DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will make its sixth and final visit to Ohio’s Columbus Motor Speedway this weekend for the NAPA 150.
The third-mile oval, is celebrating its 71st and final season, and Saturday’s night 150-lap feature is one of the big highlights on the calendar of the track’s final season. It has also been a welcome stop for Rev Racing.
The track has seen its fair share of historic moments in the K&N Pro Series East and Rev Racing has been a part of most of them. Since 2011, Rev Racing has won three of the five races. Darrell Wallace Jr. won the inaugural event for the team in 2011, Daniel Suarez scored his first series win at the track in 2013 and Sergio Pena won there in 2014.
Last year, Rev Racing entries finished 4-10-12-13 at the .333-mile semi-banked oval. In 2014 the team finished 1-5-13 and 2013 they finished 1-4-10. Only 2012 was an off year with the team posting results of 6-13-12 after Kyle Larson cut a tire with 10 laps to go and dropped from second to sixth.
In the first seven events of the season, Rev Racing has collected six tops 10s and sits 9th, 12th, 14th and 17th in the K&N Pro Series East championship standings.
Rev Racing will be led this weekend by veteran and NASCAR Next driver Collin Cabre. The Tampa, Florida, native earned his first series win last season in the series finale at the Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Cabre will look to score his first win of the season this weekend and improve upon his 13th place finish at the track last season.
Cabre will be joined by his rookie teammates and fellow Drive For Diversity drivers, JA Avila, Ruben Garcia Jr. and Ali Kern, who will all be making their K&N Pro Series East debuts at Columbus this weekend. It will be a homecoming for Kern, who is from Fremont, Ohio.
| RACE: | NAPA 150 |
|---|---|
| PLACE: | Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway |
| DATE: | Saturday, July 2 |
| TIME: | 9 p.m. ET |
| TRACK LAYOUT: | Third-mile semi-banked oval |
| 2015 WINNER: | Rico Abreu |
| 2015 POLE SITTER: | Rico Abreu |
| EVENT SCHEDULE: | Garage opens – 11:15 a.m.; Practice – 2:15-3 p.m.; Final Practice – 3:15 to 4 p.m.; Qualifying – 6:30 p.m.; NAPA 150 – 9 p.m. |
| TRACK CONTACT: | Jeff Nuckles, (614) 491-1047, jnuckles@yahoo.com |
| TRACK TWITTER: | @COLUMBUSPEEDWAY |
| EVENT HASHTAG: | #NAPA150 |
| NASCAR IMC CONTACT: | Brooke Franceschini, (386) 631-6142, bfranceschini@nascar.com, @BrookeFran04 |
RACE CENTRAL LIVE: EVENT SCHEDULE & ENTRY LIST
Fast Facts:
The Race: The NAPA 150 will be the eighth of 14 races on the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. It’s the seventh of 10 oval track events. It will be the series’ sixth visit to the Ohio oval.
The Procedure: The starting field is 27 cars, including provisionals. The first 24 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials while the remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps, spanning 49.95 miles.
The Track: A charter member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Columbus Motor Speedway is a .333-mile asphalt oval that began as a motorcycle racing track in 1946 and first played host to stock cars in 1950. The track has announced it will be closing at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
NAPA 150 Race Notes:
Championship Points Update: Justin Haley has built himself a nice lead headed into the NAPA 150. The 17-year-old Winamac, Indiana, driver has a 22-point lead over Spencer Davis in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship standings. Trailing behind are Kyle Benjamin and Noah Gragson in third and fourth, respectively. Haley leads Benjamin by 27 points and Gragson by 31 points.
Toyota Domination: Toyota has dominated the competition at Columbus Motor Speedway, winning four of the five previous K&N Pro Series East races at the track. Rico Abreu broke the trend last year, piloting his Chevrolet to Victory Lane in his first series’ win.
New Columbus Winner To Be Crowned: Columbus will have a new winner crowned Saturday. Of the 19 drivers currently slated to compete in the NAPA 150, none have won a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at the Ohio oval.
Davis Debuts With New Team: Spencer Davis will make his first start with his family owned team this weekend at Columbus. The NASCAR Next driver competed for Ranier Racing with MDM the first seven events of the season, winning at Virginia’s Dominion Raceway.
Red, White & Boom: The K&N Pro Series East and Columbus Motor Speedway will be returning to the Red, White and Boom parade in downtown Columbus Friday evening. Stop by the K&N Filters and Columbus Motor Speedway booth prior to the parade to meet some drivers and pick up some K&N swag. Stick around to see us in the parade and watch some fireworks.
NASCAR Home Tracks: Action Packed Saturday Schedule
Saturday will also feature NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action with Late Models, Columbus Modifieds and Crazy Compacts events. Kyle Purvis is leading the Columbus Div. 1 Late Model competition with 495 points. Donnie Hill follows with 472 points. Terry Humphrey sits atop the Div. II Columbus Modifieds standings and Jeremy Menninger trails closely behind with 538 points. Michael Robison leads the Div. IV Crazy Compacts standings with Bill McElfresh following in second (501-446 points).
