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“Ocala is always a blow-off-the-cobwebs kind of race for us,” said John Andretti of Andretti Short Track. “A lot of [AMSOIL Series] competitors run sprint cars and midgets over the winter. We aren’t set up to do that.” Nevertheless, Jarett ran fourth-quickest in the opening practice, but the green racetrack from recent Florida storms changed rapidly throughout Friday’s qualifying. Running in the middle of the qualifying field, the track went away from their setup and Jarett qualified 11th. After transferring to the Feature from his heat race, Jarett worked forward but had to back out from getting collected in two other competitors’ fight. That dropped him back several spots, forcing him to work his way back to P11 despite a minor driveline issue.
“USAC just makes us better,” John said. “They’re gonna race us hard and that raises up our level. Winning a USAC race is as tough as an IndyCar or NASCAR Cup race because the talent is so deep.” The rest of 2017 will find Jarett running 70 to 80 sprint-car races. That will include USAC races as well as a variety of events that fit into the schedule. Next up will be the opening round of Mansfield Motor Speedway’s Triple Crown Spring Series on March 25. That race reopens Mansfield, a former paved oval that was converted back to a dirt 0.4-mile oval, for the 2017 season.
“Right now, Jarett is learning the guys [in the series] and what he needs to do to race around them,” John said. Andretti Short Track will be running their DRC Chassis all year with the J&D Performance-built engines putting down big horsepower. Those engines get their air and oil through K&N filters, as does the engine on the team’s tow rig. (Photos: Rick Lane Motorsports Photography] | ||||
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The NASCAR K&N Pro Series, which includes the East and the West, is the top step in NASCAR’s developmental ladder before a driver progresses to the three national series. The NASCAR K&N Series was previously known as – among other names – Grand National West, Winston West Series, and the Camping World West Series. It was actually formed in 1954, not long after NASCAR itself, as a way to develop the skills of drivers from the western US who couldn’t regularly travel to compete in the Southeastern US. The very first (of three) championships went to Lloyd Dane driving a Hudson Hornet.
The SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series is a Late Model racing league operating since 1985, originally with NASCAR sanction as the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour and later AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series, and before being sanctioned by a group of West Coast racers under the premises of the Stockcar Racing League. The cars feature a 101” wheelbase and weigh 2,900 lbs. All cars are fitted with a fiberglass body and are powered by a 362 CID Chevrolet, Dodge, of Ford V8.
The schedule for this big night at Irwindale Speedway will start off with qualifying, an on-track autograph session, and the first 100 lapper for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, followed by the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series “SPEARS Manufacturing 100”, and finally the second 100-lap event for the K&N Series. Irwindale Speedway is located near the intersection of the 210 and 605 freeways, east of Los Angeles. The speedway offers 6,000 comfortable seats, twin paved oval race tracks (banked 1/2 and 1/3 mile), excellent sound and lighting systems, and paved parking for over 3,000 spectator cars. | ||||
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In a way, Partridge said it was a blessing that he didn’t win the K&N Pro Series West championship last year. It was his second year racing for Bob Bruncati and his Sunrise Ford Racing team. Typically, drivers don’t come back for a third year with Bruncati. But because Partridge and his team were so close last year, Bruncati decided to bring them back for another shot. “I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” said Partridge, the driver of the No. 9 car for the Sunrise Ford Racing team. “If you pay attention historically, Bob Bruncati with his Sunrise Ford Racing team only keeps drivers for two years. The fact that he brought me back for a third year, I’m very blessed and blown away. Perhaps if we won the championship last year, there would be no reason for a third year. So I like to think things happen for a reason. I’d rather stay in the seat than winning championships any day.” The K&N Pro Series West season opens with the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Interstate Batteries at Tucson Speedway in Arizona. Partridge won the K&N Pro Series West race at Tucson last year. It was his first win of the season. “If you look back to the beginning of last season, we started off with a more conservative approach with a championship in mind,” Partridge said. “Historically you have to be fairly conservative. You can’t take any chances because you need to finish every race. That was kind of our mentality, our mindset going into last season. Low and behold, Todd ended up winning the first two races. That kind of set the pace to where we were already behind the 8-ball. We were playing catch up now.” Gilliland won the first two races of the K&N Pro Series West in 2016. He won the season opener at Irwindale Speedway and the second race at Kern County Raceway Park in California. The first race of the 2017 K&N Pro Series West schedule is in Tucson, the first of a four-race stretch in eight days to start the season. NASCAR and K&N are putting up a $100,000 bonus if a driver can win all four races. Partridge said he is focused on starting the season strong.
