Pena Turns Opportunity Into Thrilling K&N Pro Series Win

Posted: September 2, 2015
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Sergio Pena’s no stranger to the winner’s circle in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East, but the difficulties he’s experienced with racing finances over the last six months made Saturday’s trip his most meaningful yet.

“It was a very emotional moment for me,” said Pena, a 22-year-old Winchester resident and James Wood High School graduate. “As I approached the finish line I had tears of joy, because I haven’t been able to race much this year. This is the biggest win of my life.”

Saturday’s victory for Pena came in the Biscuitville 125 at the Virginia International Speedway in Alton. Pena — who did not take the lead until the final lap — won by 0.212 of a second for his fifth career win on the K&N Pro Series East circuit. It was his first K&N Series win since July of 2014, and just his second since 2011.

Last year, Pena won at the Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway as a member of the Revolution Racing team. Saturday’s win came in a Revolution Racing car, but it wasn’t one designed for Pena.

For the second time in three weeks, Pena served as a replacement for Revolution Racing’s Jay Beasley. (Pena — who was not brought back by Revolution Racing after placing 12th in the 16-race series as a member of its team in 2014 — took 10th at the Motordome Speedway in Smithton, Pa., on Aug. 15.)

Pena doesn’t know exactly what’s wrong with Beasley, but he said Beasley hasn’t been cleared to compete because of dizziness. Pena will continue to drive in Beasley’s No. 42 Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota at the K&N Pro Series East Race in Richmond on Sept. 10, and possibly in the series finale on Oct. 2 in Dover, Del.

Pena’s race at Smithton was his second K&N race of the season, but first since Feb. 15 in New Smyrna, Fla. Pena competed that day for Hattori Racing.

Because Hattori no longer has a K&N team (Shigeaki Hattori only asked Pena to compete in that race to earn owner points), Pena said during an interview in February that he didn’t necessarily expect to compete in more K&N races for Hattori, which backed him during the entire 2012 K&N Pro Series East season.

In February, Pena said Hattori did raise the possibility that Pena could compete in some XFINITY or Truck series races though, which had him excited. But a meeting held in late February with Hattori nixed that idea quickly.

“[Racing XFINITY or Truck] was based on how much money I could bring to the deal,” Pena said. “That was zero. You need sponsorship money, and I didn’t have it.”

In February, Pena expressed hope that he could possibly race in the K&N Series on a family-owned team, because some of the people he’s worked with in the past had offered to help Pena in his Mooresville, N.C., garage. But Pena didn’t have the financial means to field his own team either.

Pena moved back to Winchester in February, and since then he’s been enjoying his job as a driving instructor at Summit Point (W.Va.) Motorsports Park. He trains military and government agents to prepare them for high-risk driving situations, and he also gives accident avoidance training for anyone who signs up.

Still, there’s nothing like driving a race car, and Pena jumped at the chance when got the call to return to the K&N Series a few days before the Aug. 15 race in Smithton.

In taking 10th out of 21 entries, Pena performed solidly, but he truly shined on Saturday.

On a restart with three laps to go, Pena sat in fifth place. His decision to not be as aggressive as the leaders paid dividends.

“We were going close to 170 mph, and some people overdrove the corner and locked their brakes up,” Pena said. “I just knew I had to keep my car under control and stick to the inside, and I moved up to third. Then a couple of other people were pushing each other, and I got around Dalton Sargeant to take the lead [on the final lap].”

At that point, it came down to Pena and Kaz Grala. The two cars bumped each other, but Pena’s inside position on Grala helped him hold his lead and earn the win.

Pena said while it meant a great deal to win, he wishes the circumstances could have been different.

“My heart goes out to Jay Beasley,” Pena said. “He deserved to be out there.

“But it means a lot to me that Revolution Racing called me and gave me this opportunity. They could have called anybody to do this, and I’m glad they thought of me.”

Pena said he doesn’t know if Saturday’s win will lead to more racing opportunities, but for now he’s just going to enjoy the moment with one or possibly two upcoming races.

“Richmond and Dover are two of my favorite tracks,” Pena said. “I’m just going to drive hard, and see what happens.”

Saturday’s K&N race will be rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Thursday on NBC Sports Network.

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