Las Vegan Beasley gets up to speed in minor NASCAR series

Crew chief Skip Eyler needed time to figure out the correct setups for second-year Rev Racing driver Jay Beasley.

Beasley needed time to figure out how far he could push his No. 42 Toyota in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Neither has it all figured out, but they have made enough progress that Beasley is showing why high expectations followed him into the series when he joined it last year.

The Las Vegan is coming off consecutive top-five finishes; he had two in his K&N rookie season.

“I felt like I needed to step it up this year and focus on what I’m doing, learn more and be more aggressive behind the wheel,” Beasley said. “With the crew chief I have, I’m able to do that.”

Beasley finished 13th in points last season, and though he is only one spot higher this year, how he got there is another story.

The season didn’t begin well, with Beasley finishing no higher than 20th in the first three races. He completed only 49 of 151 laps in the Feb. 15 opener at New Smyrna Beach, Fla., and was three laps off the pace in each of the following two events.

Then came the May 16 race at Newton, Iowa, where Beasley finished 12th overall and seventh among East division drivers for the first of three consecutive official top-10 finishes, including fourth on May 30 at Winston-Salem, N.C., and fifth on June 20 at Hampton, Va.

Beasley, 23, knows what it’s like to drive well consistently, having won the 2013 NASCAR Super Late Model title at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring, but this recent stretch was the first time he had experienced such success at this level.

“Racing out here is tough,” Beasley said. “You go to these tracks, and drivers are already testing there in the Late Model, and you haven’t been in a car in a couple of months. It’s a lot on you. You have to do a lot in a short period of time because you have to make it happen. Every time you hit that track, you’ve got to lay it down. You’ve got to show everyone what’s up. You have to make sure that you don’t waste anyone’s time, money and your own time.”

Two key factors led to this surge.

Eyler initially had difficulty coming up with the correct setups for Beasley, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 205 pounds, at least 50 more pounds than former Rev Racing driver Daniel Suarez, who now is in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Once Eyler better calculated the setups, that gave Beasley a more dynamic car. Beasley had to do his part, of course, coming to realize he didn’t need to be so conservative with how he pushed the car.

“Like really driving the car on the limit to where I’m about to wreck it and knowing it’s going to be OK and my guys can fix the car,” Beasley said. “Skip really helped me out with that, giving me a car that’s competitive, and I know what the car’s going to do, so I don’t have to second-guess the car. He’s really helped me with the confidence and driving the car harder and really building that passion up.”

Now Beasley badly wants to win a race in the Pro Series, with his next chance July 4 at Columbus, Ohio. His long-term goal remains to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Beasley’s next step probably will be the Xfinity Series, perhaps as early as next year, but he said making that leap isn’t on his mind these days.

“I’ve looked ahead to next year, but I’m really, really just focusing on this year,” Beasley said. “That’s how much this season means to me. Once I win, get more top-fives, keep the consistency there, everything will happen.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.