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Ben Rhodes celebrates winning the Casey's General Store 150 at the Iowa Speedway

Ben Rhodes won his second race of the season in the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series combination race of the season.

Rhodes led a pack of eight drivers from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in the Casey’s General Store 150 at Iowa Speedway. The race pitted drivers and teams from both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West.

Ben Rhodes leads a pack of eight on his way to his second win this season

The top-eight drivers in the race at Iowa Speedway were from the K&N Pro Series East.

David Mayhew was the top-finishing driver from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and also credited with a win.

Rhodes took the lead from pole winner Brodie Kostecki on lap 36 and led the final 115 laps of the race.

“It just had speed. I don’t know. I think the track really came to us there at the end,” said Rhodes, a 17-year-old junior in high school. “The sun went down and it just came to us. All day long we were struggling with grip, struggling with tires and how slick the track was.”

Ben Rhodes and his Turner Scott Motorsports team celebrating in Victory Lane

Rhodes also won the K&N Pro Series race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina in March.

He extended his lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings to 38 points over Cameron Hayley. Gray Gaulding is third in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings, one point behind Hayley.

Iowa Speedway President, Jimmy Small, with Ben Rhodes

“We had a fast car,” Rhodes said. “It’s hard to say because I don’t know if we had that much a better car or if other people were just struggling. It was close to where I wanted it, but it wasn’t perfect.”

Rookie Nick Drake crossed the finish line in second place. It was the best finish of his K&N Pro Series career. He was third at the K&N Pro Series race at Richmond International Raceway in April.

“I think we’re headed in the right director with the third at Richmond and then coming here and running second,” Drake said. “It was a good night.”

Scott Heckert also posted the best finish of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career in third place. His previous best finish was seventh place at Road Atlanta in Georgia.

“The car was really good,” Heckert said. “I thought we had a chance at the win there. We were fighting with Ben Rhodes and thought maybe we were a little quicker than him. Just burning off a little bit, started to get a little loose at the end. Just rode there and came home with a good finish.”

Mayhew finished ninth overall and won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race in a row. He also won the K&N Pro Series West race at Stockton 99 Speedway in California earlier this month.

“We played it safe,” Mayhew said. “We knew we didn’t have the car to win tonight, but wanted to bring it home in one piece.”

Greg Pursley was 12th overall and the second place driver from the K&N Pro Series West. He has a 12-point lead over Mayhew in the K&N Pro Series West standings. Dylan Lupton is third in the K&N Pro Series West standings, two points behind Mayhew.

The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race is the NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina on May 31. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race is the Armed Forces 150 at Kern County Raceway Park in California on May 24.

Billey Alley driving in a Sprint Car Race

Billy Alley and the Ironwood Motorsports # 3 are poised to ramp up their efforts in 2014 in a big way! With a schedule of around 50 races that include World of Outlaws, Knoxville Raceway, ASCS National and regional events, Nebraska 360 sprint car series, NCRA and other races around the Midwest, the heat is turning up!

And it all started at Eagle Raceway, a local dirt track in Nebraska featuring Sprint Car races every Saturday night. Billy grew up watching all his racing heroes from the grandstands. He started racing go-carts at age 13 and won his sixth time out, then moved up to micro sprints at age 16. In 2001 he won his first Sprint Car Race at age 18 at Eagle Raceway.

Billy is a two time 360 Knoxville Nationals Champion and 360 and 410 Knoxville Points Champion with a whopping 52 career Main Event Sprint Car Wins.

This year is his first full season with a team behind him and they recently announced their partnership with Larry the Cable Guy’s Git-R-Done Foundation, that actively supports children’s and veteran’s organizations. “We will have extra motivation to run up front this year”, stated Billy, “as 50% of all winnings will be donated to the Git-R-Done Foundation!” With some great new cars by Eagle Motorsports, and some new horsepower behind them, they are primed for success.

Billy says he ran K&N air filters since his very first race in a go-cart. “I've always been a clean and neat freak,” continued Billy. “K&N products go hand-in-hand with that. I would always submit my results to K&N and at an Indianapolis trade show, I met some representatives and I became involved in their racer’s support program in 2006.”

