GREENVILLE, S.C. — Audio, photo and recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman —
After close calls, heartbreak and near-misses spanning over a year in his NASCAR K&N Pro Series career, patience finally paid off for 16-year-old Justin Haley on Saturday night at Greenville Pickens Speedway.
Haley, who is in his second full-time season in the K&N East division, managed his tires to perfection over the second half of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150, pressuring race-long dominator and hometown favorite Kyle Benjamin for the final 25 laps before shooting to the inside with eight laps to go in a textbook short-track pass.
The Winamac, Indiana young gun then drove off into the South Carolina night, rolling away to a 0.515 second advantage by the time the checkered flag waved over the No. 5 Braun Auto Group Chevrolet.
For the talented teenager, the breakthrough win came in his 23rd career start across both the East and the West, and it was HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks’ 23rd career score as a team — tying them for third all-time with legendary four-time East champion Andy Santerre.
In the end, though — for all parties involved — the win was nothing short of emotional, and long overdue after all their prior shots at glory.
“We’ve been fighting for this for a long time,” Haley said with an ear-to-ear grin. “We’ve been so close, so many times. Tonight was just the night it finally all came together, and we got the luck we needed to succeed and get a win.”
“We’ve had the speed all along — really since before Phoenix — when I was leading inside of 10 laps to go before blowing a tire — but it was just little things here and there that kept us from getting over that last little hump. I’ve got a good group of people around me, to where we all flow together and work well as a team, and I think its going to be a trend for us this year. We’re ready to chase this (K&N East) championship.”
Benjamin started from the pole and set a solid pace through the early going, with Haley settling in behind as the top three quickly went single-file and scooted away from the field. By lap 20, a near-one second gap separated the podium from the field behind them, as it became quickly clear that tire conservation would be key all throughout the race.
The top three would tighten slightly on lap 33 as they drove around the outside of Christian Celaya to put his No. 09 Alle Health Chevrolet a lap down, but Benjamin would still hold a two car-length advantage over Haley as the field crossed the one-third mark of the race. However, it was at that point that the battle for the lead heated up out front.
A gutsy maneuver in turn three would give Haley the lead at lap 55, as the Indiana native forced his way to the curb and underneath the slower car of John Holleman IV, making it a three-wide drag race off turn four and back to the stripe. The move paid dividends for Haley as he squeaked out the top spot with the slightest bit of contact, moving away as Benjamin was relegated to the third groove on corner exit and back to second.
Once out front, Haley was able to fly away out front for a , but Benjamin was far from done. He mounted a charge from five car lengths back and surged to the inside with two laps before halfway, taking the point officially at lap 74 and leading Haley by some four car lengths when the competition caution flew to freeze the field.
At the yellow, the No. 42 of Jairo Avila received the free pass and returned to the lead lap, giving the top dozen a shot at the point when the five-minute clock expired and cars returned to the race track.
Benjamin was the control car as the race leader, and he darted out to the lead as the green flag flew on lap 82. He would quickly establish a three-car length advantage as Kaz Grala, who restarted third, put heavy pressure on Haley for runner-up honors. The Massachusetts native would finally complete the pass on lap 86, just moments before the caution flew for a spinning Dominique van Wieringen in turn two.
As reports of rain began to filter in over driver radios, the field returned to racing once again at the 92nd circuit, seeing Haley power back past Grala for second as Benjamin held a narrow two-car length advantage out front. At the 50 to go point, it was Benjamin, Haley and Grala in the front three positions as the intensity rose to a fever pitch on-track.
(Grant Halverson/NASCAR via Getty Images photo)
With 20 to go, Haley finally began to show his cards. He all but got to Benjamin’s quarter-panel in turns three and four to make the move for the lead, but the lapped car of Trey Hutchens forced Haley back into line off corner exit. From there, he waited — never falling off the back bumper of Benjamin’s car — before ultimately sealing the deal in as clean a short track pass as can be had at the legendary half-mile oval.
“We were definitely faster in the center (of the corner), but we had the speed (to be out front), I felt like, the whole second half of the race,” Haley admitted. “When I finally got around him, I felt like that was the right time to (make the move) and we went on to keep a good distance from (Benjamin) there at the end. To be honest, I thought the race was never going to end after I got around him — but we finally got there. I couldn’t have gone any later because of lapped traffic, but we got the win and that’s what really counts tonight.”
For Benjamin, who led the most laps (123) on the night, the end result was bittersweet after coming so close to a win in front of his hometown fans.
“We had a pretty strong car the whole race, he was just a little stronger when it counted,” the Easley, S.C. native lamented. “I don’t feel like we had as good a piece during the second half — after the break — but I’m not taking anything away from what he did tonight. He got by me in the first half too, I just was able to work back around him right before halfway and could control the race more on fresh tires. We just weren’t as strong at the end when we needed to be.”
“Congrats to Justin on the win, though. I know it was a long time coming for him, and it’s a pretty cool deal for those guys. He definitely deserved it tonight.”
Ronnie Bassett Jr. came home as the last driver on the podium in third, with Benjamin’s Ranier Racing with MDM teammate Spencer Davis finishing fourth to unofficially maintain his grip on the K&N East title tilt.
Dillon Bassett rounded out the top five, just ahead of a strong-running Reid Wilson, who finished sixth in just his second-career K&N East start.
In local division action, Alexx Brezele took the win over Spenser Darnell in the Renegade class, while Tommy Davis Jr. beat out Jack Hooper for the 4-Cylinder class trophy.
Action returns to Greenville Pickens Speedway on Saturday, April 2 with the Southeast Limited Late Model Series headlining the card, while the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races next at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 16.
For more information, visit www.greenvillepickens.com or hometracks.nascar.com.
Audio with race winner Justin Haley:
Audio with runner-up Kyle Benjamin:
Audio with fourth-place and points leader Spencer Davis:
RESULTS: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East; Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150; Greenville Pickens Speedway; March 26, 2016
- Justin Haley
- Kyle Benjamin
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- Spencer Davis
- Dillon Bassett
- Reid Wilson
- Noah Gragson
- Tyler Dippel
- Kaz Grala
- Hunter Baize
- Collin Cabre
- Jairo Avila Jr.
- Sarah Cornett-Ching
- Austin Theriault
- Harrison Burton
- Dominique van Wieringen
- John Holleman IV
- Ali Kern
- Ruben Garcia Jr.
- Trey Hutchens III
- Christian Celaya
Lead Changes: Five between two drivers.
Lap Leaders: Benjamin (1-54, 74-80, 82-142); Haley (55-73, 81, 143-150).
Laps Led: Benjamin (122); Haley (28).
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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