NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race No. 6, ComServe Wireless 150 Dominion Raceway, Thornburg, Virginia
Race Information: Event: ComServe Wireless 150, Monday, May 30 at 3:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Dominion Raceway Qualifying: Sunday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m. Local TimeTrack Length: 0.4-mile paved oval.
Welcome To The Old Dominion: After a short one-month hiatus, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns to action this weekend at Dominion Raceway, a new venue on the schedule and site of Memorial Day’s ComServe Wireless 150. Rookie sensation Dominique Van Wieringen will look for her second top-10 finish of the season.
Back To Ovals: After making her NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut on a road course at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), Van Wieringen returns to her roots of short track racing in Monday’s ComServe Wireless 150. At VIR, Van Wieringen muscled her No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion inside the top-five before a leak in the radiator forced her behind the wall for repairs. She later returned to the race and salvaged an 18th place finish.
Ready…Set…Test: In preparation for her sixth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start, Van Wieringen will partake in an open test session at the 0.4-mile facility on Saturday, May 28. The Mark Rette-led team will utilize the day to get their No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion dialed in for practice and qualifying the next day.
School’s Out… Sorta: While spring classes have wrapped up for Van Wieringen at the University of North Carolina Charlotte with three A’s and one B, she has chosen to stay focused in the books with a few summer class to stay ahead of the curve for her busy racing schedule. Now a senior, Van Wieringen is studying to become a mechanical engineer.
Mission Accomplished: Last weekend Van Wieringen competed in her first Triathlon in Charleston, South Carolina. Participating in the Charleston Sprint Triathlon Series, she endured a 600-yard swim, a 12-mile bike ride and 5k run with a completion time of 1 hour, 45 minutes.
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.
She’s Fast: In the first five races of the season, Van Wieringen has mastered an average starting position of 7.2, qualifying third, second, 12th, second and 17th respectively. The Rette Jones Racing development driver holds an average finishing position of 15th with nine 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 nine races remaining on the schedule, Dominique Van Wieringen sits tied for 12th in the championship standings, while car owner Mark Rette occupies the same position in the car owner standings. Van Wieringen trails Justin Haley by 58 points for the championship lead. Just five markers separate her from 10th place in the standings currently held by Hunter Baize.
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 ComServe Wireless 150 won’t be lacking a female presence on Monday. Van Wieringen is one of two females set to compete in the sixth race of the season. Joining Van Wieringen is Rev Racing’s Ali Kern. Both females are running for the championship title with Van Wieringen leading the duo in the championship standings by four positions or 18 points.
Meet Dominique: Van Wieringen will meet and greet race fans during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East autograph session on Monday, May 30 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. atDominion 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.
Dominion Raceway Fast Fact: Dominion is a multi-purpose race and entertainment facility which hosts racing on four different tracks. The complex offers drive-in movies, live music, car shows, events, festivals and more. The width of the .4-mile oval is 55 feet with 10 foot aprons with banking of 12 degrees in the turns and 7 degrees in the straights. The facility seats 3,500 people.
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 001 to the 0.4-mile paved oval this weekend. This Ford Fusion is appearing in its eighth race with RJR. This race chassis was last utilized at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April and holds a career-best second place finish last July at Columbus Motor Speedway.
Rette Jones Racing, Dominion Raceway, Pre-Race Quotes:
Dominique Van Wieringen, driver of the No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion:
On VIRginia International Raceway: “Just like we’ve had all season long, the Rette Jones Racing team has brought me incredibly fast race cars, we just can’t seem to have any good luck during the race. We were being patient, biding our time during the race, then chaos erupted ahead of us and I had nowhere to go. The experience was beneficial for the upcoming two road course races later in the season, I just hope we have a better end result.”
On Dominion Raceway: “I’m looking forward to getting back to the race track. A one-month break seems like a year, but the team has working hard in the shop getting cars ready. We know we’re capable of finishing better then we’ve shown here recently and I hope we’re able to get back on track on Monday afternoon.”
On Participating In Her First Triathlon: “It was an amazing experience. So humbling. It was something I’ll never forget. I had a lot of fun, but it was so inspirational to see people more than twice my age out there running, swimming and biking. I was super impressed with the surroundings and happy with my accomplishment of finishing the event.”
Rette Jones Racing, Dominion Raceway, Pre-Race Quotes:,
Mark Rette, mentor and co-owner of the No. 30 Durobyte / NTI-UTI Ford Fusion:
On VIRginia International Raceway: “Once again, Dominque was able to race her way to the front, but something out of her control happened and it wound up hurting us in the end result. We’ll get the turn-around we’re looking for soon. I’m really impressed despite her learning curve on road course how well she paid attention to details and the huge strides she made from start to finish. It makes me feel good about our next road course race together.”
On Dominion Raceway: “We’re back to short track and I tell you we’re ready to go. Dominique has been itching to get back in the race car and we’ve been working hard in the Rette Jones Racing shop to give her something she can contend with. Without a doubt the practice session Saturday will be extremely beneficial for us and should help us in our mission for another top-10 run Monday afternoon.”
PRIOR RESULTS:
Dominique Van Wieringen, Dominion Raceway NKNPSE Performance Record:
Dominique Van Wieringen will make her sixth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start this weekend at Dominion Raceway, no prior starts.
The ComServe Wireless 150 (150 laps / 60 miles) is the sixth of 14 races on the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. Practice is set for Sunday, May 29 from 3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. A final practice session has been etched in from 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 7:00 p.m. The event will take the green flag the next day after 3:00 p.m. (ET). The event will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on NBC Sports Network on Thursday, June 2 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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.
