Thursday March 28th, 2024 2:02PM

Spencer Davis earns NASCAR K&N victory at Gateway

By Davey Segal-NASCARHomeTracks.com

MADISON, Ill. — For the first time in 1,181 days, Spencer Davis can call himself a winner in the K&N Pro Series again.

One week removed from leading a career-high 137 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Dawsonville, Georgia native took the lead from Sam Mayer on the final green/white/checkered restart into turn 1 and never looked back in the Monaco Cocktails 125, claiming his first victory since May 30, 2016 at Dominion Raceway.

The ultimate winning move was set up by a caution for Josh Fanopoulos blowing an engine off turn 4. When Davis realized he’d get another shot at the win, he thanked his lucky stars.

“I saw that car blowing up and I’m like ‘someone’s shining down on us trying to get us that win.’,” Davis said. “And when we lined up, I just zoned out, didn’t listen to the spotter or nothing. Like I said in Victory Lane, tried to channel my inner Dale (Earnhardt).”

And that’s exactly what he did.

“Tried to intimidate (Mayer) a little bit coming to the line,” he said. “The only way you can beat him–the only way I think you can beat this car this year is to make the kid make a mistake. Being a veteran of this series, I feel like I’m exceptional at restarts (…) you couldn’t have asked for a better performance right there.”

“I hit my gears better than him and got into (turn) 1 better,” Davis said. “I know he didn’t give it to me, but it felt like it because I drove that thing in there until I saw Jesus, man. It stuck, and I came out the other end leading.”

Derek Kraus earned his second consecutive runner-up finish, with David Gilliland, Mayer and Parker Retzlaff, making his second career series start, rounding out the top five.

Ruben Garcia, Jr., Jagger Jones, Colin Garrett, Hailie Deegan and Todd Souza completed the top 10.

Deegan ran inside the top five for most of the night before spinning after contact with Kraus, which subsequently cut her tire and forced her to spin out.

After leading the first 60 laps from the pole, Chase Cabre was relegated to a 13th-place finish, seven laps down, after he encountered electrical issues during the halfway break.

On lap 1, Max McLaughlin, Garcia Jr. and Tanner Gray were involved in an accident in turn 3. The crash ended McLaughlin’s day and gave the other two drivers damage. Gray wound up slamming the wall with a flat tire and finished the race 52 laps down.

Trevor Huddleston and Brittney Zamora both lost engines during the first half of the race and finished 18th and 19th, respectively.

With his fourth-place result and Cabre’s misfortune, Mayer extends his K&N East championship lead over the Rev Racing driver to 30 points with two races remaining.

With his second-place result, Kraus extends his K&N West championship lead over his teammate, Deegan, to 29 points with four races remaining.

The next K&N Pro Series East event will take place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21. The next K&N Pro Series West event will take place at Meridian Speedway on Saturday, September 28.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East/West
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway – Madison, IL
Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic 125 – August 24, 2019

1. Spencer Davis
2. Derek Kraus
3. David Gilliland
4. Sam Mayer
5. Parker Retzlaff
6. Ruben Garcia, Jr.
7. Jagger Jones
8. Colin Garrett
9. Hailie Deegan
10. Todd Souza
11. Takuma Koga
12. Josh Fanopoulos
13. Chase Cabre
14. Travis Milburn
15. Tanner Gray
16. Brittney Zamora
17. John Wood
18. Trevor Huddleston
19. Max McLaughlin

  • Associated Categories: Sports, NASCAR News, Other Motorsports
  • Associated Tags: nascar, motorsports, Auto Racing, Stock Car, Short Track, Asphalt, K&N Pro East Series, K&N Pro West Series, #GAdrivers
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