the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) International Speedway, Dominique Van Wieringen wowed the competition with an impressive weekend for her series debut. In addition to qualifying third, she was a serious contender throughout the JET Tools 150, but ultimately finished 10th after being shuffled out of line on a late race restart.
Points Report: With 10 races remaining on the schedule, Dominique Van Wieringen sits ninth in the championship standings, while car owner Mark Rette occupies the same position in the car owner standings. Van Wieringen trails Kyle Benjamin by 44 points for the championship lead. Just 25 markers separate her from fifth place in the standings currently held by Kaz Grala (who is not entered for the event).
Up To Speed With Dominique: Van Wieringen has set many accolades, despite her youth. She was the first female to lead a lap in the CRA / JEGS All-Star Series and the first rookie to win a JEGS / CRA All-Star Series point’s race. In addition, Van Wieringen was the first female to win an Outlaw Super Late Model championship in the United States, while holding the current record at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway for the most laps led (74) by a female competitor.
Female Flavor: The Biscuitville 125 won’t be lacking a female presence on Saturday. Van Wieringen is one of three females set to compete in the third race of the season. Joining Van Wieringen is fellow Canadian racer Sarah Cornett-Ching and Ali Kern. All three females are running for the championship title with Van Wieringen leading the trio in the championship standings by eight positions.
Meet Dominique: Van Wieringen will meet and greet race fans during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East autograph session on Saturday, April 30 from 2:35 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. atVIRginia International Raceway.
Sponsorship Lineup: In addition to Durobyte and NASCAR Technical Institute, Rette Jones Racing also welcomes Jones Group International, J-AAR Excavating, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, Pro System Brakes and Russo’s Tinting as associate partners this season. RJR is co-owned by successful entrepreneur and race car driver Terry Jones.
Virginia International Raceway Fast Fact: VIRginia International Raceway originally opened in 1957 and was closed from 1974 to 2000, when it was reopened by Harvey Siegel. VIR 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 at 4.2-miles and is made up of the Full and Patriot courses. Overall, the facility includes three separate paddocks with timing towers, separate skid pads, covered tech bays in the North Paddock, classrooms, full service restaurants, a pro shop and several lodging options. The Biscuitville 125 will be contested on the North Course.
Stay Social With Dominique: Van Wieringen is active on Twitter. You can follow and tweet with her @DominiqueRacing. Her team, Rette Jones Racing is also active on Twitter. Follow them @RetteJones30.
Chassis Intel: Mark Rette, crew chief and co-owner of Rette Jones Racing has elected again to bring chassis number 004 to the 2.250-mile permanent road course this weekend. This Ford Fusion is appearing in its first race with RJR. Specifically built for road courses, the team plans to compete with this machine for all three road course events in 2016.
Rette Jones Racing, VIRginia International Raceway, Pre-Race Quotes: Dominique Van Wieringen, driver of the No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion:
On Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway: “Bristol had a lot of goods even if we didn’t get the finish we were hoping for. The Rette Jones Racing team did a great job getting our car dialed in and setup for qualifying and the race. We qualified very well, but unfortunately had to start at the back and make a steep climb from the rear. The race was positive as we learned a lot, but just ran out of laps to have a shot at a top-10 finish.”
On VIRginia International Raceway: “Road course racing is completely new to me, but I’m embracing it with open arms. I’m anxious to get on the track and experience the left and rights turns for myself. Speaking to some of my other competitors, the track is one of the nicest on the circuit. Hopefully, we can have a clean race and bring home a good finish for everyone at Durobyte and Rette Jones Racing.”
On Chris Cook Performance Racing School: “I’m really thankful I had the opportunity to go down to Arizona with my car owner Mark (Rette) and not only spend some time with him, but take an aggressive road course class that I think will pay off this weekend. I know the tracks are going to be completely different, but I’m hoping the fundamentals on what to do will be identical. That should play into our hands.”
Rette Jones Racing, VIRginia International Raceway, Pre-Race Quotes: Mark Rette, mentor and co-owner of the No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion:
On Bristol (Tenn.) Speedway: “I’m very impressed with how well Dominique adapted to Bristol Motor Speedway. It is quite possibly one of the most difficult tracks on the schedule, but she handled it well and like a veteran. She made steady gains from each practice and qualified second. We had a misfortune and had to start at the rear, but she kept her head on and dug deep and brought home a solid finish.”
On VIRginia International Raceway: “Road course racing is a different animal, but I’m hoping Dominique can adjust very well this weekend. We’ve worked hard in the shop over the last couple of weeks to get our No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion ready for her to do battle. For our first road course, it’s about keeping her on the track and finishing the race. That would be a great day.”
PRIOR RESULTS:
Dominique Van Wieringen, VIR NKNPSE Performance Record:
Dominique Van Wieringen will make her fifth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start this weekend at VIRginia International Raceway, no prior starts.
The Biscuitville 125 (55 laps / 123.75 miles) is the fifth of 14 races on the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. Practice is set for Saturday, April 30 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Group qualifying is set later at 1:00 p.m. The event will take the green flag a short time later. The anticipated green flag is set for 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Fast Links:
Driver: Dominique Van Wieringen on Twitter @DominiqueRacing.
Team: Rette Jones Racing on Twitter @RetteJones30.
Sanction: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: NASCARHometracks.com.
