Newly crowned NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Jesse Little, wraps up his 2013 season this weekend as the third-generation driver heads to Phoenix International Raceway for the running of the Casino Arizona 50.
The race marks this final K&N event of the year for the division’s Western drivers. Little arrives to Arizona sporting the colors of new sponsor, LYRIC Motion, as he looks to take the company’s foray into NASCAR racing to the top of the leader board.
“We’re excited to have LYRIC Motion on the car this weekend and can’t want to give them an awesome experience of NASCAR racing in the Valley of the Sun,” Little said. “They’re going to be part of our introduction on Saturday night while they announce us as the East Series Rookie of the Year which is a great way to put the spotlight on the company’s first partnership in NASCAR.”
While NASCAR is making tremendous strides in decreasing its impact on the Earth, LYRIC Motion is doing their part providing more mobility with less footprint with their electronic personal transportation vehicles. The LYRIC PTV is powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries and contains enough power to travel up to 25 miles on a single charge at speeds of up to 20 miles/hour.
“They have a great product that really can bring a positive impact to the environment and we’re proud to partner with them to showcase their initiatives in this important endeavor,” Little added.
In order to showcase Little’s new sponsor the team must adapt their Chevrolet to the tricky one-mile oval, as the 16-year old has never raced at the Avondale, AZ facility.
“This weekend will be a challenge as myself, (crew chief) Kris (Bowen) and the guys at Coulter Motorsports will be bringing a K&N car to Phoenix for the first time. They’ve got a good handle on Phoenix and I am confident with what we’re going to unload but qualifying will be a premium with 30 starting positions up for grabs and more than that entered for the race,” Little explained. “We’ve had a solid qualifying program all season and expect it to continue this weekend. With it being a short race (50 laps) we’ll also have to be flexible with the set-up to allow our Impala to be strong when the green flag comes out to start the race.”
Motivation to get back to running in the front of the field after a tough outing to close out the K&N East season will also be a factor, he added.
“We had a great car at Road Atlanta but had some transmission issues that set us back in the finishing order. That broke a solid second-half of the season where we finished nearly all of the races running inside the top-10 at the end of the races so we’re eager to get that type of result this weekend and get back to showing the strength of our team.”
Qualifying for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Casino Arizona 50 is set for Saturday morning with 50 laps of racing set to get underway at 5 p.m. local time.
Another honor for Jesse comes on November 11 as he will be featured in the famed “Faces in the Crowd” section of Sports Illustrated. Copies will be available at newsstands across the country.
Voting is underway for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Most Popular Driver and Jesse is eligible for the award. Fans can log onto hometracks.nascar.com daily to register their vote for him as voting closes in just a few weeks.
Fans can follow Jesse’s progress throughout the weekend by logging onto jesselittle.com and at hometracks.nascar.com
Jesse Little PR
