Kyle Larson goes for the lead.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Slack Auto Parts 150
Jefferson, GA (June 9, 2012) – As they say in racing, the only lap that matters is the last one and Kyle Larson learned that on Saturday June 9th at Gresham Motorsports Park.
“Nobody knows me in the stock car world yet so hopefully this puts me on the map,” Larson said. “I’m really excited to get my first (NASCAR) K&N East win in front of a great crowd.”
Cale Conley set the fast time in qualifying and started on the pole for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Slack Auto Parts 150. As soon as the green flag flew, Conley began extending his lead over the rest of the field.
Despite a number of cautions and three red flag periods, Conley managed to hang on to the lead for the first 146 of the 150-lap event. For the final restart of the race, Conley chose the outside line as he had for most of the previous restarts. Larson was inside of Conley’s No. 47 machine and somehow managed to stay side-by-side with the leader as they entered turn one, which no one had been able to do on previous restarts.
“Restarting on the bottom really hurts you here,” Larson explained. “You could restart on the bottom in the front row and fall back to fourth or fifth. It’s really tough. You had to make sure you could be really aggressive into one and find a hole to get up but luckily there at the end I found the holes I needed.”
Larson worked his way around Conley with four laps remaining and went on to win his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East victory.
Though the event had multiple cautions and red flag periods, the race was filled with two and three-wide battles for position. The level of intensity kept rising as the laps wound down and peaked when Larson made the pass for the lead.
Amazingly enough, the hard racing only contributed to two major multi-car incidences; the first involving Ryan Gifford and Bryan Ortiz, the second collecting Akinori Ogata, Jorge Arteaga, and Enrique Contreras III. Contreras was taken to the hospital for observation after his incident.
Brett Moffitt finished third behind Larson and Conley, followed by last week’s race winner Corey LaJoie and Ben Kennedy.
Sergio Pena, Darrell Wallace Jr., Eddie MacDonald, who was honored in the driver’s meeting for making his 150th career start today, Andrew Smith, and CJ Faison completed the top-10.
Racing action will return to Gresham Motorsports Park on July 4th for the World Crown 300 Super Late Model race and the local division features. For more information please visit www.RaceGMP.com.
UNOFFICIAL Slack Auto Parts 150 Finishing Order:
1. Kyle Larson
2. Cale Conley
3. Brett Moffitt
4. Corey LaJoie
5. Ben Kennedy
6. Sergio Pena
7. Darrell Wallace, Jr
8. Eddie MacDonald
9. Andrew Smith
10. CJ Faison
11. Carlos Iaconelli
12. Sam Hunt
13. Rafael Vallina
14. Chase Elliott
15. Akinori Ogata
16. Jimmy Weller
17. Jesse Little
18. Dylan Kwasniewski
19. Daniel Suarez
20. Brandon Gdovic
21. Dylan Presnell
22. Stephen Nasse
23. Jorge Arteaga
24. Enrique Contreras, III
25. Chad Finchum
26. Clay Campbell
27. Bryan Ortiz
28. Ryan Gifford
29. Chad Boat
1. Kyle Larson
2. Cale Conley
3. Brett Moffitt
4. Corey LaJoie
5. Ben Kennedy
6. Sergio Pena
7. Darrell Wallace, Jr
8. Eddie MacDonald
9. Andrew Smith
10. CJ Faison
11. Carlos Iaconelli
12. Sam Hunt
13. Rafael Vallina
14. Chase Elliott
15. Akinori Ogata
16. Jimmy Weller
17. Jesse Little
18. Dylan Kwasniewski
19. Daniel Suarez
20. Brandon Gdovic
21. Dylan Presnell
22. Stephen Nasse
23. Jorge Arteaga
24. Enrique Contreras, III
25. Chad Finchum
26. Clay Campbell
27. Bryan Ortiz
28. Ryan Gifford
29. Chad Boat
