Officials from Rette Jones Racing (RJR) announced today the expansion of their NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) program which will include two full-time entries for the 2017 season.
Wallkill, New York native Tyler Dippel, a current member of the 2016-2017 NASCAR Next program will join the team as driver of the No. 28 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford Fusion next season, alongside sophomore driver Dominique Van Wieringen who also will return for a full-time slate in the No. 30 Durobyte Ford Fusion.
Dippel joins RJR after a rookie season on the K&N East tour driving for HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks. After earning an eighth-place finish in his series debut at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway this past February, Dippel won his first K&N event in just his second series start at Mobile International Speedway in March, leading a dominating 124 of the event’s 154 laps. Dippel ended his freshman season third in points with one top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
Motorsports veteran Rich Lushes recently joined the team and will serve as crew chief for Dippel.
“I’m super excited for the opportunity to drive for Rette Jones Racing for the 2017 season,” said Dippel. “I think 2017 will be great joining forces with Mark (Rette), Terry (Jones) and Rich (Lushes). They’re all super smart guys and will bring a stout car to the race track every week.
“I’m really looking forward to being a part of the RJR family and getting ourselves off to a strong start.”
Dippel, 16, will enter his sophomore season following a year of big block modified competition in 2015, where he became the youngest winner in the northeast area, while also earning Rookie of the Year honors in the DIRTcar Northeast Series. Dippel began his racing career at the age of seven, racing slingshot race cars, considered scaled down versions of dirt modifieds.
Dippel made his first full-size stock car start on asphalt in 2014. In 2015, he held the PASS Super Late Model national points lead throughout the season until the season finale, when a mechanical failure ended his race early. Additionally, he made three starts in the ARCA Racing Series, with a career-best of fourth at the tough Salem (Ind.) Speedway in Sept. driving for Lira Motorsports.
“It means so much that I’ll have another opportunity to compete for a championship,” sounded Dippel. “I know there is so much I could do better coming into my second year and with a great team behind me, I’m hungry and have something to prove. I believe that we can win multiple races and go for a championship. I can’t wait to get started.”
For Rette, the growth of his Mooresville, North Carolina-based team approaching their two-year anniversary is everything he’d hoped for and more.
“First, we’re extremely thrilled to have Tyler at Rette Jones Racing for 2017,” Rette said. “I watched him very closely this year and without a doubt he has a lot of natural talent and car control. I’m looking forward to seeing his career blossom with RJR cars underneath him.
“I also think he’ll be a perfect fit as a teammate for Dominique. Both carry a humble demeanor, which I feel will allow us to make our team even better for 2017 both on and off the track. Without a doubt, we feel like both cars can contend for not only wins, but ultimately the championship.”
Dippel is no stranger to teammates and embraces the opportunity to work and learn from Van Wieringen, considered one of the strongest drivers on the tour during the final three-race stretch.
“I’m excited to work with Dominique,” Dippel added. “I think we can both benefit from each other at the race track by talking and bouncing ideas off each other. No matter where we went last year, she had speed and was competitive. I didn’t get a lot of chances to talk to her this season – but I’m looking forward to being on the same team and both of us bring Rette Jones Racing some checkered flags.”
Rette Jones Racing and Dippel will jumpstart their partnership this week at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Indianapolis, where the team’s No. 28 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford Fusion will be on display at the NASCAR booth (401) from this Thursday – Saturday.
For more information on Tyler Dippel, please check out TylerDippel.com, his Facebook page (Tyler Dippel Racing) or on Instagram @tylerdippel.
Dippel tweets too. Follow him @Tyler_Dippel.
RJR PR
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