SEVIERVILLE, TN — Dylan Presnell of Sevierville made the move to further advance his racing career by competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East during the 2011 season,
and the 16-year-old Sevier County High School student caught the attention of many racing insiders at each of the six events he ran by showing “he had what it takes” to be successful in a NASCAR touring series.
Presnell’s first race at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga., produced an eighth-place finish. Two starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway resulted in finishes of 11th and 15th. He recorded an eighth-place run in the Buckeye State at Columbus Motor Speedway, and wheeled the No. 14 X Team Racing Toyota Camry to his best finish of the season, a seventh-place effort, at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway.
Presnell arguably had his best run of the season this weekend at Dover International Speedway, as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competed alongside the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide teams on the famed Monster Mile in the Dover 150 on Friday.
Having never laid eyes on the high-banked, 1-mile concrete track until his arrival for practice day on Thursday, Presnell immediately knew Dover International Speedway’s nickname of the Monster Mile was appropriate.
Following a day of practice to try and get acclimated to the intimidating track, Presnell qualified 19th out of 33 cars with a speed of 148.982 mph.
“I ran the United Speed Alliance Racing (USAR) Pro Cup Series race last year at Bristol Motor Speedway – which is concrete and has a lot of banking and is a very fast track,” said Presnell while making comparisons to each concrete-surfaced layout. “But let me tell you, Bristol is definitely not Dover. When we got to the track for practice, before we went down into the pits I just looked at the surroundings and was like ‘Wow, this place is unreal.’ Many people around the racing industry, they say Dover is kind of like Bristol’s big brother.”
With crew chief Coleman Pressley atop the pit box, the game plan was for Presnell to just get settled into a comfortable rhythm early in the race. Once he got laps under his belt to build up confidence, then during the last half of the race they would begin to race their way towards the front of the field.
The event’s first caution waved on lap 16 when Corey LaJoie rolled to a stop on the inside of turn one, and Presnell had advanced four positions into 15th from his 19th starting spot.
According to series rules, for the Dover 150 teams had four tires available that they could change during the race. But they were only allowed to change two tires per pit stop, and they weren’t allowed to change tires and also take on fuel during the same stop.
Using good pit strategy during the first 100 laps, then getting up on the wheel and hustling the No. 14 Smoky Mountain Cheese Toyota Camry around the track under green flag racing conditions, Presnell found himself riding in the seventh position on lap 104. Looking at a window to go all-out for the final 25 laps, Presnell had worked his way inside the top-five into the fourth spot when a late race caution set the field up for a green-white-checkered finish.
While circling the high banks under caution, there’s always concern regarding whether the engine will be able pick up fuel for the restart. And those concerns became reality for Presnell when he accelerated when the green flag waved, yet the engine sputtered as it attempted to pick up gas from the fuel cell.
Once Presnell shook the car back-and-forth along the front straightaway into the first turn, enough fuel was picked up in the carburetor that he was able to get back up to speed. But what looked to be a definite top-five finish for Presnell turned into a ninth-place run once the checkered flag waved. Fourteen cars finished the race on the lead lap.
“Oh man, what a disappointing way to end the race after we’d had such a great car throughout the race,” Presnell said, reflecting on his finishing position chauffeuring the No. 14 Smoky Mountain Cheese Toyota Camry. “Our plan was to just run laps and keep our nose clean until around 50 laps remained, and everything was playing out just fine and we were running in seventh. But I knew the car was strong enough that we would be able to gain a few more spots before the finish, which we did. We just didn’t need that final caution there at the end, because it hurt us when the engine couldn’t pick up fuel when we went back green.
“I guess overall we’re pleased with how we ran, because we were very competitive. And for our first time ever running at Dover and to finish in ninth-place, I don’t guess you can really ask for much more. But as a racer, you just hate knowing you let one (top-five finish) slip from your grasp at the end. As people told me following the race, I wasn’t the first one and I won’t be the last one (racer) that will experience fuel pickup problems going back green at Dover. This track is unlike any other track I have ever raced at before, it’s just unbelievably fast at the end of the straightaway diving off down in the corner. And it’s not just straightaway speed, it’s corner speed also. The sensation of speed and the G-forces your body feels through the corners, it definitely catches your attention.”
The Dover 150 will air at 7 p.m. on Speed Channel on Thursday, Oct. 6.
The racing season’s not over for Presnell, as he will head out West to the desert at Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 12 to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Casino Arizona 125. The event will be a companion race along with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series.
Backing Presnell’s efforts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2011 are AmericanMountainRentals.com (Smoky Mountain Cabins - Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), SmokyMountainCheeseLLC.com, Goulds Pumps, and Clearwater Drilling Co. of Sevierville, Tenn.
To contact Ken Presnell at Presnell Motorsports, located at 1868 Newport Highway in Sevierville, Tenn., call (865) 654-9586. To keep up with Dylan Presnell’s racing visit his Web site at www.DylanPresnell.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/DylanPresnell
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