Part of the reason Partridge says he fell short of winning the K&N Pro Series West championship last year was because of a conservative approach at the start of the season. It’ a mistake he doesn’t want to duplicate. “I think that’s more just my focus,” Partridge said. “I think being aggressive is what we’re going to have to do so this last year doesn’t repeat itself. I don’t think we can leave anything on the table. There’s going to be some tough competition. We need to make sure we clear our mind and can sleep sound at night because we tried as hard as we can all year long. “I think we have to drive harder. I think we have to drive every race like it’s our last race.” Experience and unity will also be the team’s strength this year, Partridge said. The crew has been together for three years and Bruncati has high expectations. Partridge said he welcomes the challenge. “Everything was jiving well with the 9 team last year,” Partridge said. “The crew’s having fun, the owner’s having fun, the driver’s having fun. Everything is just jiving. It’s a harmonious feel. They value that. It’s rare you come across that and everyone just clicks. They know that we’re capable of the championship. They know, even last year, had a couple of breaks gone our way, it would have been a different outcome.” The Sunrise Ford Racing team added another car for the 2017 campaign. Julia Landauer, one of the top rookies in the K&N Pro Series West last year, joined Bruncati’s team and will make her debut in Tucson.
Partridge said he appreciates all the support K&N gives to the Pro Series West. “K&N has consistently year in, year out, been dishing out serious money for us to go racing,” Partridge said. “We couldn’t be more proud to have that company supporting us. The prestige K&N has as a brand, the prestige they have developed in the racing community, is huge. Not because of what they do now, but because of where they come from. Very excited that we have a great name working for us.” | ||||
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“Yeah, last couple laps were great, nothing out the windshield” Truex said. "Just it was a crazy race. We had such a good car all day long and felt like it slipped away from us there. The 2 car got out front, and that last restart, really thought we were going to run second. Got a little bit lucky with him having an issue and got the win”. Truex Jr led six times for a total of 150 laps to take the checkered flag. He was awarded 60 points for the win. He is in second place in the Monster Energy Cup Series standings with 127 points. He also won both stages of the race, as such he is the first driver to sweep all three stages of a race this season. “I think the important thing for us is we're starting off the season strong. We're putting ourselves in position to win races, and that's really the key” Truex said. “If we can continue to run up front, lead laps, run at the front of the pack all day, you're going to put yourself into position to win races, and that's what we did today. This is the first time we've really taken advantage of somebody else's issue. I'm sure if we keep running up front, it's going to happen again. We'll just keep working hard and see what we can do”. Kyle Larson came in second place for the second race in a row. He did not lead during the race. “Our day was really solid. I think we finished second in the first stage, third in the second stage, and then finished second here in the race. So super happy with how our season has gotten started” Larson said. "Way better than where I've ever started a season. I'm really happy about that, proud of our team. Had fun today."
“I'm really proud of the way we have performed. Our pit stops have been great, our cars have been good” Elliott said. “Been able to run solidly in the top 5 the past couple weeks, which is great for me and our team, and we just got to keep that going and find that next little bit”. The highlight of the race, happened post-race, as Joey Logano and Kyle Busch exchanged punches. As Busch threw the first punch, Logano and his crew retaliated, and left Busch leaving scene bloody with a gash on his forehead. "No, I don't run from conflict," Logano said. "You just talk about it, but he wasn't in a talking mood. He was in a fighting mood, I guess. I don't know. Typically, you can handle this stuff like men and talk about it. You don't have to fight, but whatever." The events that preceded the race will take the glory from Truex Jr’s win, but not in his eyes. Brad Keselowski continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 132 points and 5 playoff points. Kyle Larson is right behind Keselowski with 131 points. Chase Elliott is in third place with 129 points. The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at Phoenix International Raceway for the Camping World 500. | |||
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