Todd Gilliland Edges Chris Eggleston For Roseburg Win

Scores K&N Pro West Victory With Late Pass On BMR Teammate

Todd Gilliland edged his Bill McAnally Racing teammate Chris Eggleston to win the Clint Newell Toyota 150 Presented by NAPA AUTO PARTS at Douglas County Speedway on Saturday.

The pair waged a fierce side-by-side battle around the tight 3/8-mile track, thrilling fans that packed the fairgrounds venue in Roseburg, Oregon for the annual NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event.

Gilliland, the defending series champion, pulled ahead coming to the checkered flag in the No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry – to capture his sixth victory of the season and his 13th career series win. He and Eggleston, the 2015 series champion who drives the No. 99 NAPA Belts & Hoses / NAPA Filters Toyota Camry, have won 10 of the 11 series races so far this season.

Their teammate Derek Kraus finished third in the No. 19 Carlyle Tools / NAPA Belts & Hoses Toyota Camry, to give BMR its third 1-2-3 finish of the season.

“That was tough racing right there with Chris Eggleston,” said Gilliland, a 17-year-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina. “We both had pretty evenly matched cars tonight. It showed when we could race side by side for a really long time.

“It was pretty nerve wracking, but we’re out here for the win and the 16 team got it tonight,” he said. “I want to thank NAPA, Toyota TRD, Frontline Enterprises, and everyone who gets us to the race track.”

Gilliland, who started third on the grid, acknowledged how tough it was to run so many laps side by side.

“It’s really flat,” he said. “The second groove usually doesn’t come in too much. Tonight, we were stuck on the bottom a lot. You just have to be really patient and stay really calm when you’re side by side like that for so many laps.”

Eggleston, who won his fourth pole of the year in qualifying, talked about the battle in which the pair traded the lead back-and-forth nine times.

“It seemed like we got off to a really good start and had a very, very well balanced race car there at the beginning,” said the series veteran from Erie, Colorado. “Even though the 16 and 19 fell way back, I felt we did a good job of conserving our tires, getting only quarter-throttle down the straight away.

“The 16 was probably a little better than us midway through the race,” Eggleston said. “He kind of used us up quite a bit here and there. We did everything we could to keep our composure and keep pace with him. He made a few mistakes in lapped traffic and we were able to get back by him. He used us up, again, and we were able to get back by him cleanly. And he used us up, again.

“I hope the fans liked it, because that was really exciting,” Eggleston said. “I wish we had been on the other side of the fence, obviously – sitting in the winner’s circle. But it was a good 1-2-3 finish for BMR.”

In last year’s Roseburg race, Gilliland and Eggleston tangled while racing for the lead and were knocked out of contention for the win.

The 3 @BMR_NASCAR Toyotas in the pits lined up at the front of the #KNWest grid at DCS. pic.twitter.com/6gT7tFYv7P

— Bill McAnally Racing (@BMR_NASCAR) August 27, 2017

Gilliland, a NASCAR Next driver, extended his lead in the championship standings to five points over Eggleston. Gilliland has six wins, eight top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season.

Eggleston has four wins, 10 top-five, and 11 top-10 finishes.

Kraus – a 15-year-old from Stratford, Wisconsin – leads the rookie points and is third in the overall standings. He has six top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Saturday’s win by Gilliland marked the eighth win by BMR in the past 11 series races at the Roseburg track.

The event had a variety of special activities with sponsors, including a Fan Appreciation Gala on Friday evening. Activities on Saturday featured a big Toyota Let’s Go Places VIP Hospitality Corral and a VIP pit tour.

Well worth it to ⏭to 44:30 to check out the last 5 mins of last night's epic battle w/ @ToddGilliland_ #whatarace https://t.co/XXNNgDbWCd

— Chris Eggleston (@chriseggleston_) August 27, 2017

The race, which was the 14th series event at Douglas County Speedway, is scheduled to be televised on NBCSN on Sept. 2 at 5:30 p.m. PT.

Three races remain on this year’s series schedule, with the next stop being at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway on Sept. 30.

Source

Clint Newell Toyota 150

Race Results 

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Laps
1	3	16	Todd Gilliland	150
2	1	99	Chris Eggleston	150
3	2	19	Derek Kraus *	150
4	5	7	Will Rodgers *	150
5	6	6	Julia Landauer	150
6	9	27	Buddy Shepherd *	150
7	7	9	Michael Self	150
8	13	13	Todd Souza	149
9	10	90	Trevor Cristiani *	149
10	12	10	Matt Levin	149
11	15	11	Takuma Koga	148
12	8	33	Nicole Behar	148
13	19	36	Jesse Iwuji	148
14	17	30	Stafford Smith	147
15	14	32	Kody Vanderwal *	147
16	18	39	Dan Phillippi *	144
17	11	21	Blaine Perkins	143
18	4	40	Ron Norman	120
19	16	14	Andrew Engberson *	114
20	20	38	John Wood	100
21	21	42	Zachary St. Onge	46

* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender

RACE STATISTICS

Fastest Qualifier: Chris Eggleston, 

• Time: 15.069 Seconds, 
• Speed: 89.588 mph

Time of Race: 0 hrs., 49 mins, 55 secs
Average Speed: 67.613 mph
Margin of Victory: .155 Seconds

Caution Flags: 

• Laps 34-42 (14 Spin T4 FP32); 
• Laps 44-49 (42 Stalled Frontstretch FP30); 
• Laps 62-66 (40 Spun Backstretch FP36); 
• Laps 68-71 (21 Spun Frontstretch No FP). 
• 4 for 24 laps.

Lap Leaders: 

• Chris Eggleston 1-72, 
• Todd Gilliland 73-75, 
• Chris Eggleston 76-78, 
• Todd Gilliland 79-81, 
• Chris Eggleston 82, 
• Todd Gilliland 83-131, 
• ChrisEggleston 132-135, 
• Todd Gilliland 136-138, 
• Chris Eggleston 139-148, 
• Todd Gilliland 149-150.

Total Laps Led: 

• Chris Eggleston 90
• Todd Gilliland 60
• 9 changes involving 2 drivers.

Top 10 Driver Points: 

1. Todd Gilliland 481
2. Chris Eggleston 476
3. Derek Kraus * 406
4. Will Rodgers * 404
5. Michael Self 387
6. Todd Souza 364
7. Julia Landauer 361
8. Matt Levin 354
9. Nicole Behar 348
10. Kody Vanderwal * 341

Next Race: Meridian, Idaho

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