The 2011 K&N Pro Series East Champion & Rookie of the Year are Crowned

Tonight's race at Dover marked the end of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East 2011 season and the race was anything but boring.  Darrell Wallace, Jr. won the pole for the race, qualifying an amazing 1.3 miles per hour faster than all of his other competitors - a pretty impressive feat!

Credit to NASCAR
Max Gresham receiving his
Championship trophy

Early in the race, Wallace and his teammate, Sergio Pena, collided, bringing out the caution - also putting Wallace a devastating two laps down.  When all hope was gone, Wallace was able to rebound.  With only five laps to go, Brett Moffitt, who was currently second in points, was leading, and if he won, there was a chance that he might have won the Championship; but with four laps to go, his right front tire blew and he crashed, allowing Wallace, who was previously in the second position, to capture the lead.    Darrell Wallace, Jr. was able to maintain the lead for the last four laps, getting himself the win!


Max Gresham, at the young age of 18, took the 2011 K&N Pro Series East Champion, having a 66 point lead as the last lap of the season was recorded in the record books.  Gresham drives in the Joe Gibbs Racing developmental program, with Bryant Frazier as his crew chief; Frazier was Tony Stewart's first crew chief when he started driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. 


Gresham said in a post-race interview, "It means everything in the world right now," "To be a NASCAR champion is pretty much the biggest thing I wanted to do when I started racing, and now I am.  This is as sweet as it could be right now."


Following Gresham in the Point Standings were Darrell Wallace, Jr. with 1871 points, Brett Moffitt with 1851 points, Matt DiBenedetto with 1741 points, and rounding out the top-five was Sergio Pena with 1657 points.  To see the full 2011 Standings, click here.


Finally, Alex Bowman was the K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year, accumulating seventy-six points over the twelve race season.  Bowman is followed in Rookie points by Corey LaJoie with 67 points, Chase Elliott with 63 points, Andrew Smith with 47 points, and finally, Cody Hodgson with 46 points.  For the complete list of Rookie points, click here.


I hope all of you K&N Pro Series East fans enjoy the off season!