Colorado National Speedway Regular Takes the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Race Win
- Jul 31, 2014
Chris Eggleston doesn’t have much experience in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. But he has plenty of laps at Colorado National Speedway, site of the NAPA Auto Parts/Toyota 150. Eggleston led a race-high 107 laps and won the race at Colorado National Speedway in only his second K&N Pro Series West career. But he has won 12 NASCAR Late Model races at Colorado National Speedway and was the champion in the Legends division at the track last year.
“It’s awesome,” Eggleston said. “What better way to go off with a bang -- with a win here at Colorado National Speedway.” Eggleston’s car won its second K&N Pro Series West race. Patrick Strapoli drove the same Bill McAnally Racing car to victory at Irwindale Speedway. “The whole Bill McAnally Racing team gave me a great car for tonight’s 150,” Eggleston said. “It was just stellar. We struggled a little bit in practice on the short runs, but I tell you what, this car was just phenomenal on the long runs.” Eggleston became the third driver to win his first K&N Pro Series West race this year. Strapoli was a first-time winner at Irwindale. James Bickford won his first K&N Pro Series West race at State Line Speedway in Idaho earlier in July. Eggleston won the race by .434 seconds over Dylan Lupton.
“I got a little nervous there at the end,” Eggleston said. “We started using that right rear pretty bad. But we had just enough to beat the Sunrise Ford teams.” Lupton, driving one of the Sunrise Ford cars, posted his fifth top-five finish and second runner-up finish of the season.
“It was a great race,” Lupton said. “On restarts, we passed cars one by one and ended up getting into second place on that last restart. We just didn't have enough to get first. ... I’m getting kind of frustrated with these second places, which sounds ridiculous. But these Sunrise Ford guys are giving me great race cars every week. So the win will come." Bickford crossed the finish line in third place. The rookie driver has three top-five finishes in eight K&N Pro Series West races. “I was just trying to bounce back from a sixth-place qualifying,” Bickford said. “As the race went on and people wore out their cars, we moved up.” David Mayhew won the pole and was the early leader in the race. He wrecked on lap 81 and ended up in 14th place. Eggleston took the lead from Greg Pursley on lap 41 and swapped the top spot with Pursley and Lupton until lap 141. Eggleston led the last nine laps of the race for the win. “No other win came close to that championship as this win tonight,” Eggleston said. “Just a perfect night.” Eggleston used a bit of local knowledge to avoid any mishaps on the track. He took the outside line on restarts and it kept him out of trouble. “I’m going to say that’s probably where the hometown advantage came into play,” Eggleston said. “I usually know how this track races as it progresses. I was surprised he chose the bottom. The bottom is definitely pretty good on where you want to qualify and such. But it just eats up your tires so bad in (Turns) 1 and 2. Especially getting off 2 with how rough and bumpy it is. “So I knew when he gave me the outside, we could roll the top pretty good and conserve our tires pretty good. We were better on the bottom in (Turns) 3 and 4. I moved around a little bit to try to find the right speed.” Pursley was fourth in the race, followed by Brandon McReynolds in fifth. Pursley leads the K&N Pro Series West standings by 25 points over Lupton after eight races. The next K&N Pro Series West race is the Autolite Iridium XP 150 at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1. |
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