Eggleston Victorious at Tucson Speedway
Earns First K&N Pro West Win of 2017 After a Late Race Pass
Tucson, Ariz. – It was a back-and-forth battle all day, but Chris Eggleston came out on top at Tucson Speedway.
Leading 80 of 150 laps in the NAPA Auto Parts Tucson 150, Eggleston beat pole-sitter and defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, Todd Gilliland, to the line to take his sixth career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory with his No. 99 NAPA Filters Toyota.
The 27-year-old from Erie, Colorado native, said he stepped up his game for the second half of the event and is grateful to start the 2017 season off in Victory Lane after a doubtful off-season.
In a way, the same can be said for second-place finisher Gilliland. Leading a total of 70 laps throughout the night, the 16-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, and his No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota held off the pack on numerous late restarts to bring it home in the runner-up position for the second straight year at Tucson. The result also continues a streak of nine consecutive top-10 finishes for the NASCAR Next driver.
One of the drivers Gilliland had to hold off was 20-year-old Garrett Archer. In only his second K&N West start, the Maple Valley, Washington, driver jumped his No. 27 Recruit 4 Business Ford to the outside lane on the final restart, advancing from sixth to second until Gilliland re-passed him for the spot. Still, a third-place result is a positive way to kick off the year, he says.
In what was a relatively clean night of racing, there were still a handful of single-car spins that halted the action. Salvatore Iovino, who spun in final practice earlier in the day, continued to struggle with the car’s handling, losing his No. 38 Infinite Wireless Chevrolet on three occasions in the 150-lapper.
He was not the only one, as Riley Herbst and Rich DeLong III also lost their cars on each end of the track.
On the positive end, Zane Smith came home with a top-five finish in fourth followed by Will Rodgers in fifth, while Derek Kraus, Brandon Schilling, Kody Vanderwal and Nicole Behar rounded out top 10.
Eggleston’s victory at Tucson, also put him in the position to win $100,000. As a part of the NAPA 500 Challenge, should a driver win all four races, they will take home the steep money bonus.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will be back in action for race two of the NAPA 500 Challenge Thursday, March 23 at California’s Kern County Raceway Park.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY
NKNPS West Tucson 3/18/17 Results
K&N Pro Series West
Race: NKNPS West Tucson 3/18/17
PRINTABLE VERSION
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 99 Chris Eggleston NAPA Filters Toyota 150 48 5 Running
2 1 16 Todd Gilliland NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 150 43 1 Running
3 16 27 Garret Archer * Recruit 4 Business Ford 150 41 Running
4 4 9 Zane Smith * Lucas Oil, Eibach, Sunrise Ford Ford 150 40 Running
5 8 7 Will Rodgers * Craft Beer Racing Ford 150 39 Running
6 3 19 Derek Kraus * Carlyle Tools Toyota 150 38 Running
7 14 30 Brandon Schilling * Tucson Speedway Ford 150 37 Running
8 15 32 Kody Vanderwal * Trident Processes/ Billtrite Sign/Becker Safety Ford 150 36 Running
9 6 54 Riley Herbst UFC Gym/NOS Toyota 150 35 Running
10 12 33 Nicole Behar Custom Welding & Fabrication Toyota 150 34 Running
11 10 21 Blaine Perkins Four Star Fruit Chevrolet 150 33 Running
12 7 6 Julia Landauer Lucas Oil, Eibach, Sunrise Ford Ford 150 32 Running
13 9 10 Matt Levin Port of Tucson/Risk Management Chevrolet 150 31 Running
14 5 40 Ron Norman Port of Tucson Chevrolet 150 30 Running
15 13 90 Trevor Cristiani * Rocky Mountain Racing Supply/Idaho Gasket 149 29 Running
16 18 11 Takuma Koga Maluzen CKB-JKR Chevrolet 148 28 Running
17 20 14 Dan Phillippi * Next Level Physical Therapy, J127, Inc Ford 148 27 Running
18 19 18 Bill Kann B&B Motorsports Toyota 147 26 Running
19 23 84 Rich DeLong III Country Girl Saloon/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet 145 25 Running
20 21 36 Jesse Iwuji The Red List Group, Lights Out, Rabbit Coffee 145 24 Running
21 22 38 Salvatore Iovino * Shakeaway Shakes, Infinite Wireless Chevrolet 138 23 Running
22 11 13 Todd Souza Central Coast Cabinets Toyota 111 22 Running
23 24 0 Bobby Hillis First Impression Press/Lindys Lighting Chevrolet 15 21 Brakes
24 17 5 Justin Funkhouser Funkhouser Motorsports Chevrolet 1 20 Brakes
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd Gilliland, Time: 16.064 Seconds, Speed: 84.039 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 1 mins, 26 secs Average Speed: 54.938 mph Margin of Victory: .684 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 19-22 (Car 36 Spun Turn 1); 26-29 (38 Spun Turn 3 & 4); 76-78 (Halfway Break); 81-87 (Car 84 Spun Turn 4); 121-126 (54 Spun Turn 3 &4); 131-134 (38 Spun Turn 1 & 2). 6 for 28 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Gilliland 1-4, Chris Eggleston 5-24, Todd Gilliland 25-30, Chris Eggleston 31, Todd Gilliland 32-91, Chris Eggleston 92-150.
Total Laps Led: Chris Eggleston 80, Todd Gilliland 70. 5 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Chris Eggleston 48, Todd Gilliland 43, Garret Archer * 41, Zane Smith * 40, Will Rodgers * 39, Derek Kraus * 38, Brandon Schilling * 37, Kody Vanderwal * 36, Riley Herbst 35, Nicole Behar 34
Next Race:3/23/2017
* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
https://soundcloud.com/nascarhometracks/nknps-west-tucson-chris-eggleston-winner-031717
https://soundcloud.com/nascarhometracks/nknps-west-tucson-todd-gilliland-runner-up-031717
https://soundcloud.com/nascarhometracks/nknps-west-tucson-garrett-archer-031817
A late race pass over Bill McAnally Racing teammate Todd Gilliland secured the victory for Chris Eggleston and the No. 99 NAPA Filters Toyota. Chris Coduto/NASCAR via Getty Images
Sources: Zach Catanzareti, NASCARHomeTracks.com