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K&N Catch-Up: What We Learned at Bristol

www.arcaracing.com April 8, 2019

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The K&N Pro Series East took a trip to Thunder Valley for round two of the 2019 season, almost two months after the season opener at New Smyrna.

A rookie put the field on notice, some drivers’ race was over before it got started and an interesting conundrum is unfolding at the top of the driver standings.

Here is everything we learned from the Zombie Auto 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Zombie Auto 150: Race Results | Race Recap | Photo Gallery

Mayer’s Mojo

How many 15-year-olds do you know that have won a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway?

There’s only one.

Sam Mayer’s weekend couldn’t have gone any more perfect, as he was quickest in both practice sessions, set a track record by qualifying on the pole (with a .14.978 circuit) and led flag to flag en route to the Zombie Auto 150 victory, his first in his K&N Pro Series career.

“I definitely came out here wanting to win really bad,” Mayer said. “I felt like we had a really good car, one capable of winning. But I didn‘t expect to be like this at all. We went out there and the car came to me right away. It didn‘t change throughout a run. I really wasn‘t expecting this but obviously it turned out really good […] today, especially at a place like this is going to be hard to forget. This is definitely going to stick with me.”

Following up his fourth-place run at New Smyrna with a dominating victory, Mayer leaves BMS as the points leader, something that only will boost his confidence with the No. 21 GMS Racing team.

“That‘s a nice feeling to have,” the Franklin, Wisconsin, native said. “Confidence wise, it’s through the roof. Last year we struggled a little bit trying to get my learning curve done with. Overall I feel like we did pretty decent last year, we just had some bad luck here and there. We‘re going into South Boston and hopefully we can go two for two out there.”

Lap One Crash Takes Out Contenders

For a few heavy hitters, their Zombie Auto 150 was over before they had the chance to work their way to the front.

Rev Racing’s Ruben Garcia Jr. as well as DGR Crosley’s Riley Herbst, Natalie Decker and Tanner Gray were involved in a Lap 1 crash which forced Decker, Herbst and Garcia to retire from the race prematurely.

“I saw a bunch of guys that don‘t know this race is 150 laps,” Garcia said. “A bunch of them were already wrecking before we got to the back straightaway. The No. 15 (Gray) was completely sideways before the start/finish line. I was on the inside of the No. 17 (Herbst) and he was sideways as well. He drove into me and sent me into the inside wall. I really feel sorry because my team brought me a great car. We were really confident about this race. I know the No. 21 (Mayer) was really fast, but we thought we had something for him. There‘s not much you can do when they wreck on Lap 1.”

Decker’s K&N Pro Series East debut didn’t go as planned. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time and had a strange brake issue on her No. 98 DGR Crosley machine.

“I just saw Riley get a little loose,” she said. “I think someone got into him but he was definitely loose before that it looked like. I tried to slow down, my spotter said check up and my brake pedal fell off. I had no brakes, it just broke off. Bad luck, but that‘s gonna happen.”

Garcia, Herbst and Decker finished 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively.

Points Pressure?

Although K&N Pro Series East regular Sam Mayer has the points lead leaving Bristol, Derek Kraus and Brandon McReynolds are nipping at his heels, three and six points back, respectively.

But as of now, Mayer isn’t worried about them in the slightest. Kraus is a K&N West regular who currently has no plans to run a full K&N East season and McReynolds has repeatedly said his Visconti Motorsports team will be running a partial schedule.

Team owner John Visconti has also said the same, but good runs and a shot at a championship can always change things.

For Bill McAnally Racing, this is not uncharted territory. In 2017, Todd Gilliland ran the full K&N East and West schedules, winning the West championship and falling short of the East title to Harrison Burton after heartbreak at Dover.

If Kraus and BMR choose to pursue “the double” for 2019, it’ll definitely give them a shot at making NASCAR history.

2019 K&N Pro Series East Standings

Notes

  • Hailie Deegan ran inside the top 10 for most of the afternoon after starting in the rear (engine change). But after having loose lug nuts and sustaining significant front end damage while racing teammate Brittney Zamora, she finished 37 laps down in 16th due to overheating.
  • Drew Dollar and Spencer Davis stayed out of trouble and scored solid, quiet top five finishes. It was Dollar’s second career start and Davis’ second with Rette Jones Racing. The DGR Crosley and RJR driver are tied for fifth in the standings.
  • Raphael Lessard came home with a ninth-place finish in his K&N Pro Series debut for Bill McAnally Racing, the first car one lap down.
  • Max McLaughlin’s second career start saw him in line for a top 10, but fell back to finish 13th after running over 50 laps without one shock in his No. 1 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota.