Wednesday, November 5, 2014

#KNWEST Season Finale
Casino Arizona 100 Tomorrow

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will close out its 61st season at Phoenix International Raceway on Thursday, Nov. 6 with the Casino Arizona 100.

Greg Pursley, the 2011 K&N Pro Series Champion
Greg Pursley takes a 21-point lead in the standings into Thursday's
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West finale at Phoenix International Raceway.
(Robert Reiners/Getty Images for NASCAR)


Greg Pursley, the 2011 series champion heads to the one-mile oval in Avondale, Arizona, with a 21-point lead atop the championship standings. He'll be competing on a track where he has three wins, eight top fives and nine top 10s in 12 career starts. Still, Pursley maintains that he won't treat this race any differently.

"We're just going to do the same thing that we always do when preparing for a race," said the driver of the No. 26 Gene Price Motorsports/Star Nursery/Real Water Ford. "We're going there with our same set-up as if it were any other race." casinoaz_100-01_0.png Pursley can clinch his second championship by finishing 17th place or better in Thursday's event. He's only finished outside of the top 20 twice in 12 starts at PIR -- 24th in 2008

As a racing veteran closes in on the championship trophy, several rookies will be looking to learn and grow on a track that has become a launching pad for the sport’s stars in recent years. NASCAR Next driver Gray Gaulding earned his first NASCAR win in this event last November while fellow NASCAR Next driver Cole Custer, who established the national series record as youngest winner with his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win this year, won the K&N Pro West race at Phoenix in February.


NASCAR K&N Pro Series West drivers at Phoenix International Raceway.
Greg Pursley leads all active NASCAR K&N Pro Series West drivers
with three wins at Phoenix International Raceway.
(Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)


Ten rookies are currently entered in Thursday's season finale, including NASCAR K&N Pro Series East regulars Austin Hill and Jay Beasley.

"Going into this race, trying to win a championship with a lot of rookies there, we're going to have to be a little more careful," said Pursley. "We're going to have to pick our passing places, find a spot that we can run in where we're not too pressured from behind. I think we just have find a good spot to run in, ride out the first 80 laps, and then, if we're in a position to race for the win then we'll just have to be very careful about it."

The Phoenix race is the 14th and final event in 2014 for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, as the West’s oldest stock car circuit wraps up its 61st season.


source: nascar.com

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