NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Review: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
MOORESVILLE. N.C. (July 17, 2017) – On Saturday evening, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) raced at the Magic Mile, New Hampshire Motor Speedway located in Loudon, N.H. Representing MDM Motorsports were drivers Harrison Burton, Sheldon Creed, and Vinnie Miller.
On Friday, teams and drivers took to the 1.058-mile speedway for two practice sessions and qualifying. Both Burton and Creed had solid practice sessions. Miller wasn’t so lucky as he cut a tire in the first practice, causing him to hit the wall. That damage led him to miss valuable track time in both sessions. Burton qualified fifth in his No. 12 RUUD Toyota, while Creed was directly behind him in his No. 40 United Rentals Toyota with a sixth-place qualifying effort. Miller qualified 18th with a damaged ball joint in his No. 41 Master Mfg. Inc. Toyota. The team replaced the ball joint prior to the race and the 19-year-old Michigan driver started the race from the rear.
The 70-lap NKNPSE event was delayed due to weather pushing back the end of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race. The United Site Service 70 went green just before 7:30 p.m., ET. The only caution was for Miller, who suffered another cut tire. The team attempted to repair the car but were unable to, he retired from the race after completing just 12 laps. Burton started fifth and never fell below the seventh position. He had many great battles including one with teammate Creed. They went on to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. That fifth-place finish for Creed marked his first career NKNPSE top-five finish.
Burton, driver of the RUUD No. 12… Burton entered the United Site Services 70 coming off a victory at Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park last Saturday. The current NKNPSE points leader, was making his second career New Hampshire Motor Speedway start with a new partnership from RUUD. He qualified fifth and raced around the top-five all race long. He was able to work his way to fourth when the checkered flag waved.
Burton on New Hampshire: “Not a terrible weekend for our No. 12 RUUD team, but we just never quite hit on it,” said Burton. “Track position was really important today too, having clean air was a big deal. If we’re a little bit upset about a fourth-place run, I think that shows how strong this team really is, and how much we expect from ourselves. We will get them at Iowa in a few weeks.”
The United Site Services 70 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway will air on NBCSN July 20, at 6 p.m., ET.