BRISTOL, Tenn. – The sign reads, ‘Welcome To The Last Great Colosseum’ at the tunnel entrance of Bristol Motor Speedway.
Dylan Kwasniewski, 17, bested the legendary .533-mile high-banked oval and the other 35 competitors on Saturday to win the DRIVE4COPD 125 in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship season opener.
Kwasniewski, the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion out of Las Vegas, Nev., took the lead on Lap 30 after pole sitter and race leader Michael McGuire got tangled up with lapped traffic under caution. Kwasniewski – behind the wheel of his No. 98 Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet – was able to hold off Brett Moffitt on seven restarts to pick up his first East victory in his fifth series outing.
Moffitt was followed by Ryan Gifford – racing out of the Rev Racing stable – in third. McGuire rebounded from the early incident to finish fourth while CJ Faison came home in the fifth position.
Gray Gaulding, Eddie MacDonald, Jimmy Weller, Ben Rhodes and Ben Kennedy rounded out the top 10.
Kwasniewski, who led a race-high 96 laps, is competing for a K&N East championship in 2013 with Turner Scott Motorsports in its first full season of competition. It’s his sixth overall K&N Pro Series triumph in 29 career starts.
The race was slowed due to caution eight times for a total of 37 laps and there was just one lead change.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to action on Saturday, March 23 for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 125 presented by G-Clean at Greenville (S.C) Pickens Speedway.
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 98 | Dylan Kwasniewski | Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet | 125 | 48 | 5 | Running |
| 2 | 6 | 11 | Brett Moffitt | NRC/NISCO Toyota | 125 | 42 | Running | |
| 3 | 8 | 2 | Ryan Gifford | NASCAR Technical Institute/UTI Toyota | 125 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 1 | 7 | Michael McGuire * | Woods Towing & Transportation/BTS Toyota | 125 | 41 | 1 | Running |
| 5 | 18 | 39 | CJ Faison | Sherwin-Williams Chevrolet | 125 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 13 | 20 | Gray Gaulding * | Krispy Kreme Toyota | 125 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 30 | 71 | Eddie MacDonald | Grimm Construction/National MS Society Toyota | 125 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 10 | 31 | Jimmy Weller | Integrated Metal Products Toyota | 125 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 21 | 41 | Ben Rhodes * | Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet | 125 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 3 | 96 | Ben Kennedy | Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet | 125 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 29 | 34 | Kenzie Ruston * | AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet | 125 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 15 | 77 | Austin Wayne Self * | AM Technical Solutions Dodge | 125 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 36 | 47 | Cale Conley | Tait Towers Toyota | 125 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 4 | 97 | Jesse Little * | NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet | 125 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 20 | 5 | Steven Legendre * | Kendell Legendre Racing Chevrolet | 125 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 23 | 13 | Austin Hill * | A&D Welding Toyota | 125 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 16 | 10 | Preston Peltier * | Peltier Racing Toyota | 125 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 33 | 46 | Brandon Gdovic | Windstax.com/Aquis Communications Toyota | 125 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 14 | 52 | Tyler Reddick * | Broken Bow Records Dodge | 125 | 25 | Running | |
| 20 | 28 | 72 | Scott Heckert * | BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet | 125 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 7 | 4 | Bryan Ortiz | Nike Toyota | 125 | 23 | Running | |
| 22 | 31 | 90 | Martin Roy * | King Auto Sport Canada Chevrolet | 124 | 22 | Running | |
| 23 | 26 | 99 | Austin Dyne | KMC Wheels Chevrolet | 124 | 21 | Running | |
| 24 | 17 | 00 | Cole Custer * | Haas Automation Chevrolet | 121 | 20 | Running | |
| 25 | 32 | 0 | Enrique Contreras, III * | Viva La Raza Racing Toyota | 121 | 19 | Running | |
| 26 | 24 | 6 | Daniel Suarez | Visit Acapulco Toyota | 119 | 18 | Running | |
| 27 | 35 | 49 | Ray Courtemanche Jr., Jr. * | La Cite de Mirabel Toyota | 110 | 17 | Running | |
| 28 | 19 | 25 | Justin Boston * | ZLOOP Toyota | 106 | 16 | Accident | |
| 29 | 25 | 21 | Mackena Bell * | Toyota Racing Development Toyota | 106 | 15 | Running | |
| 30 | 34 | 12 | Brandon Glover * | McClurg Dodge/Champion Oil/Snap-On Dodge | 86 | 14 | Accident | |
| 31 | 11 | 33 | Brandon Jones * | Rheem Chevrolet | 85 | 13 | Electrical | |
| 32 | 9 | 18 | Sam Hunt | Denny Hamlin Foundation/Drive Technology Toyota | 84 | 12 | Accident | |
| 33 | 22 | 1 | Nate Caruth * | Brella Sports Group/Karl Performance Dodge | 81 | 11 | Running | |
| 34 | 12 | 37 | Chad Finchum | Texas Roadhouse/Food City Chevrolet | 30 | 10 | Accident | |
| 35 | 2 | 26 | Dylan Presnell | American Mountain Rentals/Amtrol Toyota | 20 | 9 | Engine | |
| 36 | 27 | 80 | Blake Jones * | Airport Auto Auction Chevrolet | 5 | 8 | Engine |
