ROSEVILLE, Calif. — The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West is set to launch its 2017 season next week with the biggest kickoff in the history of the series — the NAPA 500 Challenge that features four races and more than $400,000 in posted awards with huge bonus awards.
The NAPA 500 Challenge, which includes a giant $100,000 bonus for any driver who wins all four races, features 500 total laps of competition in the four races at three tracks.
The season opens in Arizona with a NAPA 150 event at Tucson Speedway on Saturday, March 18. After traveling to Kern County Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California for a NAPA 150 race on Thursday, March 23, the circuit heads to Southern California’s Irwindale Speedway for the Twin NAPA 100s on Saturday, March 25.
In addition to the $100,000 bonus, other big awards are also at stake as part of the NAPA 500 Challenge. A $10,000 award is available to drivers who finish in the top three positions in all four races. Drivers who finish in the top five spots in all four events could take home a $5,000 award, and a $1,000 award is available to drivers who finish in the top 10 positions in all four races. Drivers were required to pre-register by March 1 to be eligible for the special awards.
The four races in the NAPA 500 Challenge, which parallel a Western swing by NASCAR’s top premiere series, mark the start of a 14-event schedule for the K&N Pro Series West.
The season opener at Tucson Speedway is on the same weekend that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series compete at Phoenix International Raceway.
Kern County Raceway Park hosts a special Thursday event, as the K&N West makes its sixth visit to the high-banked, half-mile track that opened in 2013.
The Twin NAPA 100s at Irwindale Speedway on March 25 mark the first doubleheader in the history of the series. The competition at the half-mile track will be the same weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series are in action at nearby California Speedway.
CREDIT: Bill McAnally Racing
