Todd Gilliland only had one true challenge. And even that went away quickly.
The 17 year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, had a dominant run in Friday’s Casey’s General Stores 150 at Iowa Speedway, leading all but the first two laps of the 150-lap race.
It was his second consecutive win in the event, an annual combination race with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West. The NASCAR Next driver has seven wins between the two series this season.
The victory allowed Gilliland to pad his K&N Pro Series West lead while closing the gap on Harrison Burton in the East.
“This was a big win for us,” Gilliland said.
Gilliland, driving the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, was fast all day — he had the best lap in the first practice session, and was second-fastest in the second run.
Gilliland, though, started fourth after qualifying, but took the lead from polesitter and Bill McAnally Racing teammate Derek Kraus on the third lap and never lost it other than a brief moment to Ben Kennedy late in the race.
Kennedy, 25, from Daytona Beach, Florida, provided the biggest threat, actually getting around Gilliland with 34 laps left, but Gilliland was able to get the lead back before the start-finish line.
Gilliland then survived two caution flags, pulling away on the final restart.
“Those late-race restarts are always nerve-wracking,” Gilliland said.
Kennedy had mechanical issues after a red flag was thrown with 10 laps left to set the lineup during the final caution. He couldn’t get the car refired, and once he got going was moved to the end of the lead-lap cars for not maintaining pace.
Chase Purdy, who started 11th, roared to a second place finish. Chris Eggleston, who started on the outside of the front row, finished third.
“He was obviously the class of the field,” said Eggleston of Gilliland, his teammate at Bill McAnally Racing.
“Everybody was chasing him,” Purdy said.
It was the fourth consecutive win at Iowa Speedway for Bill McAnally Racing.
Burton finished fourth, while Chase Cabre was fifth.
Michael Self, Kennedy, Will Rodgers, Ronnie Bassett and Jesse Little rounded out the top 10.
With his win, Gilliland now holds an 18 point lead over Eggleston in the K&N Pro Series West standings and trails Burton by only six points in the K&N Pro Series East.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will compete next weekend in the Finger Lakes Wine Country 100 at Watkins Glen International, while the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West returns to action in the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Evergreen Speedway at Monroe, Washington, Saturday, Aug. 12.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East/West
Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa
Casey’s General Stores 150 – July 28, 2017
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 16 | Todd Gilliland | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 150 | 48 | 5 | Running | |
| 2 | 11 | 17 | Chase Purdy * | Bama Buggies/Textron Off Road Toyota | 150 | 42 | Running | ||
| 3 | 2 | 99 | Chris Eggleston | NAPA Filters Toyota | 150 | 41 | Running | ||
| 4 | 9 | 12 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Toyota | 150 | 40 | Running | ||
| 5 | 8 | 4 | Chase Cabre * | Max Siegel Inc. Toyota | 150 | 39 | Running | ||
| 6 | 14 | 9 | Micahel Self | Sinclair Lubricants/Sunrise Ford | 150 | 38 | Running | ||
| 7 | 5 | 1 | Ben Kennedy | Menards Toyota | 150 | 38 | 1 | Running | |
| 8 | 18 | 27 | Will Rodgers * | Solvang Brewing Company Ford | 150 | 36 | Running | ||
| 9 | 12 | 04 | Ronnie Bassett | Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet | 150 | 35 | Running | ||
| 10 | 10 | 01 | Jesse Little | Yazaki/Toyota College Toyota | 150 | 34 | Running | ||
| 11 | 1 | 19 | Derek Kraus * | Central Iowa Architectural/Carlyle Tools Toyota | 150 | 34 | 1 | Running | |
| 12 | 3 | 6 | Ruben Garcia, Jr | UTI/NTI Toyota | 150 | 32 | Running | ||
| 13 | 7 | 30 | Tyler Dippel | Tycar Ford | 150 | 31 | Running | ||
| 14 | 6 | 2 | Collin Cabre | UTI/NTI Toyota | 150 | 30 | Running | ||
| 15 | 20 | 66 | Reid Wilson * | Tru North Warranty Chevrolet | 150 | 29 | Running | ||
| 16 | 21 | 42 | Jay Beasley | Castle Power Toyota | 150 | 28 | Running | ||
| 17 | 29 | 22 | Julia Landauer | Sunrise Ford/Eibach Springs/Braille Batteries Ford | 149 | 27 | Running | ||
| 18 | 23 | 3 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Racing Toyota | 149 | 26 | Running | ||
| 19 | 25 | 10 | Matt Levin | Port of Tucson Chevrolet | 149 | 25 | Running | ||
| 20 | 13 | 44 | Dillon Bassett | Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet | 149 | 24 | Running | ||
| 21 | 24 | 21 | Blaine Perkins | Four Star Fruit Chevrolet | 149 | 23 | Running | ||
| 22 | 16 | 13 | Jeff Green | Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 149 | 22 | Running | ||
| 23 | 27 | 40 | Ron Norman | Port of Tucson Chevrolet | 148 | 21 | Running | ||
| 24 | 31 | 39 | Stafford Smith | Stoney’s Rockin’ Country/Wahl Traction/JFW Apparel | 148 | 20 | Running | ||
| 25 | 22 | 51 | Brandon Oakley * | Oakley Blacktop Ford | 148 | 19 | Running | ||
| 26 | 19 | 41 | Vinnie Miller * | Master Manufacturing, Inc. Toyota | 148 | 18 | Running | ||
| 27 | 17 | 33 | Nicole Behar * | Custom Welding & Fabrication, Inc. Toyota | 147 | 17 | Running | ||
| 28 | 34 | 18 | Bill Kann | Kevin Grover Buick GMC Chevrolet | 146 | 16 | Running | ||
| 29 | 30 | 11 | Takuma Koga | UBC/CKB/JKR Chevrolet | 144 | 15 | Running | ||
| 30 | 15 | 14 | Trey Hutchens, III | E3 Spark Plugs Chevrolet | 140 | 14 | Mechanical | ||
| 31 | 32 | 36 | Jesse Iwuji | The Red List Group/Lights Out Chevrolet | 133 | 13 | Running | ||
| 32 | 33 | 38 | John Wood | The Patriot Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 131 | 12 | Running | ||
| 33 | 28 | 34 | Bryant Barnhill * | Barnhill Realty Ford | 107 | 11 | Fuel Pump | ||
| 34 | 26 | 32 | Kody Vanderwal * | Trident/Biltrite Signs/General Air Ford | 69 | 10 | Overheating |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Derek Kraus *, Time: 24.532 Seconds, Speed: 128.404 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 27 mins, 40 secs Average Speed: 89.829 mph Margin of Victory: 2.174 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 7-10 (#32, #33 Sprin Turn 3 – FP # 36); 45-49 (Debris Turn 2 – FP # 10); 76-79 (Break – FP # 21); 128-133 (Debris Turn 3 – FP # 30); 137-142 (Multiple Cars Turn 1 Sin & Continue – FP # 42). 5 for 25 laps.
Lap Leaders: Derek Kraus * 1-2, Todd Gilliland 3-115, Ben Kennedy 116, Todd Gilliland 117-150.
Total Laps Led: Todd Gilliland 147, Derek Kraus * 2, Ben Kennedy 1. 3 changes involving 3 drivers.
* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/7/564563/todd-gilliland-prevails-for-kn-pro-series-win-at-iowa