Patience Pays Off for Ruben Garcia with Memphis Win
Rev Racing Driver Earns First NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Win
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Ruben Garcia Jr. said it has always been his dream to race in NASCAR in the United States. And that thanks to Rev Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity, he got that opportunity.
It hasn’t always been an easy acclimation for the 2015 NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion, but the 22-year-old from Mexico City saw the fruits of his perseverance pay off Saturday evening as he scored his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win.
Garcia jumped to the lead after the Lap 100 break and had the No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Toyota out front for the final 38 laps en route to claiming the checkered flag in the Memphis 150 presented by Autozone at Memphis International Raceway.
The 22-year-old from Mexico City set a blistering pace over the final third of the race, crossing the finish line .598 seconds ahead of runner-up and series points leader Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum’s DGR-Crosley teammate, Tyler Dippel, finished third.
Garcia became the seventh different driver from the NASCAR Drive For Diversity Driver Development Program to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race and gave Rev Racing, which has fielded the competition team for the program since 2010, its 18th win.
Garcia is his third full season in the K&N Pro Series. After finishing 10th in points as a rookie 2016, the NASCAR Next alum improved to fifth last year. He finished second at Bristol Motor Speedway and led a race-high 79 laps in the finale at Dover International Speedway in 2017, but was still in search of that elusive breakthrough win.
After qualifying fifth, Garcia spent the first 100 laps bidding his time. He restarted after the second break in eighth, as everybody but race leader Hailie Deegan and her Bill McAnally Racing teammate Derek Kraus elected to pit. When the race resumed, Garcia quickly cut his way to the front. He was up to third by lap 107 and went by Kraus for second a later. He wasted no time in reeling in Ankrum, who had bolted to the lead on the restart.
After grabbing the lead, he stretched it quickly to a half-second within five laps and was able to drive it home from there.
He is the fourth Mexican-born driver to win in the series, following Ruben Pardo (2006), Rogelio Lopez (2007) and three-time series race winner Daniel Suarez (most recently 2014).
Garcia also led a Rev Racing contingent that also finished fourth (Chase Cabre) and seventh (Ryan Vargas).
Ronnie Bassett Jr. finished fifth, followed by his brother Dillon. After Vargas, Colin Garrett, Anthony Alfredo and Marcos Gomes rounded out the top 10.
RACING-REFERENCE: RESULTS | POINTS
Earlier in the day, Ankrum set a track record with his pole qualifying time. His runner-up finish allowed him to bump his championship points lead to 14 over Dippel and 34 over Ronnie Bassett. Alfredo is fourth and Vargas fifth. Garcia moved up to sixth, two points behind Vargas.
The Memphis 150 presented by Autozone will air on NBCSN on Wednesday, June 6 at 6 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track on Saturday, June 16, with the JUSTDRIVE.com 125 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications
Sara D. Davis/ NASCAR photo
NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST-Memphis 150 presented by AutoZone Results
Saturday
At Memphis International Raceway
Millington, TN
Lap length: 0.75 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (5) Ruben Garcia Jr., Mexico City, Mexico, Toyota, 150 laps, 93.361 mph.
2. (1) Tyler Ankrum, San Bernadino, CA, Toyota, 150.
3. (2) Tyler Dippel, Wallkill, N.Y., Toyota, 150.
4. (6) Chase Cabre, Tampa, Fla., Toyota, 150.
5. (7) Ronnie Bassett Jr., Winston-Salem, NC, Chevrolet, 150.
6. (12) Dillon Bassett, Winston-Salem, N.C., Chevrolet, 150.
7. (16) Ryan Vargas, La Miranda, Calif, Toyota, 150.
8. (11) Colin Garrett, Elmo, Va., Toyota, 150.
9. (9) Anthony Alfredo, Ridgefield, CT, Toyota, 150.
10. (17) Marcos Gomes, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, Toyota, 150.
11. (3) Grant Quinlan, Maidstone, Canada, Ford, 150.
12. (18) J.P. Morgan, Mooresville, NC, Chevrolet, 150.
13. (13) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, CA, Toyota, 149.
14. (8) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Toyota, 149.
15. (14) Trey Hutchens, Lexington, NC, Chevrolet, 149.
16. (19) Armani Williams, Detroit, MI, Ford, 147.
17. (15) Juan Manuel Gonzalez, Mexico City, Mexico, Chevrolet, 146.
