SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — After getting caught up in a multi-car accident last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which resulted in a trip to the local hospital in Concord from the track’s infield care center for further evaluation, what better medicine for a battered-and-bruised racer coming back from a grinding wreck than recording a solid top-10 finish in his next start?

That’s exactly what 17-year-old Dylan Presnell did Friday at Dover International Speedway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East American Real TV 150, chauffeuring the Amtrol/AmericanMountainRentals.com/No. 26 Toyota Camry to a ninth-place finish after running high as fifth in the event for his second top-10 finish in 2012.

With the K&N Pro Series East in action at the “Monster Mile” over the weekend with both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series, Presnell was 12th-quickest during practice on Thursday afternoon. But following overnight rain and additional precipitation Friday morning which delayed qualifying, Presnell fought a loose condition and wound up 20th out of 28 cars in time trials.

“We kind of dug us somewhat of a hole with our 20th-place qualifying effort, because you just hate to give up track positions in the starting lineup,” said Presnell on Sunday back at his SmokyMountains home in East Tennessee. “But after the way we’d practiced, I knew we had a good car and if I used my head and avoided trouble we’d be able to move into the top 10 pretty quickly during the race.”

With rubber laid on the track from practice washed away by rain, at start of the 150-lap event Presnell was being somewhat cautious as he began picking cars off patiently one-by-one, moving into 15th by lap 20. The first caution waved on lap 27 when Chase Elliott had a tire blow (racing) off the fourth turn, resulting in contact with the outside wall and damage to the right-front of the car which scattered pieces of a broken rotor along the front straightaway. Running 12th at the time, Presnell and others attempted to dodge the broken pieces, but due to cars around him Presnell ran over debris which led to concerns of possible suspension damage under the car.

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