“Engines are so expensive in Motorsports” concluded Billy. “It's important to do what ever you can to keep them safe from dirt. But you also want your engine to run at maximum performance. K&N solves both those issues. At maximum air flow there is never dirt in my injection. Plus air filters are easy to work with and maintenance free.”

Jason Patison Racing has run out front this season, so they know their Super Late Model is fast, yet a wicked run of bad luck has plagued them

The inaugural season for the Lucas Oil Modified Series was 2006 and in that first year Corona, California's, Jason Patison notched five wins on his way to wearing the series’ first championship crown. He moved on to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for a couple seasons after that, and then he took time off to focus on his family and his career working as programming director for MAV-TV. Last season Patison returned to the series he helped put on the racing atlas, and after only a few rounds acclimating his racing legs, he found his way back to the front, dominating the featured 75-lap Lucas Oil Modified LoanMart Hot August 75 event at Irwindale Speedway. This season Patison displays even loftier ambitions, he’s armored-up, and clearly appears to be eyeing a second championship run.

Championship driver and MAV-TV programming director, Jason Patison also possesses savvy interview skills

“We have had two races in the Lucas Oil Modified Series, and each race has had at least 40 cars, which makes it the strongest touring series on the west coast,” Patison said. “I'm really encouraged after the first few races of the year. Our car has been fast at every event, we just have had some ‘new car blues’ that we have to work through. We had an oil leak in one event and a shock issue in another.”

The Patison Racing crew qualified 3rd and finished 9th out of the 43 car field in the season opener at Havasu 95 Speedway. Then at the next race at Tucson Speedway Patison and the K&N supported No. 80 qualified 5th and finished 9th. “But we have at least hung on to a top 10 finish at both events,” Patison adds.

Most recently Patison Racing took their Super Late Model out to Irwindale Speedway and it ran extremely fast, but unfortunately the team’s unreasonable run of bad luck followed them there.

“We qualified 1st and led the first five, laps of the main event and then had the engine stop running on lap 6,” said Patison. “We think it was a fuel delivery issue, possibly the fuel pump. Mechanical failures are part of racing, but we have definitely had more than our fair share so far, but I have a great team and I know we will rebound and get the finishes we deserve.”

“Next we head to Las Vegas for round 4 of the Lucas Oil Modified Series, the 75-lap main event is on May 17th. We have a brand new motor we are bringing out for that event, equipped with K&N Filters – it’s going to be fast!”

David Gotts won Super Quick finals in his first ever NMCA West event

The first major event to be held at Fontana Dragway since it reopened this February was the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) West 3rd Annual Street Car Nationals. Marking the occasion in grand form was K&N backed David Gotts. Gotts drove his Camaro to victory in the Super Quick finals and to the quarters in Pro Comp, winning 10 of 11 rounds of racing along the way. It was the Corona, California, resident’s first ever race with NMCA West, as he usually runs Super Street in NHRA Division 7 races, along with various other associations races.

The K&N backed racer says the start of the 2014 season has been his best yet

“At this NMCA race I raced two different categories, Super Quick and Pro Comp, both of these categories run on a different tree,” Gotts explains. “Super Quick is a .500 full tree and Pro Comp is a .400 pro. This was my first time running my car on a .400 pro tree and at 9.90. In NHRA I run on a .500 tree at 10.90, so to win six rounds and win the race in Super Quick was a truly amazing day. But then to go four rounds in Pro Comp in the same day, in the same car, that made it truly special. It was a busy day to say the least, but thanks to K&N Filters and Lucas Oil my ‘67 Camaro handled it with ease.”

“2014 has been an amazing start for me. In our first race out with a new motor combination we went to Arizona for the CarQuest Nationals, and we went all the way to the finals and with a great race in the final round, we came up just a little short. Then going to the NMCA West race in Fontana, which has been a topper – I don’t think I could ask for much more.”

