K&N East Statistical Advance: Greenville

Darrell Wallace Jr. is the only two-time winner at Greenville, and has a top-five career average finish at the track.Getty Images for NASCAR

Analyzing The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 on Monday, Sept. 3. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series and selected drivers:
 
Greenville Race Setup
• The eight previous NASCAR K&N Pro Series East history at Greenville Pickens Speedway have produced seven different race and pole winners.
• Darrell Wallace Jr. became the first multi-time race winner at GPS in this year’s March race. In four starts at the track he has two wins and two sixth-place finishes.
• Points leader Brett Moffitt has finished in the top five in four of his five career races at GPS, including a win in 2011. He is also the only driver to earn two poles at the track.
• Sergio Peña is the defending winner of this race, which also marked his last series victory.
 
At Greenville Pickens Speedway:
History
• Opened on July 4, 1946 as a dirt track. The race surface was converted to asphalt in April, 1970.
• Held 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71, including the first flag-to-flag televised event.
• David Pearson (1959) and Ralph Earnhardt (1965, 66) are among the famed drivers that have won championships at the track.
Notebook
• The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East held its inaugural Greenville Pickens Speedway race on June 6, 2006 and has returned every year since.
• In the series’ last event at GPS, Darrell Wallace Jr. became the first multi-time winner through the first eight NKNPS East events at the track, and Brett Moffitt is the only driver to capture two poles.
• In the first eight NKNPS East events there have been two drivers that have won from the pole: Joey Logano (2007) and Moffitt (2011). Moffitt also set the track qualifying record in the first 2011 event.
• Logano, Austin Dillon (2008) and Wallace (2010) earned their first career NKNPS East wins in events at Greenville.
 
Greenville Pickens Speedway Data
Race: #11 of 14 overall, #2 of 2 at GPS
Track Layout: .5-mile asphalt oval
• Race Length: 140 laps (70 miles)
• Banking/Corners: 5 degrees
 
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner: Corey LaJoie
2011 race winner: Sergio Peña
Track qualifying record: Brett Moffitt (87.659 mph, 20.534 seconds, 4/2/11)
 
Active Series Career Leaders
Wins
1. Brett Moffitt … 9
2. Eddie MacDonald … 6
3. Dale Quarterley … 6
4. Darrell Wallace Jr. … 6
5. Corey LaJoie … 3
    Sergio Peña … 3
 
Poles
1. Brett Moffitt … 7
2. Dale Quarterley … 4
3. Darrell Wallace Jr. … 3
4. Eddie MacDonald … 2
    Cale Conley … 2
 
Top Fives
1. Dale Quarterley … 31
2. Eddie MacDonald … 28
3. Brett Moffitt … 28
4. Corey LaJoie … 13
    Darrell Wallace Jr. … 13
 
Top 10s
1. Eddie MacDonald … 72
2. Dale Quarterley … 66
3. Brett Moffitt … 33
4. Darrell Wallace Jr. … 22
5. Corey LaJoie … 16
 
Laps Completed
1. Eddie MacDonald … 19,841
2. Dale Quarterley … 18,589
3. John Salemi … 8.070
4. Brett Moffitt … 5,836
5. Ryan Gifford … 4,960
 
Laps Led
1. Brett Moffitt … 1,257
2. Dale Quarterley … 706
3. Eddie MacDonald … 668
4. Darrell Wallace Jr. … 542
5. Corey LaJoie … 382
 
Select Driver Highlights:
Cale Conley (No. 47 PMC/Health Bridge Imaging Toyota)
• Has a win, two poles and three top fives in 15 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career starts. Those top fives have come in his last three starts, including his first victory on July 21 at Columbus Motor Speedway.
• Earned his first career pole at Gresham Motorsports Park on June 9.
• Has an average finish of 24th and a best result of 19th – in this event last year – in three career appearances at Greenville Pickens Speedway.
 
Chase Elliott (No. 9 Aaron’s/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 13 top 10s in 22 career NKNPS East starts. First victory came at Iowa Speedway on May 19 and first pole was earned at Langley Speedway on June 23.
• Has seven top 10s in 10 races this year and ranks third in points. Led the standings for five races earlier this year.
• Has an average finish of fourth and a best result of third – in this event last year – in three career starts at GPS.
 
Brandon Gdovic (No. 46 Aquis Communications/ComServe Toyota)
• Has 11 top 10s in 21 career NKNPS East starts.
• Already has more top 10s this year (seven) than he had in his entire rookie season (four) a year ago.
• Has an average finish of 13th in three starts at GPS with a best result of third in this year’s March race, which is also his overall career-best finish.
 
Ben Kennedy (No. 96 G-Oil Chevrolet)
• Has eight top 10s in 23 career NKNPS East starts. Seven of those top 10s have come this year.
• Ranks eighth in points through 10 events after he finished 13th in the 2011 final standings.
• Has an average finish of 14th in three starts at GPS with a best result of ninth in this year’s March race.
 
