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Tyme Out: A New
Launching Pad
K&N Pro
Series where development takes place |
By
Ty Norris, Special to NASCAR.COM
March 25, 2010 - 12:13pm
In the fall of 1997, Dale Earnhardt and
I had a closed-door conversation with an
executive of our NASCAR Busch Series
team's primary sponsor. We were
informing this distinguished gentleman
that we planned to move Steve Park to
the Cup Series the following year and
were replacing him with an unproven
driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Out of character, this executive lost
his mind while expressing his
displeasure. After all, Park had won
three times in his only full season with
DEI and finished third in points.
FULL STORY AT
HOMETRACKS |
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Derek Ramstrom
Earns a Climb on the Short Track Ladder
Into the
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East |
PASS Winner and
Thompson Champion
is Ready for a Busy 2010 Season
By Mike
Twist |
Back in the days
when the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series was
known as Busch Grand National North, the
path to compete on the tour was pretty
straightforward. First, you won at a
basic level of racing. Then you advanced
and won some more. Sometimes, you'd even
dip your toes in the pool of a another
regional tour (like ACT or the now
defunct Pro Truck Tour) and after
showing your mastery of that, you were
worthy and ready to graduate to what at
the time was the premier touring stock
car series of the Northeast.
FULL STORY HERE |
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RAMSTROM TO RUN NASCAR K&N
PRO SERIES EAST IN 2010 |
WEST BOYLSTON,
Mass. – Eighteen year-old Derek Ramstrom,
a graduate of the PASS North Series and
a Thompson International Speedway weekly
Super Late Model racer, will run for
rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR
K&N Pro Series East for NDS Motorsport’s
Waste Management Recycling team’s #35
car this season.
"It's just amazing," said Ramstrom, who
was the youngest track champion in
Thompson International Speedway history
, in 2009, winning four races en route
to the Super Late Model title. "I really
couldn't ask for a better opportunity
than this, NDS Motorsports has fielded
competitive cars in the series for many
years." The experience acquired by his
time racing at Thompson, which is
described by Derek as the largest and
fastest short track in New England,
has-in his opinion-prepared him to move
up to the Pro Series of NASCAR.
Despite his relative youth, Derek notes
that he will not be the youngest driver
in the Pro Series in the coming season.
For instance, 2009 Champion Ryan Truex
is only seventeen. Winning the first
PASS Late Model Outlaw series
championship in 2005 at the age of
thirteen, Ramstrom now enters a series
that abounds in quality teams supporting
some of the most promising young drivers
in the nation.
Ramstrom, at the
age of eighteen, already has enjoyed an
experience as long as many drivers have
in an entire career. He started racing
quarter midgets at the age of six and
then Allison Legacy cars before moving
up to late models at the age of 13. He
will find himself competing at more
tracks, and he will be running at larger
tracks than before. He will be logging
many more miles in his new series, as
well. Young Derek will have raced this
year in nine states Iowa, Georgia,
Arizona, California, Virginia, South
Carolina, New Hampshire, Connecticut and
Delaware.
Derek still plans to race as many as
twelve weekly Super Late Model races at
Thompson and around six PASS races this
year. His racing horizons will have
broadened considerably by the time this
promising youngster is graduated from
West Boylston High School in June.
Ramstrom's first race of
the new season is the K&N Pro Series East
opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in
Greenville, S.C., on March 27.
NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST 2010 MEDIA
GUIDE HERE |
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NASCAR
HOMETRACKS
News & Notes:
K&N Pro Series
East Set To Open At Greenville Pickens
Speedway
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NASCAR Official
Release - March 22, 2010
After taking the NASCAR K&N Pro Series
East by storm a year ago, Ryan Truex
will once again look to follow in his
older brother’s footsteps in 2010.
Ryan became the third member of the
Truex household to compete in the NKNPS
East in 2009, preceded by his father,
Martin Truex Sr., and brother, Martin
Truex Jr. As it turned out, Ryan
one-upped them both, as his stellar
rookie season in the No. 00 NAPA Toyota
resulted in the first championship
trophy for a Truex in NASCAR’s top
developmental series.
As the 2010 season opens this weekend at
Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway, Ryan
will once again strive to follow in the
large footsteps of his older brother.
While he did not earn a title in the
NKNPS East, Martin Jr. did become a
back-to-back champion in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series in 2004 and 2005. Ryan
now has his sights set on a repeat in
the K&N Pro Series East.