Gotts won 10 of 11 rounds of racing in the first major event at Fontana Dragway since it’s reopening

Officially Gotts has been racing for about eight years. Back in 1995 he attended a couple of the street legal races when they were in Pomona. “And that’s where I got the bug for sure,” he says. “Then I decided to build a real drag car and that took almost 10 years to complete from scratch, with a lot of blood sweat and tears. And I’ve been learning more and more over the years. Before this year I had won a few small bracket races, and I’d go rounds here and there, but this is my best season so far, and the entire time K&N Filters has been there for me.”

“My relationship with K&N Started back in 1994 with I bought a brand new 1995 Camaro, and there weren’t many after-market parts made for it yet. I contacted K&N, and they in turn used my car as their test car to build one of the first Fuel Injection Performance Kits (FIPK). During that process I met and became friends with many of the people at K&N and some of them are still there today. K&N has truly treated me like family for the past 20 years.”

Gotts currently uses K&N's carbon fiber composites hood scoop (100-8517) with carbon fiber hood scoop plugs (100-8519), a high-flow drag racing scoop air filter (28-4210), a Stubstack Air Horn designed to straighten airflow and help even the flow to all four venturies (85-0600), a washable/reusable oil filter (SS-3002), and K&N’s inline fuel/oil filters (81-1002).

“We are super excited to get our home track Auto Club Dragway in Fontana back,” Gotts adds. “We expect it will not only help save all of us tons of driving time and fuel, but with them running almost every weekend, we can now get much more seat time and become better racers. With the reopening of Auto Club Dragway, and the street legal program, I have no doubt we will have less illegal street racing in southern California.”

“Along with K&N and Lucas Oil, I would like to thank all my sponsors for making it possible – Cagles Appliance, Lamb Components, Hoosier Tire West, Meziere Enterprises, PMR Race Cars and Performance Speed and Custom – I would not be here without all your support.”

Giovanni Scelzi celebrating a win on top of his Sprint Car at Jr. Sprints

Giovanni Scelzi is no stranger to the racetrack. His Dad Gary Scelzi was a four time World Champion in the NHRA Drag Racing series where he raced for 11 years. His older brother Dominic started racing go-karts at age 6, then moved up to a faster class when he was 8. Due to a crash, their mother forbid any form of racing unless it included a roll cage and seat belts. So at 6 when Giovanni was able to choose his sport, he chose Jr Sprints. During those NHRA days of his dad’s, the family was on the road and they would attend Outlaw Sprint Car events. “The atmosphere at a Drag Race is a lot like a Sprint Car race”, stated Giovanni. “While growing up watching Sprint Cars, we would go to tracks like Charlotte and Las Vegas, which are very big tracks and these Sprint Cars carry a lot of speed and the sound is unreal. From that moment on I knew I wanted to drive Sprint Cars.”

“By the time I was 8 years old, I had won the championship 2 years in a row and moved up to the Micro Sprints 600cc Yamaha’s” stated Giovanni. “After winning the championship in the restricted class in the first year, I stayed in that class till I was 10. At that time, I moved to the stock 600 class where I won my third race and then moved to the Super 600 class in which I became the youngest to win in that class at 11 years old.”

In fact at 8 years old in the Jr Sprint class, Giovanni won a record 24 races in one season. He was the youngest to win in the stock 600 class at age 10, and at age 11, the youngest to win in the Super 600 class.

Today he continues his racing in an Outlaw Micro Sprint Car. Just last month he captured a signature win at Plaza Park Raceway where he pulled off a last-corner, last-lap pass to secure the outlaw micro sprint victory, which marked his second of the season. "That was a pretty fun one to win," he said. "I stood on top of the wing and saluted the crowd."

“My dad, Gary Scelzi, is a 4 time NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car World Champion” continued Giovanni. He used K&N on his dirt bike in the 70’s when he was just a kid. In 2005, he owned a Ford Focus USAC midget that Michael Faccinto won the national championship with using K&N products. So we have used K&N from the beginning. There is no air filter or oil filter that keeps an engine as clean as K&N. We can use any product on the market but we use K&N and have from day one! Other people have tried to offer us special deals but my dad will not hear of it. He said, ‘we’ve always won with K&N and there’s no reason to change.”