Greg Pursley Takes the Win at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Race in Utah
- 11 may 2012
"It's really cool to be able to be three-for-three here at Miller Motorsports Park," said Pursley, driver of the No. 26 Ford for Gene Price Motorsports. "I just got to thank my Gene Price Motorsports guys. K&N and NASCAR did a great job here at Miller Motorsports Park again."
It was the 10th K&N Pro Series West win of Pursley's career and his first of the 2012 season. He won the pole and led the first 21 laps of the race before coming in to the pits for fuel and tires. He rallied through the field and was up to second place on lap 39 when one of his tires went flat. He darted into the pits to change the tire and get back in the race. "It ended up working out to our advantage at the end," Pursley said. "We had a really great car. We got the pole and led the first half of the race." With only 11 laps to catch the leaders, Pursley needed a caution to have any chance at winning the race. He got it when Jack Sellers had ignition problems with four laps to go. The field was bunched up and the restart resulted in a multicar crash in turn 1 of the 2.2-mile road course. Pursley and Holmes made it through the scrap unscathed and set up last-lap dash for the win. "I think everyone piled in to turn 1 a little hot," Pursley said. "I had someone in the back of me. Guys were wheel hopping in the front there. Fortunately we didn't get turned, so I turned down to the bottom and came out in third. Put my head down and tried to run some qualifying laps to get the lead."
Pursley took the lead from Austin Dyne on lap 49 and held it for the last two laps. Holmes also passed Dyne in the final laps to finish second. "I knew it would be wild and it sure was," Holmes said. "Everybody went off in turn 1 and kind of got into everybody. Unfortunately Greg was behind me going in there and he came out ahead of me. That was the difference in the race." Dyne, making only his second K&N Pro Series West start, was third. "I was optimistic going into it," Dyne said. "We were struggling for a little speed in practice and qualifying. I think I kind of figured it out in the race. We pitted early and I was just saving fuel the whole race. A third place is a lot better than where we thought we would be." Pursley and Dyne each led a race-high 23 laps. David Mayhew, the leader in the K&N Pro Series West standings after three races, was ninth. He is one point ahead of Dylan Kwasniewski in the West Series standings. Kwasniewski finished fourth at Miller Motorsports Park. Pursley moved into third place in the K&N Pro Series West standings, three points behind Mayhew. The next K&N Pro Series West race is at Stockton 99 Speedway in California on May 5. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