Corey LaJoie (No. 07 Sims Metal Management Ford)
• Has a three wins, a pole and 13 top fives in 29 career starts. All three wins have come this year while his lone pole was earned in the Sept. 2011 race at GPS.
• Leads all competitors this year in wins with three and ranks fourth in the season points standings.
• Has an average finish of 12th at GPS with a best result of second in this year’s March race.
 
Kyle Larson (No. 6 Rev Racing Toyota)
• Earned his first NKNPS East victory at Gresham and has eight top 10s in his first 10 career races.
• Earned his first pole and led his first laps at Bowman Gray.
• Leads the Sunoco Rookie standings and has been the Sunoco Rookie of the Race four times.
• Ranks second in overall points, 20 behind Brett Moffitt.
• Finished 17th in his first race at GPS in March.
 
Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet)
• Has six wins, two poles and 72 top 10s in 154 career starts.
• Became the 16th driver in series history to reach 150 career starts in June at Gresham.
• Is tied with points leader Brett Moffitt for the most top-10 finishes among all competitors this year with nine.
• Has an average finish of 10th and a best result of third in seven career starts at GPS.
 
Brett Moffitt (No. 11 Toyota Boshoku Toyota)
• Has nine wins, seven poles, 21 podiums and 33 total top-10 finishes in 43 career starts. Is tied for 12th in NKNPS East history in both wins and poles.
• Has wins this year at Richmond and Clearfield, both from the pole, and also earned the pole in the first Iowa race.
• Leads the series this season in top fives (8), top 10s (tied, 9) and laps led (508). He’s led laps in six of 10 events.
• Has held the season points lead following the last three events.
• Has a win, two poles, 151 laps led and an average finish of seventh in five career starts at GPS.
• Finished ninth in August at Iowa in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut.
 
Bryan Ortiz (No. 4 Toyota Racing Development Toyota)
• Has six top 10s through his first 10 NKNPS East races with a best result of third at Bowman Gray.
• Ranks sixth overall and second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings to teammate Kyle Larson.
• Finished 11th in March at GPS, his lone prior start at the track.
 
Travis Pastrana (No. 99 Nitro Circus The Movie 3D Toyota)
• Has three top 10s in 10 NKNPS East starts with a best result of fourth in the May combo race at Iowa.
• Finished 20th at GPS in March, his only previous appearance at the track.
• Has made seven NNS appearances this year with an average finish of 21st.
 
Sergio Peña (No. 1 NRC/NISCO Toyota)
• Has three wins and 16 top 10s in 32 career NKNPS East starts.
• Recorded his best finish of this season last time out at Iowa, third.
• Is the defending winner of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 and has an average finish of 16th in four GPS starts.
 
Darrell Wallace Jr. (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
• Has six wins, three poles, 11 podium finishes and 22 total top 10s in 32 career NKNPS East starts.
• Is the only two-time winner in NKNPS East history at GPS. His second win came there this past March.
• Has an average finish of 3.5 in four races at GPS with a series-high 171 laps led.
• Has finishes of ninth and seventh in his two NNS starts so far this year, both at Iowa.
 
Up to Speed:
• The 2012 season is the 26th for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• The 2012 schedule features 14 races at 12 different tracks across 10 states.
• The NKNPS East season opened with the inaugural series event Bristol Motor Speedway on March 17. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Nelson Piquet Jr. made a spot-start in the event and won from the pole.
• Darrell Wallace Jr. led all but one lap in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway on March 31. There was no pole winner as qualifying was rained out.
• Brett Moffitt dominated the action at Richmond International Raceway on April 26 as both the pole and race winner.
• Moffitt won his second pole in a row, and was poised for back-to-back wins as well, but Chase Elliott gained his first NKNPS East victory on May 19 at Iowa Speedway.
• Corey LaJoie captured his first NKNPS East victory in the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium on June 2. Rookie Kyle Larson earned his first pole prior to the event.
• Larson followed his first pole with his first race victory on June 9 at Gresham Motorsports Park. Cale Conley was also a first-time pole winner in the event.
• LaJoie took his second checkered flag of the season at Langley Speedway on June 23. Prior to the race, Elliott set the K&N Pro Series East mark as the youngest pole winner in series history.
• At CNB Bank Raceway Park on July 14, Moffitt took the pole and led wire-to-wire for his ninth career triumph. Moffitt also took the points lead from Elliott, who had held it since his Iowa win.
• Ben Kennedy earned his first pole, but Conley led wire-to-wire for his first win on July 21 at Columbus Motor Speedway.
• In the second combo race with the NKNPS West at Iowa on Aug. 3, LaJoie returned to Victory Lane for the third time after Conley secured his second pole.
• Following the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140, the NKNPS East will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 22 with the G-Oil 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.