Reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPS) champion Dylan Kwasniewski, who headed East to compete for a championship with Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), led a race high 96 laps en route to the season opening victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. In Kwasniewski’s first ever start at the Bristol Motor Speedway, he quickly got used to the .533-mile high-banked oval with clean race track ahead of him and very little pressure from behind. After the leader got tangled up with another competitor, Kwasniewski took the top spot and went on to lead the rest of the 125-lap race. This win gives Kwasniewski and TSM their first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) victory.
The NKNPSE teams unloaded on Thursday for two practice sessions in preparation for the DRIVE4COPD 125, which would take place two days later. The No. 98 Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink team brought a new TSM chassis to the opening event in their championship campaign. Right off the bat, Kwasniewski and the team seemed happy with the car as the team made only minor adjustments to fix the side skirts on the No. 98, as they were scraping the track. Kwasniewski, who seemed to pick up the line at Bristol Motor Speedway quickly, ended both practice sessions inside the top 10. The qualifying effort was no different for the Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink team as Kwasniewski placed the No. 98 Chevy in the fifth position.
During the 125-lap event, Kwasniewski made quick work of the competitors in front of him and moved into the second position. A couple yellow flags early marred the event, one of them coming as the race leader that Kwasniewski was trying to chase down got tangled up with another competitor. After inheriting the lead on the restart, Kwasniewski was just trying to stay smooth and not abuse the Goodyear tires. During the NASCAR mandated “half time” break at lap 71, Kwasniewski and the Royal Purple/Rockstar Energy Drink team seemed content with the car as they only made minor adjustments and filled the car up with Sunoco fuel.
Over the remaining 75 laps of the DRIVE4COPD, a number of restarts were the closest that any of the other competitors got to the No. 98 Royal Purple/RockStar Energy Drink machine as Kwasniewski held off all charges en route to the season opening victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“This is a great day for me and all of Turner Scott Motorsports,” Kwasniewski said. “I can’t thank Royal Purple, Rockstar and Curb Records enough for the opportunity they gave me. This car drove amazing all day. This team worked hard all winter after starting with nothing two short months ago, to now winning the opening race at Bristol. I think we have a shot at winning every race if we can keep running like we did today.”
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