Sure watching Todd Gilliland manage his patience and tires in order to surge back to the lead of the race for the laps that counted would have been exciting to witness. Todd, who is working to make NASCAR history by winning the two NASCAR K&N Pro Series stock car titles – East and West – in the same year, made positive progress towards that ambition. He now leads in the East by six points over Harrison Burton and in the West by five points over teammate Chris Eggleston.
“I think we were all saving tires from second on back,” Gilliland said after the race. “Dad told me we were kind of in the line and when [Bassett] was trying to get away like that, we just had to be mentally tough and let him get out there. That’s always tough as a racecar driver but, in a 150 lap race, you’ve got to know when to let them go.” .
There are two East races and three West races remaining in the 2017 season. Quite a lot of pressure for the seventeen-year-old.
What NRM missed most, however, was the hard-charging drive by Dominique Van Wieringen. The Canadian qualified a mediocre twelfth out of the field of fourteen. It was her first race of the season. She had been sidelined for a lack of funding. I believe her opportunity to return to the K&N Pro Series stage came when she was asked to sub for Tyle Dippel, who was running an ARCA race the same night.
Dippel, a former winner in the series, had only managed a season’s best of fifth place in the ride. Nonetheless, it would appear that Dominique was aware of the importance of making the best of her unexpected break.
Van Wieringen rallied from her “back of the pack” starting spot to finish on podium in third. Twice, on laps 126 and 140, she went to the outside in three-wide situations to gain two positions.
“I learned, when I started racing late models, that you’ve got to make the outside work and I was dead set determined to be the one that makes the outside work,” Van Wieringen stated. “I haven’t raced in over a year and I was worried, with our qualifying result, that we would be able to make our way up in the top-three so this is an exhilarating moment.”
Drove the wheels off the car to finish 3rd!!!! I'm so happy and thankful for the opportunity to race again. 😁 pic.twitter.com/HnZ0rX4FOn— DominiqueRacing (@DominiqueRacing) September 5, 2017
Opinion: Dominique Van Wieringen has shown so much potential and talent. It is a shame that she cannot garner the funding necessary to remain on track. Hopefully a sponsor out there will take notice.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway
September 4, 2017
Race Results
- Todd Gilliland
- Chase Purdy
- Dominique van Wieringen
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- Collin Cabre
- Ruben Garcia Jr.
- Harrison Burton
- Jay Beasley
- Sam Hunt
- Justin Carroll
- Chase Cabre
- David Calabrese
- Dillon Bassett
- Chuck Buchanan Jr.
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd GillilandTime: 16.369 Seconds
Speed: 87.091 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 51 mins, 12 secs
Average Speed: 69.609 mph
Margin of Victory: 3.8 Seconds
Caution Flags:
- Laps 2-4 (#19 Spin turn 2 - No FP)
- Laps 31-33 (#19 Spin on Backstretch - No FP)
- Laps 43-45 (#19 Spin Turn 2 - No FP)
- Laps 130-135 (#44 Spin Turn 3 & 4 - FP #43)
4 for 15 laps.
Lap Leaders:
- Todd Gilliland 1-16
- Dillon Bassett 17-46
- Todd Gilliland 47
- Dillon Bassett 48-111
- Todd Gilliland 112-150
Total Laps Led:
- Dillon Bassett 94
- Todd Gilliland 56
Top 10 Driver Points:
- Todd Gilliland 511
- Harrison Burton 505
- Chase Purdy * 448
- Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 444
- Ruben Garcia Jr. 431
- Chase Cabre * 421
- Jay Beasley 403
- Dillon Bassett 383
- Collin Cabre 377
- Tyler Dippel 346
Next Race: New Jersey Motorsports Park
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