Hasselt, Belgium-native Kumpen exceeded expectations on practice day as the NASCAR XFINITY Series season-opening race weekend got underway at Daytona International Speedway. In the day’s three scheduled practice sessions, Kumpen gained speed in each round finishing 26th, 17th, and seventh, respectively. This speed carried over into qualifying, where he had to qualify in on speed against a stout field where eight cars entered in the event would not make the starting lineup. Rolling off 23rd for his one-lap single-car run, Kumpen shot immediately to sixth-fastest, guaranteeing his spot in the 300-mile event.
Kumpen would start the PowerShares QQQ 300 from the 29th position. He hung back early in the race, drafting with a three-car pack behind the field in an effort to avoid incident. Unfortunately, on Lap 7, the front end of the No. 46 LeasePlan Chevrolet Camaro was struck by debris from a multi-car wreck that happened ahead of Kumpen. The caution flag flew and Kumpen took his Camaro down pit road and to the attention of the Precision Performance Motorsports team. They patched the hole that remarkably had not caused any internal damage, took four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel, and returned to the track.
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