Chris Eggleston Second Win at NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Colorado National Speedway
- Jun 23, 2016
Chris Eggleston won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race in a row and Gracin Raz finished on the podium for the second straight West Series race at Colorado National Speedway. Both drivers are moving in the right direction after getting off to slow starts.
Eggleston won the NAPA/Toyota 150 at Colorado National Speedway leading 102 laps. The start of the race was delayed two hours because of rain. Once the race started, Eggleston and his Bill McAnally Racing teammate Todd Gilliland, who won the pole for the race, battled for the lead. "We had a really well-balanced race car and I knew that all day in practice," Eggleston said after the race. "Just so skeptical of when the rain came and what it was going to do. We didn't fire off as good as we wanted to on that initial start, but it seemed like we were really good on the long runs." Eggleston won the previous K&N Pro Series West race at Orange Show Speedway in California. Raz is slowly improving as well. He was third in the K&N Pro Series race at Colorado National Speedway and second in the race at Orange Show Speedway. Raz said he was happy to see the rain. It not only helped cool down the track, but it gave his car some time to cool down and perform better in the race.
"It was really good. I was kind of hoping for the rain before the race," Raz said. "Our car was pretty hot during the day. We were struggling a little bit in the heat. I'm glad it cooled down the track a little bit. I think we got our car hooked up at the end. We just needed a little more drive off. I think we could have had something for the 50 (Eggleston) and the 16 (Todd Gilliland) there at the end. Almost got the 16." While Eggleston and Gilliland battled for the lead, there were 11 lead changes in the race, Raz maneuvered his way around the track trying to hold of Ryan Partridge, who won the K&N Pro Series West race at Colorado National Speedway in 2015, and Blain Perkins. "There was definitely some door-to-door racing tonight," Raz said. "Our restarts were definitely critical, not losing spots. Definitely pretty hard to pass. This car has been treating me pretty well. Looking forward to working with this car more and more, see if we can end up putting it in Victory Lane again."
Raz won the first race of his K&N Pro Series West career at All American Speedway in California last year. After the race at Colorado National Speedway, Raz is seventh in the K&N Pro Series West standings after five races. He has three top-10 finishes. Todd Gilliland was second in the race at Colorado National Speedway and maintained his lead in the K&N Pro Series standings. He led the first 23 laps of the race and was out front for 45 laps. Gilliland is four points ahead of Eggleston in the K&N Pro Series West standings. "We had a shot at it there at the end. It was a great battle between Gracin Raz, myself, and Chris Eggleston," Gilliland said. "It's cool for him to get the win in front of his hometown here. It is cool, but I wish we could have gotten him at the same time. You can't win them all. We'll go get them at Sonoma." The next K&N Pro Series West race is Chevy's Fresh Mex 200 at Sonoma Raceway in California on June 25. |
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