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HUTCHENS CELEBRATES WINNING SPECIAL AWARD
Second Generation Driver Wins Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Award |
Trey
Hutchens was destined to be involved in racing.
Being the son of one of the most respected team
engineers in NASCAR can have its pluses and minuses,
but the 17 year-old is making a name for himself
just fine in NASCAR’s regional touring series.
Hutchens has added another award to his young resume
– 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR
Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
The second generation driver just completed his
first full season driving a modified and finished a
respectable 11th-place in the standings with a pair
of top-10s in eight starts. He also competed in the
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2015 with two top-10
finishes in six starts.
“We had a good year but obviously we wanted to have
some more top-10 finishes,” Hutchens said. “Driving
a modified for the first time is a pretty steep
learning curve. I was pleased with the progress that
I made this year – especially since I was racing
against a lot of guys who have been doing this 20
years or more.”
On driving both series during the season, Hutchens
is happy for the opportunity but wishes he could
have competed even more.
“Driving styles in a K&N car versus a modified are
night and day,” Hutchens said. “The one thing that I
feel helped me was after having a good run in one
type of car, I was able to carry that over to the
other car.”
One of the more impressive runs Hutchens had this
season came in his second career start in the
modified.
After suffering major damage to his car in a
practice crash prevented him from competing in the
season opener at Caraway Speedway, the second
generation driver rebounded to finish 14th at the
same track two weeks later. He then scored his first
top-10 finish at South Boston Speedway the following
week.
‘We had a part failure at Caraway and that’s
certainly not how we wanted to start our season,”
Hutchens said. “We rebounded and kept learning every
race and kept getting better. I think our top-10
finish at South Boston reinforced to me that I could
compete in this division.”
His father, Bobby Hutchens, has also raced
throughout his career in the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tours. While he
has an established career on and off the track, the
younger Hutchens doesn’t let that put any pressure
on him to perform.
“Having my dad help me is a great benefit and in my
opinion, he’s one of the best there has ever been to
do what he has done on both ends as a driver and
crew chief,” Hutchens said. “While he’s a big help
he’s also my best friend and I really enjoy working
and learning from him.”
For Bobby Hutchens, this year was a special one.
“I’m really proud of Trey and how hard he’s worked
to get better as a race car driver,” Bobby Hutchens
said. “I think we hit on something that fits his
driving style over the final three races of the
season and feel we can carry that over to next year
as well.”
The 17-year old senior at North Davidson High School
isn’t one to brag on himself but he’s also finding
success in the classroom as well as the race track.
He is currently at the top of his senior class and
was recently elected class president.
“Trey comes home and works on his homework for hours
every night and he even puts together all of his own
sponsorship proposals and works to find sponsors to
race,” Bobby Hutchens said. “I’m so happy for all of
his accomplishments.”
The younger Hutchens also plans on following his
dad’s footsteps and attend North Carolina State
University and major in engineering.
“I want to keep racing and work my way up in
NASCAR,” Trey Hutchens said. “I want to learn as
much as I can about the engineering side of racing
which will only make me a better race car driver.”
The teenager is the fourth generation of Hutchens to
be involved in racing as his great grandfather,
Claude, and grandfather, Bud, both owned cars at
historic Bowman Gray Stadium. His dad has currently
works at JTG Daugherty Racing.
“I just want to thank NASCAR and Sunoco for the
Rookie of the Year Award and also Hoosier Tire for
the Most Improved Team of the Race Award,” Trey
Hutchens said. “I’ve been lucky to have a dad who’s
helped me so much and I just want to do a good job
for him.”
Judging by the caliber of person he’s become – those
probably won’t be the only awards Hutchens will win
in his career – on and off the track.
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Source:
Tim Southers /
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Posted:
October 15, 2015 |
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