Max McLaughlin and the No. 1 Mohawk Northeast team head to the Gateway city and World Wide Technology Raceway (WWT Raceway) with just three races remaining on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) schedule. Saturday’s 125-lap contest marks McLaughlin’s first start in the shadow of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch at the 1.25-mile oval. He and the No. 1 team led by crew chief Robert Huffman enter WWT Raceway coming off a seventh-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway last Thursday evening and look to extend their string of top-10 finishes to eight races.
“Play Gloria” … McLaughlin made his way to victory lane in the NKNPSE two races ago at Watkins Glen International (WGI) and looks to “Play Gloria” in victory lane with the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues present at WWT Raceway on Saturday. The tenth race on the schedule provides “Mad Max” with another opportunity to earn his first win on an oval and inch closer to the championship point lead. The 19-year old brings an impressive streak of seven straight top-10 finishes to WWT Raceway, which also includes his first-career win on the road course at WGI and has led 143 laps in that time.
Season To Date … Nine of 12 races are complete in McLaughlin’s first full season on asphalt and he has compiled some impressive numbers. He has delivered one victory, two pole awards, four top-10’s, and seven top-10 finishes and is third in the drivers championship point standings with a trio of races remaining.
Chassis Selection … For the first time since June 1st at Memphis International Raceway (MIR), McLaughlin will pilot chassis No. 002 at WWT Raceway. In his last start at MIR, McLaughlin won his first-career pole award and led a race high 86 laps en route to a sixth place finish. Chassis No. 002’s best outings this season were a pair of third-place finishes at South Boston Speedway in May.
Tune In … Live coverage from WWT Raceway can be streamed live on www.FansChoice.tv at 5:35 p.m. ET on Saturday. NBC Sports Network will air tape delayed coverage on Thursday, August 29th at 6:00 p.m. ET. Stay updated on McLaughlin and the No. 1 team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Max McLaughlin Quote:On entering the home stretch and his first start at WWT Raceway:“Gateway looks like a cool racetrack. I’m excited to get there and run this Mohawk Northeast Camry again. We ran really well with this car earlier this year and we’re looking for some more big things this weekend. We’ve run well on the flat tracks this year, like Memphis and South Boston with this car, so hopefully it’ll translate to Gateway on Saturday. We’re still in touch with the points leader, but we’re going to need to make some more gains this weekend to stay in contention for the championship.”
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