Drake Makes First Visit To Greenville Pickens Speedway

• Historic Half-Mile Oval Hosts NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
ROSEVILLE, Calif. (March 18, 2014) – As a rookie this season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Nick Drake is visiting most of the tracks on the circuit for the first time.

This week, the driver of the No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota will get to experience a track that spans time back to the early days of NASCAR racing. Greenville Pickens Speedway – which hosts the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 K&N East race on Saturday – is a half-mile oval in Greenville, S.C., that held its first NASCAR race more than 60 years ago.

The track was a traditional stop for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 1955 to 1971. Many of the most famous names in NASCAR went to Victory Lane there – including Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Buck Baker, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.

The history of Greenville Pickens Speedway is evident on its concrete walls, where the names of past track champions are painted. Walk around the nearly flat oval and you can pause at names like Pearson, Ralph Earnhardt and Butch Lindley. Listen closely and you can almost hear the echoes from past races with the tough door-to-door action that has taken place over the years.

Since 2006, competition at the track has included the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. The same tight, short-track action that has thrilled fans at Greenville Pickens through the years continues with the talented young up-and-coming stars of the series. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Darrell Wallace Jr. had two K&N East wins at the track when he raced in the series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Joey Logano and Austin Dillon each went to Victory Lane in series races there. Now, Drake hopes to add his name to the list of series drivers who have experienced success at Greenville Pickens.

The Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 – which is set to air on FOX Sports 1 on March 28 at 11 a.m. ET – is the fourth event on a 16-race series schedule. Drake will be looking to rebound from a 29th-place finish that resulted from a flat tire and contact with the wall at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Saturday. Prior to that, the 18-year-old Mooresville, N.C., driver finished 15th in the season opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and fourth in the UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Drake is transitioning to stock cars from open-wheel racing, where he competed in the USAC National Sprint Car Series last year.