DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 22, 2011) – The 25th season of competition for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will commence with the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway on Saturday, March 26.

At Greenville Pickens Speedway:
History
•  Opened on July 4, 1946 as a dirt track … Race surface was converted to asphalt in April, 1970.
•  Held 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71, including the first flag-to-flag televised event.
•  David Pearson (1959) and Ralph Earnhardt (1965, 66) are among the famed drivers that have won championships at the track.
Notebook
•  The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East held its inaugural Greenville Pickens Speedway race on June 6, 2006 and has returned every year since.
•  There have been five-different winning drivers and five-different pole winners in each of the first five NKNPS East races at GPS.
•  In the first five years of the event, only Joey Logano has won both the pole and the race, which he accomplished in 2007.
•  For the first time in 2011, there will be two NKNPS East races at GPS. The series will return to the historic half mile on Sept. 5.

Greenville Pickens Speedway Data
Race: #1 of 12 (3/26/11)
Track Layout: Half-mile oval
Banking: Five degrees in the turns
Race Length: 150 laps / 75 miles

Qualifying/Race Data
2010 pole winner: Cole Whitt (86.726 mph, 20.755 seconds)
2010 race winner: Darrell Wallace Jr. (47.098 mph, 1:39.22)
Track qualifying record: Joey Logano (87.481 mph, 20.576 seconds, 4/28/07)

NKNPS East Race Winners at GPS
June 6, 2006 ... Sean Caisse
April 28, 2007 ... Joey Logano
April 19, 2008 ... Austin Dillon
April 11, 2009 ... Brian Ickler
March 27, 2010 ... Darrell Wallace Jr.

NKNPS East Pole Winners at GPS
June 6, 2006 ... Mike Olsen
April 28, 2007 .... Joey Logano
April 19, 2008 ... Peyton Sellers
April 11, 2009 ... Brett Moffitt
March 27, 2010 ... Cole Whitt

Up to Speed:
•  The 2011 season will be the 25th for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. The inaugural event was a combination race with the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Darlington Raceway on March 28, 1987. The first stand-alone race was held at Oxford Plains Speedway on April 26.
•  There will not be a title defense in 2011 as Ryan Truex – the 2009 and 2010 champion – has moved up to the NNS with Pastrana-Waltrip Racing. Last year’s championship runner-up, Brett Moffitt, has moved from Joe Gibbs Racing to take over for Truex at Michael Waltrip Racing.
•  Six of the top 10 finishers in the 2010 season standings will return full-time in 2011. Two of the four not returning, Truex and Cole Whitt, moved up to national series rides.
•  New to the 2011 NKNPS East schedule is the inaugural stand-alone race for the series at Richmond International Raceway and the first trips to historical NASCAR weekly tracks Bowman Gray Stadium, Columbus Motor Speedway and Langley Speedway.
•  NASCAR lowered the minimum competition age for drivers to 15 across all touring divisions. Chase Elliott will attempt to be the first driver to compete at the age of 15 this weekend at Greenville Pickens Speedway.

Selected Driver Highlights:
Michael Cherry (No. 8 Toyota)
•  Had two top 10s in three starts at the end of the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season.
•  Competed in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model division at Greenville Pickens Speedway in 2009.
•  Will compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors out of the Revolution Racing garage and the Drive for Diversity program.

Matt DiBenedetto (No. 15 Toyota)
•  Recorded two wins, three poles and five top 10s in seven NKNPS East starts in 2009 as a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver.
•  Finished 10th in the 2009 season opener at GPS.
•  Will compete for the newly-formed X Team Racing in 2011.
•  Earned two top 10s in seven combined NNS starts for JGR in 2009-10.

Chase Elliott (No. 9 Chevrolet)
•  The son of Bill Elliott, he will attempt to become the first 15-year-old to compete in a NASCAR touring series race with the minimum competition age lowered from 16 to 15 this past offseason.
•  Signed a multi-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports. He will receive technical support from HMS while competing out of the family shop in Dawsonville, Ga.
•  Earned 12 wins and 38 top 10s in 40 Late Model races in 2010.

Ryan Gifford (No. 2 Toyota)
•  Has a pole and seven top fives in 14 career NKNPS East starts.
•  Finished fourth in the 2010 opener at GPS.
•  Competes for Revolution Racing and Drive for Diversity, and is a development driver for Richard Childress Racing that competes in dirt and asphalt Late Models with Team Dillon Racing.

Max Gresham (No. 18 Toyota)
•  Has two wins, two poles and five top 10s in 13 career NKNPS East starts the two previous seasons with JGR.
•  Was involved in an accident and finished 23rd in the 2010 opener at GPS.
•  In addition to competing for the NKNPS East championship, he also hopes to make his NNS and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debuts in 2011, and some ARCA superspeedway starts.

Ben Kennedy (No. 96 Chevrolet)
•  Made NKNPS East debut with one start in 2010. He finished 24th following oil line failure at Gresham Motorsports Park.
•  Earned Pro-Truck and Late Model division titles at Orlando Speed World.
•  The son of Lesa France Kennedy and great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

Corey LaJoie (No. 07 Ford)
•  Has three top fives and an additional top 10 in seven career NKNPS East starts.
•  All four of his top-10 finishes have come at national series tracks. The best was a runner-up effort in the 2010 finale at Dover International Speedway.
•  Is the son of Randy LaJoie, two-time NNS champion.

Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Chevrolet)
•  Has six wins, two poles and 56 top 10s in 131 career NKNPS East starts.
•  Has an average finish of 11th in four starts at GPS with a best effort of third in 2009.
•  The longest-tenured driver on the pre-entry list, this will be his 11th year in the series.

Brandon McReynolds (No. 37 Chevrolet)
•  Will look to make his NKNPS East debut at GPS.
•  Competed regularly in UARA from 2008-10 and earned two wins at Rockingham Speedway.
•  Made NNS debut at Gateway International Raceway in 2010.
•  The son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief and current NASCAR on Fox analyst Larry McReynolds.

Brett Moffitt (No. 00 Toyota)
•  Has four wins, three poles and 16 top 10s in 21 career NKNPS East starts.
•  Finished third in points as a rookie with Andy Santerre Motorsports in 2010 and was the championship runner-up to Ryan Truex in 2010 with JGR.
•  Has finishes of fifth and 24th in two previous starts at GPS. He became the youngest driver in NKNPS East history – surpassing Joey Logano – to earn a pole in 2009 at GPS.
•  Will compete this year for MWR in the same car that Truex won the two previous championships.

Sergio Peña (No. 4 Toyota)
•  Had three top 10s in 10 starts as a rookie in 2010.
•  Finished 27th after an accident in his series debut at GPS a year ago.
•  This will be his second year with Revolution Racing and Drive for Diversity.

Coleman Pressley (No. 14 Toyota)
•  Will attempt to make his NKNPS East debut at GPS with X Team Racing.
•  Made 12 combined NNS starts in 2009-10.
•  Was the 2010 UARA Late Model champion.
•  Is the son of former NASCAR national series driver Robert Pressley.

D.J. Shaw (No. 60 Chevrolet)
•  Has five top 10s in 12 career starts.
•  Best finish of his 2010 rookie season was a fifth-place effort in the opener at GPS.
•  Is the son of 1994 NKNPS East Champion Dale Shaw, who is crew chief of the No. 60.

Darrell Wallace Jr. (No. 6 Toyota)
•  Recorded two wins and seven top 10s to finish third in overall points and earn Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2010.
•  Is the defending winner of the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150. The win made him the youngest and first African-American race winner in NKNPS East history.
•  Competes for Revolution Racing and Drive for Diversity. He is also part of the JGR driver development program.