Benjamin Wins Third Race of Career After Winning Pole at Greenville Pickens Speedway

Kyle Benjamin won the pole for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. It was his fifth pole of the season.

Benjamin won the third race of his K&N Pro Series career and his second in the past three races. This one was a little more meaningful though. He was second in the K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway in July, but was awarded a win for being the top-finishing driver from the K&N Pro Series East. Todd Gilliland, a driver in the K&N Pro Series West, won the race, which pits drivers from the K&N Pro Series East and West.

“I had a lot of family out tonight, a lot of people I know watching me,” Benjamin said. “It was really cool to win in front of them.”

Kyle Benjamin won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. It was the third win of his K&N Pro Series East career.

Benjamin won the pole, his fifth of the season, and led all 140 laps in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140. The K&N Pro Series East made its second visit to Greenville Pickens Speedway this year. In March, Benjamin led 122 laps and ended up second to Justin Haley.

“It’s cool to get your first win of the year that way,” Benjamin said. “We’ve been working so hard all year. All the guys have put in a lot of hard work at the shop. We’ve been close, had a lot of bad luck. You can feel the history here at Greenville Pickens, it’s pretty cool too.”

Kyle Benjamin led all 140 laps of the K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

Van Wieringen had a historic race at Greenville Pickens Speedway. She finished third, the first podium finish of her career. It was the second-best finish by a woman driver in K&N Pro Series East history. Kenzie Ruston was the runner-up at Iowa Speedway in 2014.

“I’m on top of the world,” Van Wieringen said. “It’s like a win. It shouldn’t feel like one, but it definitely does.”

Van Wieringen, a rookie driver in the K&N Pro Series East, has three top-10 finishes this season. Her previous best finish was a 10th place at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida to open the season.

Kyle Benjamin leads the field in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

“It was definitely exciting,” Van Wieringen said. “I had to work my way up from ninth to third. There was a lot of good racing going on. I got to give credit to Haley for the crossover move before the caution. That was amazing.

“This is like a win to me because we have had so many problems this year. I am so happy. We finally have the finish that I think we need.”

Brandon McReynolds was second. Ronnie Bassett Jr. finished behind Van Wieringen in fourth place, followed by Haley in fifth place.

“We struggled in practice, a lot more than I expected we would,” McReynolds said. “But when they dropped the rag, we knew we had a good car and came up just a little short. The 40 was better on the long run. All in all a good finish for us.”

Haley leads the K&N Pro Series standings after 12 races. He leads Benjamin by 30 points with two races to go. The next K&N Pro Series East race is at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sept. 17.