Mooresville, NC (March 13, 2012) – NASCAR’s MacDonald Motorsports will be debuting their NASCAR K&N East Series program March 17, 2012 at Bristol Motor Speedway with two young guns in control.
18 year old, UNC College Student and second generation NASCAR car owner Jenifer MacDonald will be following in her father’s footsteps as she will become a first time K&N Pro Series car owner for the #49 MacDonald Motorsports/ INOX Dodge being driven by Australian karting champion, Scott Saunders. Jenifer is actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the K&N series program and is looking forward to her first year in the series. “I am really excited about our program this year”, said MacDonald. “ It should be a great year with the group of guys that we have on our team.”
Jenifer’s father is former Sprint Cup Series driver, and long time NASCAR Nationwide team owner Randy MacDonald. MacDonald Motorsports will be fielding former 2009 K&N West Series Champion Jason Bowles in their #81 Nationwide Series during the 2012 season.
Rookie Scott Saunders, 23, will be piloting the K&N Pro Series #49, as he begins to take the steps to further his racing career from being a worldwide karting champion to learning the ropes of NASCAR racing. Saunders grew up racing go-karts throughout his native country Australia. The “Aussie” quickly became one of the hottest young racers around as he traveled the world winning major karting events. Saunders was known for sweeping the field as he won the Thailand 24 Hour Endurance Championship at age 16 and the Snap-On Stars of Karting race at New Castle, Indiana in 2008.
This past season, Saunders ran only a handful of Super Late Model races. Scott hopes he can use the limited experience he gained running the late model in 2011 to ease the learning curve to the heavier, full-bodied stock cars of the K&N Pro Series. NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Jason Bowles will also be in the stables at MacDonald Motorsports to assist Scott with his transition to stock cars.
“I am looking forward to this upcoming season in the K&N Series and driving for MacDonald Motorsports”, explained Saunders. “I am looking forward to learning these cars. The K&N Series has some really tough competition, so I am looking forward to learning from some of the best short-track racers in the country.”
Mark Durgin will serve as the crew chief for Saunders this season during the K&N East season. Durgin, is a long time NASCAR veteran, and has plenty of experience under his belt having worked over the past five seasons in the Nationwide Series for Turner Motorsports and Kevin Harvick Incorporated. A true racer himself, Durgin loves working on cars and was a racer himself as he ran in the K&N East Series and ACT Late Model Tour throughout 2003 to 2005.
“I’m really looking forward to this season working with Scott,” explained Durgin. “It has been fun getting to know him over the past few weeks and I can’t wait to get to the first race in Bristol.”
Randy MacDonald is excited to work with young drivers like Scott Saunders and help them advance their careers into the top-tiers of NASCAR. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series has proven to be an excellent stepping-stone into the NASCAR Nationwide or Truck Series in recent years.
“Scott is a great young kid with a lot of potential and we look forward to working with him,” said Randy MacDonald, team owner. “It will be great to start out with Scott in the K&N Pro Series and develop him for the NASCAR Nationwide Series down the road with us. MacDonald Motorsports is looking forward to being involved in the K&N Pro Series and to help develop drivers in their NASCAR careers.”
Be sure to follow Scott Saunders during the season on www.facebook.com/Scott.Saunders.Racing, www.ScottSaundersRacing.com and www.INOX-MX3.com.
Courtesy Tanya Hall
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