Todd Gilliland Breaks Through in K&N Pro Series East for Bill McAnally Racing
- Jul 25, 2017
“I felt like we had the car to win the whole time,” Gilliland said. “I knew we wouldn’t win the race if we went as hard as some of those other guys. I think that’s what really helped it come to us a little bit better. Staying ahead of the cars that we were racing, that was the biggest part, letting the guys that we knew would fall off a little bit worse than us, get out front and tend to burn their tires up a little bit.” Gilliland finally broke through in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. He won the K&N Pro Series East race at Berlin Raceway in Michigan, his first in the East Series after seven starts. Gilliland took the lead on lap 120 of the Stars and Stripes 150 and was out front for the final 30 laps. A crash on the white flag lap led to the race ending under caution. Gilliland had a nearly two-second lead when the crash happened.
“We’ve had really fast race cars on both coasts,” Gilliland said. “We’ve been in position to win and it’s just fallen our way a little bit better on the West Coast. It’s really big to get that first one on the East Coast. The first one of the year is always huge. We’re just going to keep working forward from here.” K&N Pro Series East rookie Chase Purdy won the pole for the race at Berlin Raceway. Tyler Dippel, who started on the front row with Purdy, took the lead on the opening lap and was out front for 15 laps. Hunter Baize passed Dippel for the lead on lap 16 and led for a race-high 104 laps. Baize was collected in the crash on the white flag lap and finished in 11th place.
Harrison Burton, the leader in the K&N Pro Series East standings after seven races, was sixth. His lead was trimmed to 19 points. Gilliland is second in the standings. Purdy is third. “We’re only halfway through the season,” Gilliland said. “We’ve had some bad luck. I think the lucks turned our way.” “I think our whole package has been really fast everywhere we’ve gone,” Gilliland said. | |||
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