Drake Turns In Top-Five Finish At Greenville Pickens

• K&N East Makes Second Visit Of 2014 To Historic Track

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Sept. 6, 2014) – After struggling in his first race at Greenville Pickens Speedway earlier this year, Nick Drake was looking to redeem himself as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returned for its second visit of the season to the South Carolina track.

The 18-year-old rookie rebounded with a solid performance on the historic half-mile oval on Saturday night, finishing fifth in the Greenville 140.

It marks Drake’s fourth top-five finish of the season in the Bill McAnally Racing No. 15 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota.

“Last time was pretty frustrating for all of us,” Drake said of his 16th-place finish earlier in the season. “It was a night-and-day difference from tonight and when we ran here in March. This was a good turnaround.”

After qualifying 10th earlier in the day, Drake demonstrated the patience of a veteran in steadily working his way forward. He was eighth by the midway break, in which his crew made minor handling adjustments. Drake continued his progression in the second half of the race. He initially gained the fifth spot on Lap 87, but lost the position before getting it back for good 20 laps from the finish.

“It was a lot of single file racing, with everyone hugging the bottom the whole time,” said Drake, who hails from Mooresville, North Carolina. “But we were able to move up from 10th to fifth. We were a top-five car for sure.”

The checkered flag went to Austin Hill, who became the 12th different winner in 13 series visits to Greenville Pickens; while Ben Rhodes clinched this year’s series title with a fourth-place finish.

With one race remaining on the series schedule, Drake remains solid in second place in Sunoco Rookie of the Year points. He is ninth, meanwhile, in the championship standings – with the four drivers in sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth separated by just nine points. Overall, Drake has one pole, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 15 career series starts this year.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will close out its 2014 season with the Drive Sober 150 season finale at Dover (Delaware) International Speedway on Sept. 26.