Presnell records impressive fifth-place finish at New Hampshire; next up NASCAR K&N Pro Series action at Dover
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 24, 2013) — Dylan Presnell of Sevierville demonstrated that time spent away from being behind the wheel of a race car hadn't left his skills rusty, as this past Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East North American Power 100, he recorded an impressive fifth-place finish.
The 18-year-old Presnell graduated with honors from Sevier County High School back in May, and he's currently a freshman at Walters State Community College. Running a limited schedule in 2013 after finishing 15th in series points last year, entering the event at "The Magic Mile" Presnell had only two starts this season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East as he competed in the Battle at the Beach during Speed Weeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, and then in March at Bristol Motor Speedway for the DRIVE4COPD 125, where he qualified on the outside pole.
Presnell qualified tenth for the North American Power 100, with a time of 30.078 (126.631 mph) in the 30-car starting field.
At drop of the green, Cale Conley jumped into the lead over Daniel Suarez and series points leader Dylan Kwasniewski, while Presnell settled in the ninth position. Just biding his time during the first 50 laps of the race, at the halfway break Presnell was running in the seventh spot.
"We had a really good car and there was just no need in pressing the issue early in the race, possibly getting caught up in a racing incident and being parked back in the garage area," said Presnell on Monday after getting back to his home nestled in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. "The race isn't won at the start, and it isn't won at the halfway point. My crew chief, Rich Hubbs, he just wanted me to maintain a spot in the top 10 and take care of the equipment until we reached the halfway break."
Just three laps back under green following the halfway break, Presnell got around Brett Moffitt to take over the sixth spot, where he was still running when Akinori Ogata spun in turn one on lap 70 to bring out the caution.
Off the double-file restart on lap 75, Presnell made his move into fourth place. Suarez paced the field on lap 83, followed by Cole Custer and Presnell, who had worked his way around Conley for the position. Conley battled back to get around Presnell for the third spot on lap 91 racing off turn two.
A late race caution on lap 98, set up a green-white-checkered run to the finish. On the restart, with cars bouncing off each other as they went (raced) four-wide into the first turn, Presnell got shuffled back to the fifth spot.
Custer captured the victory over Suarez, Conley and Ben Rhode, with Presnell in fifth chauffeuring the Amtrol, AmericanMountainRentals.com (Smoky Mountain Cabins - Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Well-X-Trol®, Clearwater Drilling Co. of Sevierville, Extreme Vinyl Graphics, JMI Motorsports No. 26 Chevrolet.
"Man, it was disappointing there at the end to give up some track position," Presnell said. "We made some adjustments to the car there at the halfway break, and even though we were good in the first half of the race, we were really good there in the last 50 laps. There right around lap 80 or so, we worked our way into third place and I actually felt like I'd be able to at least maintain position there. But (Cale) Conley got back around us and when the caution came out to set up the green-white-checkered, we were sitting in fourth.
"The front row on the double-file restart, Custer and Suarez, they kind of got to playing games and brought us back to green at a slow pace. I got jacked-up from behind when a car ran up under me, it lifted the rear wheels off the ground. We were running in fourth, and that deal cost us a spot as we wound up finishing in fifth. But after getting caught up in a multi-car accident last fall at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which resulted in a trip to the local hospital in Concord, we're definitely pleased with a top-five run and also not having any damage to the car."
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for the Drive Sober 150 on Friday, Sept. 27. A competitive field with 35 entries vying for 30 starting positions is expected.
"Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to getting back racing at Dover," said Presnell with a smile on his face. "I really like racing on those high banks at 'The Monster Mile,' because Dover's really just a bigger version of Bristol Motor Speedway and I really get around BMS quite well. We finished ninth last September at Dover, but we were running in fifth there at the end when we had a green-white-checkered.
"With the steep banking at Dover International Speedway, the last thing you want to have happen is be running low on fuel and have a restart. That's what happened to us. The car spit-and-sputtered and just didn't come back up to speed, and that cost us four finishing positions."
The Drive Sober 150 from Dover International Speedway will be televised tape-delay on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 12 p.m. ET.
To learn more about the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, visit http://hometracks.nascar.com/series/kn_pro_series_east.