FULL STORY HERE
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Raceday Notes
The Race ... The Kevin Whitaker
Chevrolet 150 will open the 24th season
of NASCAR K&N Pro Series East racing,
the first under the K&N Filters
sponsorship. This will be the fifth
season in a row that the series has
visited Greenville (S.C.) Pickens
Speedway.
The Procedure ... The starting field is
30 cars, including provisionals. The
first 26 cars will have secured starting
positions based on two-lap qualifying.
The remaining four spots will be awarded
through the provisional process. The
race will be 150 laps (75 miles).
The Track ... GPS is a half-mile asphalt
oval with five degrees of banking in the
turns. The facility opened in 1946 with
a dirt racing surface and was paved in
1970. There were 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series races held at GPS from 1951-71.
Race Winners ... In the four previous
NKNPS East races at GPS there has yet to
be a driver record more than one
victory. Sean Caisse, winner of the
inaugural race in 2006.
Pole Winners ... As with race winners,
there has yet to be a driver that has
earned multiple poles at GPSS. Brett
Moffitt is the only driver entered for
this race with a pole at GPS, earned
last year. Joey Logano has the
qualifying record at 20.576 seconds
(87.481 mph). When Moffitt won the pole,
he also eclipsed Logano’s series record
as the youngest pole winner at 16 years,
eight months.
New Era Begins Under K&N Sponsorship
NASCAR announced on Jan. 21, 2010 during
the Charlotte Media Tour that K&N
Engineering, Inc., will be the title
sponsor for NASCAR’s top developmental
series, formerly known as the NASCAR
Camping World Series East and West,
beginning in 2010.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series will continue
to crown champions through separate
schedules on the East and West Coast.
The seven-year agreement illustrates
NASCAR’s commitment to the grassroots
foundation of the sport.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series encompasses
NASCAR’s oldest stock car series in the
West, which dates back to 1954, and the
East that has evolved from the former
Busch North Series. It runs on a
challenging combination of speedways,
short tracks and road courses, and the
series has made its mark throughout the
years with tough competition and
exciting racing.
The Riverside, Calif.-based K&N
Engineering is the inventor and leading
innovator of reusable cotton gauze
filter technology for automotive
applications. K&N, which has grown from
a family-run business to a global
company, traces its involvement with
NASCAR back to the days of supplying
parts for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
races at the old Riverside Speedway. |
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NASCAR
Official Release - March 9, 2010
DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla.
– NASCAR has announced today the
television schedule for its
developmental series for 2010.
The expanded calendar includes 21 events
on SPEED for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series
and seven races for the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour. This comprehensive
package includes airing of every race on
the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West
schedules. Three of the Whelen Modified
Tours will air as same-day televised
events.
SPEED,
anchored by its popular and wide-ranging
coverage of NASCAR, is the nation’s
first and only cable television network
dedicated to automotive and motorcycle
racing, performance and lifestyle.
The NASCAR Developmental Series
programming will air Thursdays at 6 PM.
FULL STORY & CHART OF EAST SERIES
SPEED BROADCAST DATES & TIMES HERE
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K&N Engineering,
Inc. To Be Title Sponsor
For Top Developmental NASCAR
K & N Pro Series
FULL STORY |
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The first annual
Derek Ramstrom Racing Fundraiser was a
huge success. The party was held at the
Knights of Columbus in Shrewsbury on the
20th of February.
The sell out crowd was entertained by DJ
Jim Cahn who did an outstanding job of
being MC as well as playing music that
had the dance floor crowded all evening.
The food was delicious, featuring a
“Tour of Italy” courtesy of Oxfords
Restaurant in Oxford, MA. We sold 50
“grand” raffle tickets which included
admission for two to the event and a one
in 50 chance to win one of the big
prizes. The winners of the grand prizes
were:
Weekend in Vermont - Joe Renzoni
Thompson Speedway Basket - Bob Torriere
Derek “Ride Along” - Ryan Hadley
Patriots Basket - Jim Callery
37” Flat Screen TV - Denny Stampfl
The team did an excellent job of
obtaining raffle prizes. More than 35
prizes filled the tables, including a
Ken Bouchard Driving School coupon, two
beautiful watercolor paintings from Mark
Waitkus, Raceway Golf gift certificates,
Thompson Speedway gift certificates,
many restaurant gift certificates
tickets to the Hanover Theater, and
baskets filled with goodies, and so much
more.
