News Director 
Story By: MARK RETTE / RETTE JONES RACING – GREENVILLE, SC – After nearly an eight-week hiatus, the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series (NKNPSE) resumes action Saturday night at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway for the second race of the year and first of two events held during the month of April.
Race Information: Event: Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150, Saturday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway
Qualifying: Saturday, April 8 at 4:15 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 0.500-mile semi-banked asphalt oval
Fitting In: In December, Rette Jones Racing proudly announced the addition of Tyler Dippel to the team’s lineup.
Dippel, a native of Wallkill, New York transitions to Rette Jones Racing from HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, where the rising phenom scored his first career victory at Mobile (Ala.) International Speedway last March after starting fifth.
Dippel finished his rookie season third in points with one top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
Race Rewind, New Smyrna Speedway: A promising start for Tyler Dippel and Rette Jones Racing in the JET Tools 150 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway ended with a late-race crash as another driver lost control and steered directly into the path of Dippel’s No. 30 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford Fusion leaving the NASCAR Next driver with a 23rd place finish after starting eighth.
Turning Back Time: Last April at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Dippel headed to the race on the heels of his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory at Mobile (Ala.) International Raceway. Although he didn’t have the same success, Dippel qualified seventh and finished eighth maintaining fourth in the championship point standings heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Happy Birthday Guys!: On Wednesday, April 5, Dippel celebrated his 17th birthday with family and friends at home in New York.
Also, it was the second birthday for a member of the Rette Jones Racing team within a week. This past Sunday (April 2), spotter Tyler Monn celebrated his 24th birthday at home in N.C.
Greenville-Pickens Stats: 17-year-old Dippel will make his third career K&N start at Greenville-Pickens Speedway this weekend. In addition to his eighth-place performance last April, he also recorded an 11th-place lead lap finish after starting fourth. The solid finish helped secure his third place finish in the championship standings.
Getting Deep on Dippel: Dippel will enter his sophomore season following a year of big block modified competition in 2015, where he became the youngest winner in the northeast area, while also earning Rookie of the Year honors in the DIRTcar Northeast Series. Dippel began his racing career at the age of seven, racing slingshot race cars, considered scaled down versions of dirt modifieds.
Dippel made his first full-size stock car start on asphalt in 2014. In 2015, he held the PASS Super Late Model national points lead throughout the season until the season finale, when a mechanical failure ended his race early. Additionally, he made three starts in the ARCA Racing Series, with a career-best of fourth at the tough Salem (Ind.) Speedway in Sept. driving for Lira Motorsports.
Meet Tyler: Dippel will meet and greet race fans during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East autograph session on Saturday, Apr. 8 at 6:00 p.m. on the frontstretch at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway.
Sponsorship Lineup: In addition to D and A Concrete Contractor and TYCAR Trenchless Technologies serving as the title marketing partners for the opening round of the season, Rette Jones Racing also welcomes Jones Group International, J-AAR Excavating, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems and Russo’s Tinting as associate partners for the first short track race of 2017.
They join Ford Performance and JRI who join RJR as technical partners this season.
RJR is co-owned by successful entrepreneur and race car driver Terry Jones.
Greenville-Pickens Speedway Fast Fact: Greenville is a half-mile asphalt oval with five degrees banking in the turns. It opened in 1946 with a dirt racing surface and was paved in 1970. It hosted 29 Sprint Cup Series races from 1951-71. It also hosted two NASCAR XFINITY Series, four NASCAR Convertible Series and two NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour events.
Contest Galore: Dippel’s team Rette Jones Racing is holding weekly social media contests to give away NASCAR K&N Pro Series East garage passes to join Dippel and the team on the sidelines.
“Like” the team’s page to find out more and spread the message for multiple chances to win in 2017.
Stay Social With Tyler: For more information on Tyler Dippel, please check out TylerDippel.com, his Facebook page (Tyler Dippel Racing) or on Instagram @tylerdippel.
Dippel tweets too. Follow him @Tyler_Dippel.
Chassis Intel: Mark Rette, crew chief and co-owner of Rette Jones Racing has elected to bring chassis number 001 to the 0.500-mile paved oval this weekend. This Ford Fusion finished third last September at Greenville-Pickens Speedway with Dominique Van Wieringen.
Rette Jones Racing, Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway, Pre-Race Quotes: Tyler Dippel, driver of the No. 30 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford:
On New Smyrna Speedway: “Man, we really had a good No. 30 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford. Mark (Rette, crew chief and owner) did a great job adjusting our car throughout the race and I felt like we were moving forward and getting into our rhythm to challenge for the win before we got taken out. It’s disappointing, but we’ll move on.”
On Greenville-Pickens Speedway: “You know the track has changed a little bit since the last time we’ve been there. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on how the race will playout. No matter what though, I think passing is still going to be premium and I’m excited to get there knowing the team is bringing a very fast race car. A win would certainly be a great bounce back from New Smyrna.”
On Group Qualifying At Greenville-Pickens: “It was a little different at New Smyrna compared to what we did in the past, but in the long run – I think it’s going to benefit me. If I have a bad lap, thanks to this group qualifying I’m going to have a chance to recover. I think I need to see how it plays out the next couple of races, but so far so good.”
On His Relationship With Rette Jones Racing: “It’s going really well. I really enjoy talking with the guys at the track and even at the shop when I get to spend some time there. Mark (Rette) and I are really building a bond both as a driver-crew chief, but as a friend too. He wants to win just as bad as I do. We both won’t be happy until that happens.”
Rette Jones Racing, Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway, Pre-Race Quotes: Mark Rette, crew chief, co-owner and mentor of the No. 30 D and A Concrete Contractor / TYCAR Trenchless Technologies Ford:
On New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway: “I couldn’t ask anything more from Tyler in our first race together. We were really fast in practice, qualified strong and we were pacing ourselves for the finish when we got taken out. There was nothing we could do about. It stinks. The race was a true indicator that our finish wasn’t reflective of our performance.”
On Greenville-Pickens Speedway: “You know I’m really looking forward to going back to Greenville-Pickens Speedway this weekend. We were super fast last year, just ran out of laps. The track has changed since we’ve been there last, but I think we’re going to be in good shape and Tyler can contend for the win!”