18. (10) Cole Rouse, Fort Rouse, AR, Toyota, 142.
19. (4) Spencer Davis, Dawsonville, Ga., Chevrolet, 139, electrical.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 12 minutes 18 seconds
Margin of Victory: .598 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Ankrum * (117.493 mph, 22.98 seconds)
Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Ankrum 1-27; S. Davis 28-80; T. Ankrum 81-101; H. Deegan 102; H. Deegan 103-104; D. Kraus 105-106; T. Ankrum 107-112; R. Garcia Jr. 113-150.
Standings: 1. T. Ankrum, 256; 2. T. Dippel, 242; 3. R. Bassett Jr., 222; 4. A. Alfredo, 201; 5. R. Vargas, 196; 6. R. Garcia Jr., 194; 7. D. Bassett, 188; 8. C. Cabre, 185; 9. S. Davis, 176; 10. J. Gonzalez, 176.
2018 Memphis 150 Presented by AutoZone
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race number 6 of 6
Saturday, June 2, 2018 at Memphis International Raceway, Memphis, TN
150 laps on a .750 mile paved track (112.5 miles)
Time of race: 1:12:18
Average Speed: 93.361 mph
Pole Speed: 117.493 mph Cautions: 3 for 13 laps
Margin of Victory: .598 sec
Attendance: n/a
Lead changes: 6
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Status Led Pts
1 5 6 Ruben Garcia, Jr. Max Siegel Inc. (Max Siegel) Toyota 150 running 38 47
2 1 17 Tyler Ankrum * Modern Meat Company (David Gilliland) Toyota 150 running 54 44
3 2 54 Tyler Dippel TyCar Trenchless Tech / D&A Concrete (David Gilliland) Toyota 150 running 0 41
4 6 4 Chase Cabre E3 Spark Plugs (Max Siegel) Toyota 150 running 0 40
5 7 04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. Bassett Gutters / Sink Tower Erection Co (Ronnie Bassett Sr.) Chevrolet 150 running 0 39
6 12 44 Dillon Bassett Bassett Gutters / Sink Tower Erection Co (Ronnie Bassett Sr.) Chevrolet 150 running 0 38
7 16 2 Ryan Vargas * UTI / NTI (Max Siegel) Toyota 150 running 0 37
8 11 18 Colin Garrett * Propel GPS (Sam Hunt) Toyota 150 running 0 36
9 9 40 Anthony Alfredo * Ceco Building Systems (Mark McFarland) Toyota 150 running 0 35
10 17 55 Marcos Gomes * Nextgen Motorsports / Hesselbach (Carlos Crespo) Toyota 150 running 0 34
11 3 30 Grant Quinlan * International Tool & Mold (Mark Rette) Ford 150 running 0 33
12 18 23 J.P. Morgan www.soldbyjackiemorgan.com (J.P. Morgan) Chevrolet 150 running 0 32
13 13 19 Hailie Deegan * Mobil 1 / NAPA Power Premium Plus (Bill McAnally) Toyota 149 running 3 32
14 8 16 Derek Kraus NAPA Auto Parts / Curb Records (Mike Curb) Toyota 149 running 2 31
15 14 14 Trey Hutchens Autozone (Bobby Hutchens Jr.) Chevrolet 149 running 0 29
16 19 43 Armani Williams * Calabrese Motorsports (David Calabrese) Ford 147 running 0 28
17 15 5 Juan Manuel Gonzalez * Telcel / Illux / Nextgen Mtrsprts (Jen Brown) Chevrolet 146 running 0 27
18 10 99 Cole Rouse NAPA Filters (Bill McAnally) Toyota 142 running 0 26
19 4 82 Spencer Davis Horton Avenue Materials LLC (Danny Watts Jr.) Chevrolet 139 electrical 53 26
Race notes:
CONTINGENCY AWARDS
BREMBO BRAKE THROUGH CHALLENGE: Ryan Vargas *, 2 UTI/NTI Toyota
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tyler Ankrum *, 17 Modern Meat Company Toyota
Caution flag breakdown:
Condition From Lap To Lap # Of Laps Reason Free Pass
1 50 50
51 56 6 break #1 #55
57 87 31
88 91 4 #43 spun turn 4 #55
92 100 9
101 103 3 break #2 #43
104 150 47
Percent of race run under caution: 8.7%
Average green flag run: 34.2 laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Leader From Lap To Lap # Of Laps
Tyler Ankrum 1 27 27
Spencer Davis 28 80 53
Tyler Ankrum 81 101 21
Hailie Deegan 102 104 3
Derek Kraus 105 106 2
