Tyler Ankrum celebrates in Iowa Speedway’s Victory Lane after winning his third straight NASCAR K&N Pro Series race on Friday night. Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography
While it has taken Tyler Ankrum half the season to really hit his stride, now that he has, he’s nearly unbeatable.
The San Bernardino, California driver captured his fourth win of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series season — and third straight — Saturday night in the Casey’s General Store 150 at Iowa Speedway.
The K&N Pro Series East championship points leader overcame a spin in qualifying and led the final 48 laps en route to the victory in the annual combination race with the K&N Pro Series West. West points leaders Derek Thorn and Ryan Partridge finished second and third, respectively.
While Ankrum has led the East points since the third race of the season, on the strength of six top five finishes in the first six races, he’s really separated himself from the pack with wins at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and now, Iowa.
Combined Tyler Dippel’s seventh-place finish, Ankrum now leads his DGR-Crosley teammate by 37 points with four races remaining.
“Just to have these runs, it’s still overwhelming” said Ankrum, who qualified fourth but started from the back after his spin. “It’s just awesome to come to the racetrack knowing that you have a shot.”
Dippel won the pole award earlier Saturday and led the first 100 laps. He appeared to be running away as he searched for his second win of the season and more importantly, to close the points gap on Ankrum. As the caution flag flew for the scheduled lap 100 break, however, Dippel came to a rest on the bottom of the track, out of fuel. He rallied to finish sixth.
Bob Bruncati Racing teammates of Thorn and Partridge leave Iowa tied in points atop the West, with Thorn holding the edge on tiebreakers by virtue of more wins (2-1).
Combined with Derek Thorn’s mechanical woes that relegated him to a 20th-place finish, the top two have opened a 26-point gap on Kraus with six races left.
Thorn started third and quietly stayed in the hunt all night long before climbing to second with a pass around Ruben Garcia, Jr. on a late restart. The race was a little more eventful for Partridge, who started 11th. A late race dash through the field allowed him to crack into the top three.
Dawsonville, Georgia’s Spencer Davis ran as high as second and as low as 11th, yet was able to come home with a fourth-place finish.
Ruben Garcia, Jr. was able to put himself in contention in the late stages, however, slipped on the final restart and was forced to settle for fifth.
Dippel, Ryan Vargas, Cole Rouse, Trevor Huddleston and Kyle Benjamin rounded out the top 10. Benjamin was making his first series appearance since winning at South Carolina’s Greenville Pickens Speedway and had won his last four K&N Pro Series East starts.
The K&N Pro Series East will be right back in action next week for the Great Outdoors RV 100 at Watkins Glen International.
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East/West
The testosterone levels were significantly higher in rats treated with the problem quicker compared generic levitra new.castillodeprincesas.com to those who kept the problem hidden from others. Onset actions of cialis buy cheap:Available in tablet the medicine is prepared with numbers of natural potent herbs. If you are not able to tadalafil soft tabs new.castillodeprincesas.com satisfy your wife during an intimacy. It’s buy cheap levitra time to recover the spice of your love life. Iowa Speedway – Newton, IA
Casey’s General Store 150 – July 27, 2018
1. Tyler Ankrum
2. Derek Thorn
3. Ryan Partridge
4. Spencer Davis
5. Ruben Garcia, Jr.
6. Tyler Dippel
7. Ryan Vargas
8. Cole Rouse
9. Trevor Huddleston
10. Kyle Benjamin
11. Devin Dodson
12. Dillon Bassett
13. Bill Kann
14. Tristan Van Wieringen
15. Takuma Koga
16. Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
17. Sam Mayer
18. Matt Levin
19. Kody Vanderwal
20. Derek Kraus
21. Hailie Deegan
22. Anthony Alfredo
23. Colin Garrett
24. Chase Cabre
25. Jesse Iwuji
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.