2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East

The 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East was the 26th season of the K&N Pro Series East. It began with the Widow Wax 175 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 17, and ended with the Classic 3 Championship at Rockingham Speedway on November 3. Max Gresham entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion.

The 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship came down to the last lap of the season and when the smoke cleared at Rockingham Speedway, rookie Kyle Larson won his first NASCAR title.

Tyler Reddick, 16, earned a victory in the Classic 3 Championship presented by RCR Racing Museum in a wild finish.

Reddick, who was making his series debut, got a run on race leader – and championship contender – Brett Moffitt coming out of Turn 2 toward the checkered flag. Moffitt came up on Reddick, made contact, and went spinning onto the grass. Reddick then came around in the No. 98 Broken Bow Records Dodge to take the yellow and checkered flags.

A sixth-place finish by Larson in the No. 6 Toyota Racing Development Toyota was enough to give him the title by 15 points over Corey LaJoie. It marks the first NASCAR touring championship for Rev Racing and NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity initiative.

LaJoie also finished second to Reddick in Saturday’s race.

The 20-year-old Larson, from Elk Grove, California, also won the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year, joining only Joey Logano and Ryan Truex in the 26-year history of the series to accomplish that feat of earning the championship in their rookie years.

Larson had a pair of victories, recorded a series-high 12 top-10 finishes, led all drivers in laps completed and was running at the end of every event during the 14-race slate.

“I’ve been lucky a lot this year … and just stayed consistent and got the championship,” Larson said. “It feels great. I have to thank the whole Rev Racing team, Toyota and everyone that helps out on this team, and the NASCAR diversity program for giving me this opportunity to run.”