With two races quickly in the books for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, drivers are quickly setting an agenda for capturing this season’s championship.
One of those drivers is series defending Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Jesse Little.
Bristol Motor Speedway is one of Little’s favorite racetracks on the circuit and a place where the 16-year old has posted a top-5 effort in NASCAR K&N Pro Series qualifying.
“We’re really excited to be heading to Bristol and do some short track racing,” Little said. “Bristol is one of those places that every racer wants to compete at because it’s one of the premier short tracks in our sport with so much history. I really like racing on the half-mile tracks and our team has some of the best equipment out there for short track competition.”
Setting a car up to handle the high-banked corners of Bristol while also having the grip upon exiting the corner is one key to success this weekend, he added.
“We believe we have a excellent setup package in the car that will really help us get in and out of the corners and I know our Penske Shocks are dialed in to get the car handling in this short 125-lap race.”
Little aims to nab his first top-5 finish of the season Saturday afternoon with a solid run in the PITT LITE 125.
“This team has always been after solid runs and gaining maximum points. We showed that last year when we needed to get after it for the points towards the championship and the rookie title. We’re doing nothing different in our approach to this weekend’s PITT LITE 125. We’re just going to go in there and take care of our business and keep moving forward in our goals of winning this season’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series (East) championship.”
Short track racing is one of many strengths for Little and the No. 97 NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet crew, he noted. To be successful at Bristol Little will tap into another strength he brings to the race-qualifying.
Posting the fourth quickest lap in qualifying last year gave Little the chance to run in the front of the field for most of the afternoon. He will look to duplicate that accomplishment this weekend, he explained.
“To run up front at Bristol you’ve got to start up there,” Little said. “Last year we posted a top-5 qualifying effort and that had us off to a good start. We’ll bring a good balance to the car for qualifying and our race trim and look to capitalize on track position to get a top-5 or top-10 finish.”
Jesse Little PR
