With Dover race Little faces final circle track event of the season

Third generation NASCAR driver Jesse Little heads into this weekend’s K&N Pro Series East event aiming to continue his solid run inside the top-10 finishing order while also looking to secure sole possession of the Rookie of the Year points lead.

Coming off a top-6 finish on the one-mile New Hampshire International Speedway last weekend gives Little’s Coulter Motorsports plenty to be hopeful as they head to the one-mile Dover International Speedway.

“We were good in New Hampshire (a sixth place finish) last week and while Dover is another one-mile track you have to make some big changes to how to set-up the car for the higher banking and concrete surface. I am comfortable with what (crew chief) Kris (Bowen) and the guys in the shop have put together for the weekend and can’t wait to see how things go during practice, qualifying and on into the race itself.”

Little has averaged a top-10 finish in each of his last seven events on the series while hovering near the top-10 overall driver’s championship standings. As the series heads into Friday’s The Drive Sober 150 another run amongst the leaders will be needed to maintain momentum, he noted.

“We came into the season with the goal of challenging for the Rookie of the Year title and a spot inside the top-10 in championship points. It’s a close battle for both so the best thing our team can do to secure those goals will be a strong run at Dover this weekend. Our NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet was good last year before we were gathered up in a racing incident that cost us a good finish. We’ll use some of the information we gained last year and a lot of what has been good for this Jeans Saver Impala in recent weeks and see how things turn out Friday afternoon.”

Handling will be the biggest key to success on Friday, Little added.

“Dover requires a car that can get through the corners on the concrete surface without getting the tires spinning on exit. We’ve worked to prepare a set-up that can keep the car hooked up all the way through the corners then get us into the straightaways without the tire spin. If you can do that throughout the afternoon good things can happen late in the race when we’re looking to challenge for another good finish or even a win.”

Another factor in contending for a strong finish will be keeping the car out of trouble, Little explained.

“Handling is big at Dover but just as big is keeping the fenders on the car and not getting into the wall or making contact with another car. It’s a high-speed track that really uses the momentum you can build up to get you around in a quick lap. If the car is clean then that just means more speed on exit heading down the straightaways and into the next corner. Aerodynamics will be big here and I will be looking to keep the nose clean as much as possible.”

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East holds two practice sessions on Thursday at Dover International Speedway with qualifying set for Friday morning and The Drive Sober 150 scheduled to take the green flag at 4:45 p.m. EST that afternoon.
 

Fans can follow Jesse’s progress throughout the weekend by logging onto jesselittle.com and at hometracks.nascar.com

 

Jesse Little PR