There’s a lot more to stock car racing than just the highly visible NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the super star drivers who race there. Many other local and regional racing series run on the same racetracks, providing an awesome springboard for racecar drivers of the future ,who hope they will get the nod one day for the Cup Series.
While it might look like driving left and right on country roads, there’s a ton to learn and apply when muscling a ton and a half of racecar over rumble strips, through the dirt and bumping fenders while fighting for position, this is not for the average driver.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West is one of those ultra-competitive series that often brings in Sprint Cup drivers, as well. Since 1978, the K&N Pro Series West made its annual visit to the rolling hills of the Northern California wine country for the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway, the 25th time on Sonoma’s 1.99-mile road course.
Photogs Jeff and Mike Berghardt spent Saturday of the Sprint Cup Series Sonoma weekend shooting up the K&N Pro Series West race as a prelude to Sunday’s Toyota-Save Mart 350.
It was Sprint Cup Series rookie Kyle Larson who dominated the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway to pick up his first K&N Pro Series West victory. Larson had two wins in the K&N Pro East Series in 2012, also taking the series Championship. After winning the pole on Saturday morning, Larson took the checkered flag for his first K&N Pro Series West win.
No. 42 Larson, in his Clorox Chevy Impala from Elk Grove, California, pulled away from K&N Pro West points leader Greg Pursley on the green-white-checkered restart to win by 3.191 seconds. Larson led all 66 laps on the 1.99-mile road course, ceding the point briefly on Lap 51 to No. 26 Pursley but put the No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet back in the lead before the lap was complete.
Earlier in the day, Larson won the Coors Light Pole Award for the K&N Pro West race and then qualified third for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.
No. 9 Dylan Lupton finished third Saturday, followed by Sprint Cup’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and N0. 16 Brandon McReynolds. Pursley was able to extend his points lead to 21 over Lupton and 32 over McReynolds.
Lupton and McReynolds (above) are members of the NASCAR Next class, an industry initiative designed to spotlight the sport’s rising stars. Larson was in the program during his season in the K&N Pro East.
#31 Michael Annett )(above), John Borneman III, Jim Inglebright, Tom Klauer and Matt Tifft rounded out the top 10. The race had five cautions for 16 laps.
As a bonus, the K&N Pro Series West Carneros 200 airs on FOX Sports 1, Friday, July 4 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
The K&N Pro West returns to the ovals with its next race, the inaugural visit to Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho, on Saturday, July 12.
Take a look at the awesome gallery of photos from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
