A week after making his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards debut at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, Rette Jones Racing (RJR) development driver Corey Deuser will make his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut on Saturday, July 2.
Deuser joins rookie sensation Dominique Van Wieringen as a teammate in the No. 29 5.0 Graphics Ford Fusion for Saturday night’s NAPA 150. It is the first of a limited NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule this season for Deuser.
Additionally, Saturday’s race will mark the third time this season where Rette Jones Racing has expanded from a one-car operation to a two-car duo. Jesse Little and Grant Quinlan have piloted the second car in select events with Little earning the team’s best finish this season of third at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway.
“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity,” said Deuser. “Last weekend at Winchester, we had a fast car, just didn’t get the result we were looking for. Hopefully, with the experience the team has at Columbus, both cars can be extremely competitive and we ca give Mark and Terry (Jones, co car owner) the finish they are looking for.”
While a clutch issue wreaked havoc on Deuser’s strong performance in his ARCA debut last Sunday, the 18-year-old is upbeat knowing the type of equipment he’ll be in for Saturday’s night race.
“You could be driving for some of the best teams in the industry and there’s still going to be a significant chance, you’ll eventually have some sort of failure,” he said. “We had some bad luck at Winchester after running really strong early. We fixed it and got back out there to log laps. I’m thankful for that, but I’m also hoping my perseverance and patience will pay off on Saturday night.”
Deuser joins Rette Jones Racing this season after competing in the JEGS / CRA All-Star Tour Series for the past three seasons, including scoring a noteworthy win in 2013 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. Other accolades for Deuser include winning the Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year title and finishing second in series’ points in 2013.
While the young adult doesn’t have a triumph at the 0.333-mile short track, Deuser is extremely optimistic about the way he’ll perform start to finish at Columbus Motor Speedway. After all, he does have prior starts in both the ARCA / CRA Super Series and the CRA JEGS / All-Star Tour races.
“I know Mark and Terry and all the guys on the Rette Jones Racing team would not be bringing two race cars to the track, in case they thought they had a capable chance of winning. Dominique will have a strong car and so will I. Just have to exercise patience and hope it will all work out in the end.
I just need to go out there, do my thing and hope in the end we’ll bring home the best result possible. I’m hoping my experience will pay off. Even though I have some experience at Columbus, I still plan to lean on Dominique for advice. She’s been in these cars a lot longer than I have and her insight will be incredibly valuable to me.”
For car owner and team manager Mark Rette, the opportunity to provide two racers with an opportunity to race on the Fourth of July weekend shows how strong their program is as a whole.
“I have the utmost faith in both Corey and Dominique,” offered Rette. “They both have different racing styles, but they both carry one thing in particular, speed. They both know what they need to do to get the job done and if they can do that on Saturday night, we could end up with a 1-2 finish. That sure would be awesome.”
In addition to 5.0 Graphics, Rette Jones Racing also welcomes Jones Group International, J-AAR Excavating, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, Pro System Brakes and Russo’s Tinting as associate partners for Deuser’s K&N Pro Series East debut.
The NAPA 150 (150 laps / 49.95 miles) is the eighth of 14 races on the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. Practice is set for Saturday, July 2 from 2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., with a final practice etched in from 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 6:30 p.m. The event will take the green flag later that night shortly after 9:00 p.m. (ET). The event will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on Thursday, July 8 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Corey Deuser PR
