NASCAR K&N Pro Series East prepares to take green flag on 2018 season

After winning the championship last season, Harrison Burton will compete part-time this year and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. That means there will be a new champion in NASCAR’s top developmental series in 2018.

Although he won’t be competing for the title this year, Burton will be joined in the race Sunday night by two-time back-to-back K&N Pro Series West champion Todd Gilliland and defending NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion Abraham Calderon.

One driver making her NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut is Hailie Deegan. Deegan will lead a trio of drivers from Bill McAnally Racing in the season opener on Sunday.

Derek Kraus will be embarking on his second year of competition with BMR in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and Cole Rouse who’ll be making his first race with BMR as he returns to the K&N Pro Series, where he competed in the West division in 2016.

Kraus finished third a year ago at New Smyrna. He went on to compete in the West, where he won the rookie title and finished third in the overall championship standings.

Kraus takes the seat vacated by Gilliland while Rouse, a 20-year-old from Fort Smith, Ark. – will be making his first start in the East. He notched four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes while finishing eighth in the championship standings as a rookie in the West in 2016.

Deegan, a member of the NASCAR Next program that spotlights rising stars, is a 16-year-old from Temecula, Calif., that has won multiple championships in off-road racing – where she began racing at the age of 8.

The entry list also includes another NASCAR Next driver Chase Cabre, as well as program alums Ruben Garcia Jr., Tyler Dippel, Brandon McReynolds and Spencer Davis.

Complete Pre-entry List