Chase Elliot Wins the First NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race of his Career at Iowa Speedway
- May 31, 2012
At Iowa Speedway, Chase Elliott, the son of NASCAR Cup champion Bill Elliott, took advantage of Moffitt's mishap and took the lead on lap 145. He stayed out front over the last five laps of the race and survived a green-white-checkered flag finish that extended the race to 154 laps. "A lot of people talk about my dad and having big shoes to fill," Elliott said. "At the same time I'm me and I'm out here racing and Dad's not. For me, if I can just do the best I can do - I just got to do the best I can do, that's all I can ask for."
Elliott, who started in 15th place at Iowa Speedway, notched his first win in 16 starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Moffitt crossed the finish line in fifth place after colliding with Cale Conley. Ben Kennedy crashed on lap 146 and set up the green-white-checkered flag finish. Elliott took the lead on lap 145, before the Kennedy accident, and was able to maintain his lead on the restart. Pastrana, an X-Games champion and rookie on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, was fourth, his best finish in six starts. It was his first top-five finish since making his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East last year. "It really felt good," Pastrana said. "This was actually the car that Brett (Moffitt) won last year with, so we knew the car was good. We had a little pressure going in."
Kwasniewski was eighth at Iowa Speedway and the highest-finishing driver from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. The race at Iowa Speedway was a combination of drivers and teams from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West. There were 47 drivers who tried to qualify and 36 who started the race. Kwasniewski was credited with the K&N Pro Series West win at Iowa Speedway. Greg Pursley, his teammate and Gene Price Motorsports and the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion, was ninth. "It was good, definitely a good points day," Kwasniewski said. "Eighth is typically not the best finish but a good points day. I'm still in the lead now. The car was great. We definitely fixed it on that halfway part because we were definitely loose at the beginning. It was a fun race. I had a blast and we came home with all the fenders on it." Elliott, who has four top-10 finishes in four NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races this year, extended his lead in the East Series standings to 20 points over Moffitt. Kwasniewski is 15 points ahead of Pursley in the West Series standings after five races. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race is at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota on May 26. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race is at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina on June 2. 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. |
