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Kyle Benjamin won the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of his career at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee in 2015.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver Kyle Benjamin and his team are considering changing their course after the first five races. Benjamin leads the K&N Pro Series East standings after a fourth-place finish at Virginia International Raceway on April 30. When the season started, the race at Virginia was not on Benjamin’s schedule. His team, Ranier Racing with MDM, scheduled seven K&N Pro Series East and seven ARCA Series races for Benjamin.

Kyle Benjamin won the pole and was the runner-up at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in March.

Even though Benjamin has yet to win a race, he is the leader for the K&N Pro Series East championship. He has four top-five and two runner-up finishes. His latest race on the road course in Virginia proved that he can post impressive results off the ovals. Now his team has a tough decision to make: Keep racing toward the K&N Pro Series East championship or focus on winning races in the ARCA Series.

“He’s a phenomenal little driver,” said Lorin Ranier, the team owner. “He’s very experienced. He’s been racing at a high level in late models since he was about 14 and winning races. At 18 now, he’s a very experienced young driver with a couple of ARCA wins. He’s got one K&N win and obviously a lot of good finishes. It’s a real good race team, a championship group.”

Benjamin won his first K&N Pro Series East race in 2015 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. When Benjamin returned to Bristol in April, he was the runner-up to Chad Finchum. More importantly, Benjamin had the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings by three points over Justin Haley.

Kyle Benjamin, in front row second from left, is one of 11 drivers recently selected to the NASCAR Next class.

“We had a real fast car. We were beat all day by Chad Finchum. He had a really strong car. He just had us beat,” said Benjamin, one of 11 drivers recently selected to the NASCAR Next class. “It is one of the coolest tracks on the schedule. It’s just a really big deal to win that race. I really wanted to get that win again. If you can win twice at Bristol it means a lot.”

Kyle Benjamin won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015. He started eighth and took the lead on lap 45 in the PittLite 125.

The drivers in the NASCAR Next class are considered to be the future stars of NASCAR and stock car racing. They are selected by industry executives, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Drivers Council, and media.

After Bristol, the team was preparing for its next ARCA series race. The plan was to skip the K&N Pro Series East race at Virginia. Two days before the race, the team changed its mind. Ranier leased a car and took it to Virginia International Raceway. With no practice and little track time, Benjamin qualified seventh, finished fourth, and fell into a tie with Haley for the lead in the K&N Pro Series East standings.

“You have an opportunity to go for it,” Ranier said. “That’s kind of where we are. Don’t want to give up the ARCA schedule. We have to weigh our options.”

Winning a K&N Pro Series East race would make Ranier’s decision a little easier. His team’s budget only afforded 14 races split between the K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Series. Winning a race would increase the team’s budget. Benjamin said his team’s confidence is high, but winning that first race has been elusive.

Kyle Benjamin raises the trophy after winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee in 2015. He led 81 laps, the most of any driver in the race.

Winning a K&N Pro Series East race would make Ranier’s decision a little easier. His team’s budget only afforded 14 races split between the K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Series. Winning a race would increase the team’s budget. Benjamin said his team’s confidence is high, but winning that first race has been elusive.

The next race in the K&N Pro Series East at Dominion Raceway in Virginia later this month will be pivotal in Benjamin’s future. If he wins, the chances of Benjamin continuing his pursuit of the championship will improve greatly. If he still has the lead in the standings, his team might add some more K&N Pro Series East races to his schedule. Regardless, racing in the K&N Pro Series East is preparing Benjamin for the next level in NASCAR.

“I’m really glad to pick the K&N series to race in,” Benjamin said. “It’s really stout. The competition is stout. There are a lot of good drivers, a lot of good teams. The field has a lot of depth. It’s really difficult to win. Each race it takes a lot. It’s such a strong effort. I know how strong the K&N series is.”

Jesse Iwuji, a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy, races the No. 36 List Group Chevrolet in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

Jesse Iwuji is a relative newcomer to NASCAR. He has only been driving competitively in late models and with the K&N Pro Series for the past two years. He only has five K&N Pro Series West races under his belt. But he has aspirations of racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and one day in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That day may still come. But for now, the 28-year-old driver from Texas is playing a big role in one of NASCAR’s biggest races.

Jesse Iwuji has started five NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races. He was 14th in the race at Kern County Raceway Park in April.

Iwuji, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, will host a military family at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600, dubbed the 600 Miles of Remembrance, at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. He will take the family on tours at the race track and be a NASCAR ambassador through the practices, qualifying, and races. Iwuji is part of NASCAR’s An American Salute program. During the NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, teams, drivers, fans and track partners will honor members of the US Armed Forces, veterans and their families. It is a two-part program to pay special tribute to fallen service members. The second part of the program will take place during the NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway over the Fourth of July weekend.

“They feel I can relate to some people,” Iwuji said. “That’s why they want me to be the guest host for the big group of people they bring in that weekend.”

Iwuji will also be handling a branch of social media for NASCAR during the race weekend, relaying his experience with fans. “I will be all over the place,” he said. “Basically, wherever they want me to be, wherever they want me to take the families, that’s where I will be.”

Iwuji took a unique path to NASCAR. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before starting his racing career. It wasn’t until he graduated from the Naval Academy that he started pursuing a career as a professional race car driver. He was a safety on the football team and ran on the track and field team at Annapolis. When he graduated, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer with two tours in the Middle East.

On his leave from tours, he started racing dragsters. He bought a Dodge Challenger for drag racing when he lived in Maryland, but that didn’t last long. He moved to San Diego for Mine Countermeasures training shortly thereafter, before being deployed to Bahrain with the Mine Countermeasures Tour Exultant in 2010. When he returned, he decided to test his driving skills at the Mojave Mile. He drove a car 200 mph on the desert track in California, becoming one of a select few to accomplish the feat. He moved to Monterey, Calif., and was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School in Student Services.  There he joined a NASCAR team and began working toward becoming a professional race car driver.

Jesse Iwuji will host a military family at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend. Iwuji is a lieutenant in the US Navy and has been racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West for the past two years.

“I have already done my four years of sea duty, so now I am on my shore duty tour,” Iwuji said. “That’s what has given me all this latitude, all this freedom to be able to race. I don’t have to worry about going out to sea for a few weeks and coming back. That gave me a lot more freedom to actually go out and go racing.”

In addition to racing in the K&N Pro Series West, Iwuji is racing late models at Meridian Speedway near Boise, Idaho. He is racing Outlaws, Street Stocks, and Modifieds on dirt tracks. He said his goal this year is to gain as much experience as he can in as many different types of race cars that he can.

“I want to get to the point where whatever car I jump into,” Iwuji said, “I can maximize the capability of that car to its fullest potential.”

He has raced at Irwindale Speedway in California in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series. He earned his license to drive in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in 2015. He made his debut in the K&N Pro Series West at Evergreen Speedway in Washington that same year. He has started five NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races and is coming off his best career finish, 10th place at the Orange Show Speedway, in San Bernardino, Calif. In the K&N Pro Series West race at Tucson Speedway in Arizona on May 7, driving the No. 36 Red List Group Chevrolet, owned by Kevin McCarty, he was 15th. His previous best finish came in the K&N Pro Series West race at Kern County Raceway Park, in April, where he came in 14th.

Jesse Iwuji, a driver in the K&N Pro Series West, will be part of NASCAR’s American Salute program at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend.

Iwuji said he knows he has a lot to learn about racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. The drivers he is racing against have much more experience. They are more familiar with the tracks and some have been racing since they were 6 years old. Iwuji sets personal goals every race. He is not so interested in winning races as he is in improving every time he is on the race track.

“My goal is I need to race against myself, and not always be worried about everybody else,” Iwuji said. “They are going to be fast. They’ve been there, they’ve done that. They have a ton of experience.”

Iwuji added that he is more concerned with learning the new race tracks on the K&N Pro Series West schedule. He is also focusing on how to prepare his car for each track and what he can learn when he returns to each track.

“It’s been a good learning experience, let’s put it that way,” Iwuji said. “It takes a little while to get up to speed on that.”

K&N sponsored lawnmower racer Ken Jones.

I would guess that after mowing your lawn on a nice weekend afternoon you sit down on the couch with a nice tall drink of lemonade and watch motorsports events on television. Ever wonder if you could be a competitor in a motorsports contest? Well, you ride a lawnmower, don’t you? That’s right! If you can ride a lawnmower, then you can compete in lawnmower racing.

K&N sponsored lawnmower racer Ken Jones.

The sport has actually been around since 1973 when the British Lawnmower Racing Association was created. The British group was serious about it and even had a 12-hour lawnmower-racing event back in the day.

In 1992 the executives of Gold Eagle Company, makers of STA-BIL, a fuel stabilizer product that is used in lawnmowers, heard about the British endeavor and thought it would be a good idea to create the United States Lawnmower Racing Association (USLMRA).

With tongue in cheek, the association was introduced in an announcement on April Fools’ day in 1992. Gold Eagle appointed its public relations and event and marketing manager Bruce Kaufman to be president of the organization.

“We said that if we are going to do this, than we are going to do it right,” explained Kaufman, who still serves as president of the organization.  “So we decided to have the first ever national championship race for lawnmowers and we decided to be serious about it and create rules, offer insurance to venues who held events, and set up safety guidelines.”

So the USLMRA was founded as the sanctioning body for lawnmower racing in the United States. The association started with one race a year. The race received a lot of media coverage from such well-known companies as CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and famed radio personality Paul Harvey. Recently, the guys from the famous YouTube Channel, Dude Perfect, came by and competed in their own race. The guys took on pun filled monikers like Mowhammad Ali, The Turfanator, Mr. Mowjangles, Ace of Blades, Weedy Gonzalez, the Lawn Ranger, Mowdacious, and Sodfather.

“We started getting calls from fairs, festivals, and venues who wanted to present a race,” said Kaufman, “and it grew from there.”

Since then races have been broadcasted on ESPN2, Fox Sports One, TNN, Speed Vision, and on local cable stations. Through the years the number of races a year has ballooned to a couple hundred, said Kaufman.

Regular people who happen to cut their lawns with a riding lawnmower were attracted to the concept.  “It provided a sense of adventure and it was affordable,” said Kaufman.

Kaufman noted that people who used to compete in motorsports events like micro and sprint, motorcycle, ATV, auto, and other types of racing have come out of retirement to give it one more go, racing lawnmowers.

“They wanted to get back into motorsports, but they didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Lawnmower racing is the most affordable motorsport there is,” Kaufman noted.

Kaufman also claimed that younger people about 10 to 12 years old are attracted. “They are kids who never raced before. Now they’re racing with their dad and grandpa,” he said.

There are 10 different classes of racing in the USLMRA’s rules. According to Kaufman, the classes run the gambit from mild to wild.  Competitors can race their stock lawnmower in the first few classes. The association allows the mowers to be modified and as a mower grows in sophistication it goes on to the next class right on up to the final class that has the most souped up mowers.  Racers must prove to the association that they will be able to handle their mowers safely as they go into the next class.  The association sets caps on how sophisticated modifications on a lawnmower can be. Moreover, they have very thorough technical inspections at every race to ensure the competitors race within the rules.

There are three categories of races –- State and National Series, which goes around the country and has the top racers; Mobile Chapters, which are races that are performed within a region of the country; and Affiliated Clubs, which are races presented at local or home tracks.

The association offers a turnkey program for venues that want to present an event. “Venues contact us and then we set up everything from the marketing and promotion to the race itself. The venue doesn’t get involved. All they do is present the race, explained Kaufman.

He pointed out that lawnmower races have been held in some of the most legendary tracks in the country including the Charlotte and Atlanta Motor Speedways. Races have taken place in speedway motor properties as well as state parks, added Kaufman.

K&N Engineering has been a sponsor of the USLMRA for about 10 years. In fact, K&N sponsored a racer named Ken Jones before it sponsored the association.

“When we started K&N was sponsoring Ken Jones out of Braceville, Illinois. In fact, they still are to this day. So about 10 years ago we asked K&N to sponsor the association. We have a great relationship with them and they hang K&N banners at all our races,” said Kaufman.