Tyler Ankrum 107 112 6
Ruben Garcia, Jr. 113 150 38
Points standings after this race:
Rank Driver Points Diff
1 Tyler Ankrum 256
2 Tyler Dippel 242 -14
3 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 222 -34
4 Anthony Alfredo 201 -55
5 Ryan Vargas 196 -60
6 Ruben Garcia, Jr. 194 -62
7 Dillon Bassett 188 -68
8 Chase Cabre 185 -71
9 Juan Manuel Gonzalez 176 -80
9 Spencer Davis 176 -80
11 Marcos Gomes 173 -83
12 Grant Quinlan 171 -85
13 Colin Garrett 143 -113
14 Justin Carroll 109 -147
15 Chuck Buchanan, Jr. 106 -150
16 Brandon McReynolds 103 -153
17 Connor Hall 101 -155
18 Todd Gilliland 96 -160
19 Cole Rouse 91 -165
19 Derek Kraus 91 -165
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings for 2018
Driver Races Win T5 T10 Pole Laps Led Earnings AvSt AvFn RAF Miles LLF Points Diff
1 Tyler Ankrum 6 1 6 6 1 825 164 0 6.8 3.0 6 415.85 6 256
2 Tyler Dippel 6 1 4 6 1 825 13 0 3.5 4.3 6 415.85 6 242 -14
3 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 6 0 2 5 0 824 0 0 10.7 7.0 6 415.45 5 222 -34
4 Anthony Alfredo 6 1 2 3 1 691 72 0 8.0 11.5 3 357.02 3 201 -55
5 Ryan Vargas 6 0 0 2 0 745 0 0 12.7 11.3 5 383.85 4 196 -60
6 Ruben Garcia, Jr. 6 1 1 3 0 627 38 0 8.5 12.3 3 331.85 3 194 -62
7 Dillon Bassett 6 0 1 3 0 701 0 0 11.8 12.7 4 362.35 3 188 -68
8 Chase Cabre 6 0 1 3 0 651 48 0 11.2 13.3 4 333.45 3 185 -71
9 Spencer Davis 5 0 1 4 0 662 53 0 5.2 9.0 4 347.40 3 176 -80
10 Juan Manuel Gonzalez 6 0 0 1 0 749 0 0 16.7 14.7 6 382.02 1 176 -80
11 Marcos Gomes 5 0 1 3 0 649 65 0 10.4 9.6 5 331.45 4 173 -83
12 Grant Quinlan 5 0 1 3 1 609 74 0 4.8 10.4 4 313.58 3 171 -85
13 Colin Garrett 4 0 1 3 0 403 0 0 11.2 8.2 3 213.10 3 143 -113
14 Justin Carroll 3 0 1 2 0 321 0 0 12.3 7.7 2 127.91 2 109 -147
15 Chuck Buchanan, Jr. 4 0 0 1 0 374 0 0 21.8 17.5 3 165.72 0 106 -150
16 Brandon McReynolds 3 0 1 2 0 348 0 0 8.0 9.7 2 173.15 2 103 -153
17 Connor Hall 3 0 0 1 0 234 0 0 11.7 10.3 1 93.00 1 101 -155
18 Todd Gilliland 2 2 2 2 0 325 159 0 2.5 1.0 2 163.95 2 96 -160
19 Cole Rouse 3 0 1 1 0 453 0 0 7.0 13.7 2 262.98 1 91 -165
20 Derek Kraus 3 0 1 1 0 453 2 0 11.7 14.0 3 264.50 1 91 -165
21 Harrison Burton 2 0 2 2 1 325 80 0 4.0 2.5 2 163.95 2 84 -172
22 Salvatore Iovino 3 0 0 0 0 318 0 0 23.0 19.7 2 147.72 0 73 -183
23 Hailie Deegan 3 0 0 0 0 298 3 0 12.7 21.3 2 190.16 0 69 -187
24 J.P. Morgan 2 0 0 0 0 325 0 0 17.5 12.5 2 196.50 2 63 -193
25 Brandon Oakley 2 0 0 0 0 325 0 0 18.5 14.0 2 163.95 2 60 -196
26 Matt Levin 2 0 0 0 0 258 0 0 21.0 22.5 1 128.45 0 43 -213
27 Noah Gragson 1 0 1 1 1 150 54 0 1.0 3.0 1 79.95 1 42 -214
28 Jesse Iwuji 2 0 0 0 0 188 0 0 24.0 24.5 0 91.72 0 39 -217
29 Anthony Sergi 1 0 0 1 0 175 0 0 10.0 7.0 1 84.00 1 37 -219
30 Eddie MacDonald 1 0 0 1 0 150 0 0 17.0 9.0 1 79.95 1 35 -221
31 Kody Vanderwal 1 0 0 0 0 175 0 0 21.0 11.0 1 84.00 1 33 -223
32 Reid Lanpher 1 0 0 0 0 150 0 0 10.0 11.0 1 79.95 1 33 -223
33 Joe Graf, Jr. 1 0 0 0 0 175 0 0 14.0 15.0 1 84.00 1 29 -227
34 Max Tullman 1 0 0 0 0 149 0 0 22.0 15.0 1 79.41 0 29 -227
35 Trey Hutchens 1 0 0 0 0 149 0 0 14.0 15.0 1 111.75 0 29 -227
36 Abraham Calderon 1 0 0 0 0 175 0 0 20.0 16.0 1 84.00 1 28 -228
37 Armani Williams 1 0 0 0 0 147 0 0 19.0 16.0 1 110.25 0 28 -228
38 Jimmy Zacharias 1 0 0 0 0 175 0 0 22.0 17.0 1 84.00 1 27 -229
39 Andrew Tuttle 1 0 0 0 0 159 0 0 28.0 23.0 1 76.32 0 21 -235
40 Tanner Thorson 1 0 0 0 0 129 0 0 9.0 23.0 1 68.75 0 21 -235
41 John Wood 1 0 0 0 0 52 0 0 26.0 27.0 0 24.96 0 17 -239
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East owner standings for 2018