The evening so much fun, a chance for
the team to be with friends to celebrate
Derek’s championship and to get pumped
for the upcoming season.
Derek and the team would like to thank
all our friends who came to celebrate
with us. We also want to thank those who
graciously donated but were unable to
attend. Lastly we would like to thank
our friends who worked tirelessly to
make the evening the amazing success it
was.
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Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
JAN 29-30, 2010
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The
Ramstrom Racing Team headed to sunny
California in an attempt to quality for
the for the Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Derek is driving the #53 Bollegraaf/Lubo
sponsored Chevrolet. Fortunately the
rain had stopped and the weather was
perfect for racing. Derek had never
raced on the 1/2 mile oval and was
anxious to practice the car.
Derek was really happy with the practice
times, many of his laps putting him in
the top 10. Derek was the sixth car to
hit the track to qualify. The track was
pretty green at the time which made his
qualifying time of 18.755 seconds
outstanding. Unfortunately the 21st
position that he earned didn't stand,
the drivers with guaranteed starting
spots took over. Derek ended up starting
31st with a provisional.
Derek took the green flag and in true
Derek fashion began to slowly and
methodically make his was toward the
front. By lap 89 Derek was one of the
biggest movers of the race, putting
himself in the 14th position. A
competition yellow was thrown on lap 99
and the #53 Bollegraff/Lubo Chevrolet
came in for service. Tires, fuel and a
minor track bar adjustment and Derek was
back on the track. At lap 145
Inglebright spun out in front of Derek
forcing him high on the track. Derek had
absolutely no where to go, the was a car
right under him. Derek and three other
cars crashed, bringing him back to the
pit area on the wrecker. The car was
clearly not heading back to the track
but to the hauler. Despite the dismal
end, Derek and the crew were really
pleased with the run. He proved yet
again, that he can compete against so of
the finest racers in the country. |
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FOLLOW THE
SHOWDOWN AT
NASCAR
HOME TRACKS HERE
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FRI. 29th
- DEREK IS STARTING IN 31ST
STARTING
GRID HERE
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33RD PLACE FINISH
FOR DEREK
LAP by LAP RACE REPORT HERE
"Lap
145 -- CAUTION NO. 10: Inglebright spins
in Turn 2, then Combs, Koch, Ramstrom
and Thompson are wadded up between Turns
3 and 4. The latter four will need
wreckers." |
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AWARDS BANQUET - JANUARY 22ND |
Derek and the
Ramstrom Racing Team were honored Friday
night January 22nd at Thompson Speedway.
Derek was honored for his stunning 2009
race season in the challenging Super
Late Model Division. Despite a shortened
race season, Derek never once crossed
the checkers outside the top ten. He
scored 13 top five finishes, including
four wins.
The championship came down to the very
last race. Derek had to beat Mike
O'Sullivan in order to secure the
championship. Derek managed to hold off
O'Sullivan in what was certainly the
most nerve racking race of the season.
Derek managed to finish ahead of
O'Sullivan to secure the coveted title
by a mere six points.
Derek thanked his crew for their
dedication with commemorative Ramstrom
Racing Jackets. He also thanked his
fellow competitors in the Super Late
Model Division, particularly Mike
O'Sullivan, for racing him clean all
season, the Hoenig Family and all the
staff at Thompson Speedway for providing
the best place to race in the Northeast.
Derek and Rick also want to thank all
their sponsors for the continued
assistance to their team, they would not
have been in the position they are in
without each and every one.
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Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
JAN 29-30, 2010 |
Derek and the
Ramstrom Racing Team will be going west
at the end of January to the NASCAR
Toyota All-Star Showdown. Derek will
attempt to qualify the #53 Camping World
Series racecar that he raced this year
at NHMS, Thompson, and Lime Rock.
This event is an all-star race which
guarantees starting positions for those
drivers who won a race in the Camping
World Series during the 2009 season. In
addition, 2009 series champions from
NASCAR's touring divisions are eligible
for a guaranteed starting position.
Derek will have to qualify his way into
the race through time trials. Those who
don't make it into the race through time
trials have a final opportunity to
qualify through the "last chance" race.
The Toyota All-Star Showdown is a
prestigious race that NASCAR has run for
six years. This event brings together
the finest racers from around the
country and is considered to be a "must
attend" by race teams. The weekend's
events, including the 225 lap Camping
World Series race, will be televised
live on SPEED. Qualifying for the race
is on January 29th and the feature race
will run on January 30th. |
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