Kaufman noted that he is “mow-tivated” about next year’s events. “In 2017 we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary and we have a lot of special plans, one of which involves the British Lawnmower Racing Association,” he said.

“In the long term I think the future looks bright as long as we keep things safe and affordable,” he concluded.

The Rose Racing team built a 1972 Plymouth Duster dragster to race in the Stock Eliminator division.

Matt Rose won the Super Comp Shootout in his 2006 Undercover dragster, backed by K&N Filters, at the National Open at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. He had to overcome a faulty water pump that caused his car to overheat before the final. After a quick repair, Rose drove his K&N Filters dragster to the shootout championship.

The Rose Racing team took its new 1972 Plymouth Duster to Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, for the 2016 National Open.

“The water pump wasn’t working,” said Matt Rose, who drives one of three cars for the Rose Racing team, which uses K&N air and oil filters in its cars. “The car was overheating. We got that problem fixed. Thankfully, our competitor waited for me. It was nice of him to do that for the finals. I got a better light than the other guy.”

Matt won his first two rounds when his opponents crossed the starting line too soon and were eliminated for red light violations. Matt won his third-round race and advanced to the semifinals. He won his semifinal race despite having a slower reaction time. His car started overheating after the semifinal race and his team worked furiously to fix the problem. A wire was severed on the water pump. His team had to fuse the wire back together for the water pump to work properly. It took about 30 minutes to repair the pump and it cost Matt lane choice for the final race.

“He asked if he waited for me if I would give him lane of choice,” Matt Rose said. “I said yeah, absolutely, take the lane you want. That’s drag racing. Most people out here are pretty good folks. It was just one of those races where we both thought the other guy was holding up and let the other guy take the finish line and I just ended up taking it. Fortunately both of us were a little slow. It worked out to my advantage.

After winning the Super Comp Shootout final he lost in the first round of the National Open eliminations the following day. He said winning the shootout was a great way to build confidence. “I know what I got to do when I get out there,” he said. “The other guy is going to have to be that much better to beat me. I have a good feeling. At the same time, I don’t want to be overconfident either.”

Chuck Rose drove the team’s new 1972 Plymouth Duster in the Stock Eliminator division at the National Open portion of the event. He made two test runs and qualified the new car 27 out of 50 cars that were entered in the event. Chuck lost his first-round race in eliminations.

Chuck Rose drives the Rose Racing 1972 Plymouth Duster in the Stock Eliminator races. He lost in the first round at the National Open at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.

“I was getting faster every pass,” Chuck Rose said. “It was a pleasure to drive. First time out it went straight down the track. In the first round I made a mistake. I was ahead and I let up. I had a better reaction time than him too. I thought I was far enough ahead but I wasn’t.”

Chuck sold his 1971 Dodge Challenger that he raced in the Super Gas division. He said the new car is easier to maintain and easier for him to drive in competition. The team returned to Heartland Park in Topeka for the Kansas Nationals, an NHRA sanctioned event, from May 20-22.

“My expectation is to win whole thing,” Matt Rose said. “At the same time I am going to go out there and race my race and do the best I can. A lot of things are out of our control to some degree when it comes to that. It’s nice to win our first race of the year. It gives us a lot of confidence going into the season.”

Matt Rose said having the K&N products in his cars are great. The oil and air filters are critical components, especially in super class racing. The filters offer stability when preparing the cars for races. “It’s one less thing we have to worry about, having quality products likes that,” he said.

The K&N Performance Intake Kit installs easily to the inner fender of 2011 – 2014 V6-powered Dodge Charger, Challenger, and Chrysler 300C.

Most enthusiasts say that the 3.6 Pentastar V6 is, in every way, shape, and form, an improvement over the 3.5 V6 that it replaced. It delivers improved horsepower and torque as well as improved fuel economy over its predecessor. While impressive when introduced, horsepower of the V8 powered Dodges and Chrysler had climbed faster than a hot IPO, leaving the sixes in the dust. Some ground can be made up with a supercharger kit, but that's an outlay that runs to the thousands. Instead, you can improve the horsepower of your Pentastar V6 with a K&N 57-1564 Performance Intake Kit.

Adding power to your 2011 – 2014 Pentastar V6 can be accomplished in 90 minutes or less with just a few basic hand tools

The Pentastar is an all-new design, owing nothing to previous engines. It features chain-driven double-overhead camshafts (DOHC) and a high-pressure die-cast aluminum cylinder block in a 60-degree configuration. Cylinder heads are designed with optimized vale angles and high-flow intake and exhaust ports. In fact, the exhaust manifold is cast as part of the cylinder head. This design, combined with dual independent cam phasing, increases volumetric and combustion efficiency over the full speed and load range, without the need for premium fuel.

Despite all this optimization in the factory, there's still an opportunity to make a simple change that will increase horsepower, particularly in the intake system. A K&N intake is designed to dramatically reduce intake restriction as it straightens air flow. This allows your Pentastar engine to inhale a larger amount of air than the factory air filter assembly. More air means more usable power and acceleration throughout the engine's RPM range.

And K&N has the data to back-up this claim. In dyno testing of a Stock 2011 Dodge Charger 3.6L V6 the replacement of the original equipment filter and intake with a K&N FIPK air intake system, part number 57-1564, yielded an estimated gain of 8.09 horsepower at 5231 rpm and 8.13 ft-lb of torque also at 5231 rpm.

The 57-1564 air intake comes with a chrome topped K&N high-flow air filter and a heat shield that mounts onto the inner fender. This allows cooler, denser air outside air to be directed through a custom molded intake tube into the engine's throttle body for a guaranteed power gain. This air intake is relatively easy to install requiring only a few common hand tools.

The 57-1564 Intake System is guaranteed to increase horsepower on your 2011 – 2014 V6-powered Dodge Charger, Challenger, and Chrysler 300C.

K&N makes its air filters from several plies of oiled cotton filter media, rather than air flow-limiting paper used in many OEM and replacement filters. The oiled cotton construction not only increases air flow but also provides excellent filtration to ensure your Dodge's or Chrysler's long engine life. This has been established by K&N's in-house ISO 5011 filtration efficiency testing, which follows procedures set down by the International Standard Organization, ensuring that K&N replacement air filters provide excellent airflow without damaging engine wear.

The only maintenance required for a K&N air filter you can do yourself. When you hit intervals of 100,000 miles, under normal highway driving conditions, using a K&N Air Filter Cleaning Kit you can easily clean and re-oil your air filter, which brings it back to like-new performance. Your K&N Performance Intake System is designed to last for the life of your vehicle, which K&N guarantees will perform for up to 10 years or 1,000,000 miles without requiring replacement. For full details visit the K&N 10-Year/Million Mile Limited Warranty.

You can order the filter simply by clicking on the part number 57-1564 as well as order the Air Filter Cleaning Kit 99-5050.

To find additional K&N upgrades for cars, pickups, scooters, motorcycles, motorhomes, ATVs, or almost anything with an engine, use the K&N Search by Vehicle tool. To find an authorized K&N dealer nearby just use the K&N Dealer Search.

The K&N 57-1564 air intake system fits the following vehicles:
2014 Dodge Charger 3.6L V6
2014 Dodge Challenger 3.6L V6
2014 Chrysler 300C 3.6L V6
2014 Chrysler 300 3.6L V6
2013 Dodge Charger 3.6L V6
2013 Dodge Challenger 3.6L V6
2013 Chrysler 300 3.6L V6
2012 Dodge Charger 3.6L V6
2012 Dodge Challenger 3.6L V6
2012 Chrysler 300 3.6L V6
2011 Dodge Charger 3.6L V6
2011 Dodge Challenger 3.6L V6
2011 Chrysler 300 3.6L V6

You can view all the air intakes that K&N makes for these vehicels at the Air Intake Systems for the Dodge Charger, Air Intake Systems for the Dodge Challenger and Air Intake Systems for the Chrysler 300 pages. You can also view all the air filters that K&N makes for thse vehicles at the Air Filters for the Dodge Charger, Air Filters for the Dodge Challenger and Air Filters for the Chrysler 300 pages. You can view all the K&N performance products for any vehicle by using the Search by Vehicle tool and you can find a local K&N retailer by plugging your location into the K&N Dealer Searchas well.