Owner # Points Starts Wins 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 David Gilliland 54 259 6 2 1 2 0 1 0 6 6 6
2 David Gilliland 17 256 6 1 1 2 1 1 0 6 6 6
3 Ronnie Bassett Sr. 04 222 6 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 5 6
4 Mark Rette 30 206 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 6
5 Mark McFarland 40 201 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 6
6 Carlos Crespo 55 201 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 6
7 Max Siegel 2 196 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6
8 Max Siegel 6 194 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 6
9 Ronnie Bassett Sr. 44 188 6 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 6
10 Max Siegel 4 185 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 6
11 Danny Watts Jr. 82 176 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 4 5
12 Jen Brown 5 176 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6
13 Sam Hunt 18 143 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 4
14 Ted Marsh 31 128 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
15 Terry Carroll 91 109 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 3
16 Charles Buchanan Jr. 87 106 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
17 Marie Benevento-Visconti 74 103 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 3
18 David Calabrese 43 92 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
20 Mike Curb 16 91 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 3
19 Bill McAnally 99 91 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 3
21 Matthew Miller 12 84 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 2
22 Susan McCarty 32 73 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
23 Bill McAnally 19 69 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
24 J.P. Morgan 23 63 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
25 Thomas Oakley 51 60 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
26 David Gilliland 98 48 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
27 Jody Levin 10 43 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
28 Doug Fuller 41 38 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
29 Ben Kennedy 20 37 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
30 John Wood 34 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
31 Dione Jefferson 59 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
32 Jerry Pitts 27 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 Bobby Hutchens Jr. 14 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
34 Kevin McCarty 39 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
35 Logan Yiengst 28 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
36 Mike Holleran 08 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
37 Shawn Merriman 36 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie and Contingency Standings for 2018
Brembo Brake Through Challenge
Driver Awards
Tyler Ankrum 1
Tyler Dippel 1
Dillon Bassett 1
Justin Carroll 1
Eddie MacDonald 1
Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award
Driver Awards
Tyler Ankrum 3
Anthony Alfredo 2
Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Driver Awards
Tyler Ankrum 256
Anthony Alfredo 201
Ryan Vargas 196
Juan Manuel Gonzalez 176
Marcos Gomes 173
Grant Quinlan 171
Colin Garrett 143
Connor Hall 101
Justin Carroll 80
Hailie Deegan 69
Brandon Oakley 60
Anthony Sergi 37
Reid Lanpher 33
Joe Graf, Jr. 29
Max Tullman 29
Abraham Calderon 28
Armani Williams 28
Jimmy Zacharias 27
Tanner Thorson 21
Andrew Tuttle 21