Garcia Quickest In K&N East Practice At Bristol

170422kneast_01

Story By: ZACH CATANZARETI / NASCAR – BRISTOL, TN – In a day impacted by weather, Ruben Garcia Jr. still managed the make the most of the opportunity.

Ripping around Bristol Motor Speedway in 15.861 seconds (120.976 mph), the native of Mexico City, Mexico, topped the lone practice session for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. The sophomore driver ran 55 totals laps in his No. 6 UTI/NTI Toyota.

Finishing second quick was Jesse Little, the 20-year-old who is making his first East start of 2017 in his No. 97 NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota. He trailed Garcia by only 0.001 seconds.

Harrison Burton was third quickest followed by Sheldon Creed and Ronnie Bassett Jr. in the top five.

The track was a popular place in what was only a 55-minute session. All 26 drivers took laps, with Chase Cabre running the most with 74.

Zane Smith was sixth quickest with Hunter Baize, Spencer Davis, Collin Cabre and defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Todd Gilliland completing the top 10.

Due to inclement weather, qualifying for Saturday’s Zombie Auto 125 was cancelled, putting Harrison Burton on pole for the 125-lap event.

Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 6 Ruben Garcia Jr SUNOCO Toyota 15.861 120.976 29 55
2 97 Jesse Little NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota 15.862 120.968 26 37 0.001
3 12 Harrison Burton Dex Imaging Toyota 15.874 120.877 35 58 0.013
4 40 Sheldon Creed * A.M. Ortega/United Rentals Toyota 15.903 120.656 48 71 0.042
5 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet 15.984 120.045 37 37 0.123
6 43 Zane Smith * Diamondback Towing Toyota 16.005 119.888 45 48 0.144
7 13 Hunter Baize Reynolds Wrap/Lightning Auto Sales Chevrole 16.025 119.738 31 47 0.164
8 96 Spencer Davis Davis Poultry/Driven Motorsports Toyota 16.037 119.648 32 62 0.176
9 2 Collin Cabre UTI/NTI Toyota 16.074 119.373 35 42 0.213
10 16 Todd Gilliland NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 16.131 118.951 21 38 0.27
11 17 Chase Purdy * Bama Buggies/Textron Off Road Toyota 16.154 118.782 37 52 0.293
12 44 Dillon Bassett Bassett Gutters and More Ford 16.158 118.752 17 19 0.297
13 14 Trey Hutchens Hutchens Motorsports Chevrolet 16.206 118.401 45 49 0.345
14 23 J P Morgan www.SoldByJackieMorgan.com 16.23 118.226 12 61 0.369
15 66 Reid Wilson * TruNorth Warranty Programs Chevrolet 16.232 118.211 53 59 0.371
16 42 Jay Beasley Honda Generators Toyota 16.237 118.175 46 48 0.376
17 39 Chad Finchum Emory & Henry/WEHC 99.7 FM Toyota 16.239 118.16 16 43 0.378
18 88 Julia Landauer One Love Fountain Ford 16.309 117.653 11 57 0.448
19 11 Ryan Truex Otics USA Chevrolet 16.317 117.595 26 32 0.456
20 30 Tyler Dippel TyCar Ford 16.359 117.293 61 61 0.498
21 4 Chase Cabre * Max Siegel Inc Toyota 16.447 116.666 61 74 0.586
9 Brandon Lynn Next Gen/Peak Performance Chevrolet 16.518 116.164 34 57 0.657
23 71 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Construction Chevrolet 16.703 114.878 49 49 0.842
24 5 Luis Rodriguez Jr * TWR/PEAK Performance Chevrolet 16.718 114.774 67 68 0.857
25 41 Vinnie Miller * MasterMfgInc.com Toyota 16.725 114.726 6 23 0.864
26 18 Sam Hunt Team HSR Toyota 17.284 111.016 5 6 1.423

* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender