NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series West revealed its 2019 schedule Wednesday, which features 14 races and begins Feb. 28 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The schedule also includes the series’ return to ISM Raceway in Phoenix on Nov. 9 for its season finale.
The race will be one of four in three days, including the Cup, Xfinity and Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ final playoff elimination races.
The 100-lap K&N West race will be the series’ 45th on the 1-mile Phoenix track and its first since 2015. The series ended its 2018 season at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California.
“Phoenix is a destination our fans and teams of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West have really wanted to get back to,” said Brandon Thompson, NASCAR’s managing director for regional racing in a press release. “With all the new and exciting changes with ISM Raceway, it’s a tremendous opportunity to return, and we are very excited to be part of their NASCAR Playoff Weekend. We want to say a huge thank you to International Speedway Corporation for underscoring their commitment to grassroots racers. To be able to crown our West champion on that stage means a lot for the series.”
The addition of the Phoenix race comes after Kevin Harvick underscored the lack of a K&N event at the track after his win there last March.
“I’ve been mad at (former track president Bryan) Sperber here for a couple years now because he won’t have the K&N cars come race here because it doesn’t help his budget,” Harvick said. “One of the best things that happened for racing, it’s not just about NASCAR, was when we had the Copper Classic here. We had midgets, sprint cars. Didn’t matter how many people sat in the grandstands. As competitors, those guys, this was their Daytona. On the West Coast, this is what we thought our Daytona 500 was. This is where everybody wanted to race.
“It’s kicking those guys low on the K&N West Series that they don’t get to come and race at this particular racetrack because of the fact there’s a little bit of a pissing contest between a budget, what is right, what is wrong from a sanctioning fee side on Trucks and Xfinity. So they cut the K&N guys out.
“Cutting the grassroots side of things out is not the right way to do things. Those guys, they just want to race. This is a crown jewel race for those guys. The thought process for me is broken. When I look at our hardcore fans, they’re all sitting at those short tracks and they’re mad.”
Below is the full K&N West schedule.
| Date | Track | Location | Laps |
| Thurs., Feb. 28 | Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Las Vegas, Nev. | 100 |
| Sat., March 30 | Irwindale Speedway | Irwindale, Calif. | 150 |
| Sat., May 11 | Tucson Speedway * | Tucson, Ariz. | 100s* |
| Sat, June 8 | Colorado National Speedway | Dacono, Colo. | 175 |
| Sat, June 22 | Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, Calif. | 64 |
| Sat, June 29 | Douglas County Speedway | Roseburg, Ore. | 150 |
| Fri., July 26 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa | 150 |
| Sat., Aug. 17 | Evergreen Speedway | Monroe, Wash. | 175 |
| Sat., Aug. 24 | Gateway Motorsports Park | Madison, Ill. | 120 |
| Sat., Sept. 28 | Meridian Speedway | Meridian, Idaho | 208 |
| Sat., Oct. 12 | All American Speedway | Roseville, Calif. | 150 |
| Sat., Oct. 26 | Kern County Raceway Park | Bakersfield, Calif. | 175 |
| Sat., Nov. 9 | ISM Raceway | Avondale, Ariz. | 100 |
* Twin 100-lap championship points races
Be the first to comment