NASCAR sets K&N Pro Series schedule for 2015

NASCAR announced the 2015 schedules for its top developmental regional touring series, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. 

The coast-to-coast 2015 slate features a combined 27 dates in 17 different states, highlighted by nine NASCAR national series companion weekends and four new events. 

“The NASCAR K&N Pro Series has become the premiere training ground for our sport, and the diversity of the 2015 schedules will provide great challenges for the next generation of drivers,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR vice president for regional and touring series. “We are ecstatic that Motordrome Speedway has joined the K&N Pro Series East schedule and that Meridian, Shasta and Tucson Speedways have come on board to showcase the K&N Pro Series West.” 

Motordrome is a banked asphalt oval located in Smithton, Pennsylvania. The Aug. 15 event will be the half-mile’s inaugural K&N Pro Series East race, and the first visit for the series to the Keystone State since 2012. 

Three new out west

For the K&N Pro Series West, the three new events will harken back to the series’ rich history. A May 2 date at Tucson will be the series’ first at the famed .375-mile Arizona oval since 2001. The K&N West will also return to Shasta, a .333-mile oval in Anderson, California, for the first time since 1993 while the Sept. 5 race at Meridian will be just the second visit in series history to the quarter-mile track located in Meridian, Idaho. 

All told, the K&N Pro Series East has 14 dates at 13 different tracks in 11 states. In addition to the inaugural Motordrome event, the rest of the schedule includes:

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend companion events at Bristol Motor Speedway (April 18), Richmond International Raceway (April 24), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 17), Watkins Glen International (Aug. 7) and Dover International Speedway (season finale, Oct. 2).

• Stand-alone short track dates at New Smyrna Speedway (season opener, Feb. 15), Greenville Pickens Speedway (April 4), Bowman Gray Stadium (May 30), Langley Speedway (June 20) and Columbus Motor Speedway (July 4).

• Road course races at Watkins Glen International and Virginia International Raceway (Aug. 29). 

Iowa Speedway also returns with its two K&N Pro Series East-West combination races as part of NASCAR XFINITY Series companion weekends on May 16 and July 31. 

The K&N Pro Series West has a total of 13 dates across six states and 12 tracks. In addition to the two Iowa combo races and the three new dates, the remaining calendar includes:

• Sprint Cup Series weekend companion dates at Sonoma Raceway (June 27) and Phoenix International Raceway (season finale, Nov. 12).

• Short track stand-alone dates at Kern County Raceway Park (season opener, March 28), Irwindale Speedway (April 11), Stateline Speedway (July 11), Evergreen Speedway (Aug. 15), Colorado National Speedway (Aug. 22) and All American Speedway (Oct. 17).

Rhodes and Pursley the champs

The 2014 K&N Pro Series East and K&N Pro Series West seasons concluded with Ben Rhodes and Greg Pursley the respective series’ titlists. Their accomplishments were recognized as part of the NASCAR Touring Series Night of Champions this past Saturday in the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

 NASCAR