To contact Ken Presnell at Presnell Motorsports, located at 1868 Newport Highway in Sevierville, Tenn., call (865) 654-9586. To keep up with Dylan Presnell’s racing visit his website at www.DylanPresnell.com or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/DylanPresnell
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The 18-year-old Presnell graduated with honors from Sevier County High School back in May, and he's currently a freshman at Walters State Community College. Running a limited schedule in 2013 after finishing 15th in series points last year, entering the event at "The Magic Mile" Presnell had only two starts this season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East as he competed in the Battle at the Beach during Speed Weeks at Daytona International Speedway in February, and then in March at Bristol Motor Speedway for the DRIVE4COPD 125, where he qualified on the outside pole.
Presnell qualified tenth for the North American Power 100, with a time of 30.078 (126.631 mph) in the 30-car starting field.
At drop of the green, Cale Conley jumped into the lead over Daniel Suarez and series points leader Dylan Kwasniewski, while Presnell settled in the ninth position. Just biding his time during the first 50 laps of the race, at the halfway break Presnell was running in the seventh spot.
"We had a really good car and there was just no need in pressing the issue early in the race, possibly getting caught up in a racing incident and being parked back in the garage area," said Presnell on Monday after getting back to his home nestled in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. "The race isn't won at the start, and it isn't won at the halfway point. My crew chief, Rich Hubbs, he just wanted me to maintain a spot in the top 10 and take care of the equipment until we reached the halfway break."
Just three laps back under green following the halfway break, Presnell got around Brett Moffitt to take over the sixth spot, where he was still running when Akinori Ogata spun in turn one on lap 70 to bring out the caution.
Off the double-file restart on lap 75, Presnell made his move into fourth place. Suarez paced the field on lap 83, followed by Cole Custer and Presnell, who had worked his way around Conley for the position. Conley battled back to get around Presnell for the third spot on lap 91 racing off turn two.
A late race caution on lap 98, set up a green-white-checkered run to the finish. On the restart, with cars bouncing off each other as they went (raced) four-wide into the first turn, Presnell got shuffled back to the fifth spot.
Custer captured the victory over Suarez, Conley and Ben Rhode, with Presnell in fifth chauffeuring the Amtrol, AmericanMountainRentals.com (Smoky Mountain Cabins - Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Well-X-Trol®, Clearwater Drilling Co. of Sevierville, Extreme Vinyl Graphics, JMI Motorsports No. 26 Chevrolet.
"Man, it was disappointing there at the end to give up some track position," Presnell said. "We made some adjustments to the car there at the halfway break, and even though we were good in the first half of the race, we were really good there in the last 50 laps. There right around lap 80 or so, we worked our way into third place and I actually felt like I'd be able to at least maintain position there. But (Cale) Conley got back around us and when the caution came out to set up the green-white-checkered, we were sitting in fourth.
"The front row on the double-file restart, Custer and Suarez, they kind of got to playing games and brought us back to green at a slow pace. I got jacked-up from behind when a car ran up under me, it lifted the rear wheels off the ground. We were running in fourth, and that deal cost us a spot as we wound up finishing in fifth. But after getting caught up in a multi-car accident last fall at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which resulted in a trip to the local hospital in Concord, we're definitely pleased with a top-five run and also not having any damage to the car."
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for the Drive Sober 150 on Friday, Sept. 27. A competitive field with 35 entries vying for 30 starting positions is expected.
"Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to getting back racing at Dover," said Presnell with a smile on his face. "I really like racing on those high banks at 'The Monster Mile,' because Dover's really just a bigger version of Bristol Motor Speedway and I really get around BMS quite well. We finished ninth last September at Dover, but we were running in fifth there at the end when we had a green-white-checkered.
"With the steep banking at Dover International Speedway, the last thing you want to have happen is be running low on fuel and have a restart. That's what happened to us. The car spit-and-sputtered and just didn't come back up to speed, and that cost us four finishing positions."
The Drive Sober 150 from Dover International Speedway will be televised tape-delay on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 12 p.m. ET.
To learn more about the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, visit http://hometracks.nascar.com/series/kn_pro_series_east.
To contact Ken Presnell at Presnell Motorsports, located at 1868 Newport Highway in Sevierville, Tenn., call (865) 654-9586. To keep up with Dylan Presnell’s racing visit his website at www.DylanPresnell.com or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/DylanPresnell
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