The 2012 K&N NASCAR Pro Series Season Ends with Kyle Larson as Champion
- Dec 12, 2012
Larson finished in sixth place in the Classic 3 Championship presented by RCR Racing Museum after the leaders collided and knocked one of the K&N Pro Series East Series championship contenders out of the race. Larson won his first K&N Pro Series East championship by 15 points over Corey LaJoie.
Rookie Tyler Reddick, a 16-year-old from Corning, California, won the race in his K&N Pro Series East debut. It was only his third career start on asphalt. His previous two starts came in the ARCA Series. Reddick was battling Brett Moffitt for the lead on the last lap of the race. Moffitt and Reddick's cars made contact coming out of turn two and knocked Moffitt out of the race. He entered the season finale in second place in the K&N Pro Series East standings and would have won the championship if he was able to hold on to the lead.
LaJoie was also in contention for the K&N Pro Series East championship and finished in second place. "I thought I had Tyler and Brett was pretty much gone," LaJoie said. "I didn't think he was going to get there, down the front stretch, I was like, uh-oh, this this might be interesting. I might get lucky."
"I've been lucky a lot this year," said Larson, who joins Joey Logano and Ryan Truex as the only drivers to win the rookie of the year and the K&N Pro Series East championship in the same season . "Just made up for Corey and Brett's messes that they gotten into a lot this year. Gained some points and stayed consistent and got the championship. It feels great."
"This track is great," said the 20-year-old Larson from Elk Grove, California "You can run it from top to bottom and run side by side. You can run anywhere on this track and be just as good. It's a lot of fun. I wish there were more race tracks like this." Reddick joined an elite group of drivers in the K&N Pro Series East. He is the first driver to win in his debut since Nelson Piquet Jr. won the 2012 season opener at Bristol Motor Speedway. Darrell Wallace won in his NASCAR debut at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Caroline in 2010.
"If you're racing for points, you just don't take that type of chance," Reddick said. "If someone's alongside of you, you know they're going to be right there with you coming off the corner. I just wish he would have left me a car length. I wish it had been a clean race. It had been all day for us, but it just didn't turn out that way." Moffitt led 15 laps in the race, taking over the lead on lap 85 of the 100-lap race. He ended up in 21st place after colliding with Reddick.
"All in all, it's been a great season," LaJoie said. "I can't say enough about all the people who help us. It's been a long year. It's been a fun year. I was just glad to be a part of this deal." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
