Gilliland Matches Historic Unbeaten Streak With Kern Win

Todd Gilliland celebrates his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory Saturday night at Kern County Raceway Park. Photo by Jonathan Moore/NASCAR via Getty Images

Todd Gilliland’s unbeaten streak has reached historic proportions.

The 15-year-old Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, driver went from third to first following a late-race restart at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, CA en route to capturing Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts 150.

It was Gilliland’s second NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win in as many starts this season. More impressively, it was Gilliland’s fourth win in his first four career NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts.

With the win, Gilliland matched the record set by International Motorsports Hall of Famer Dan Gurney. Gurney won the first four NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series races he entered — combination races with the then-Grand National Series at California’s old Riverside Speedway. The Pacific Coast Late Model, which began in 1954, has evolved into the current NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

“My dad always tells me I don’t know how big these wins are, maybe just being a 15-year-old,” said Gilliland. “We just work as hard as we can and it’s been working out for us lately. And we’ll continue to do that.”

Gilliland’s win streak, which started at Phoenix in the K&N Pro West finale last November, also includes the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East opener at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in February and the K&N Pro Series West opener at California’s Irwindale Speedway earlier this month. Gilliland, Gurney, NASCAR Hall of Famer Tim Flock (two straight) and 2015 Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano (two straight) are the only drivers in the history of the K&N Pro Series to win at least their first two career series starts.

“He has no idea. He’s just a racer,” said Todd’s father, David, on Todd grasping the historical significance of his accomplishments. “He’s setting records that aren’t easy to set. That are old. And with legends in the auto racing industry. It’s amazing what he’s been able to accomplish. We’re just really proud. He’s been really humble about this, and he’s just a happy kid. A happy 15-year-old.”

Said car owner Bill McAnally: “He’s just a very special young man that I’ve had the extreme pleasure to work with. … It’s incredible. I was worried about the pressure bothering him. But he just rolls with it. It’s amazing.”

The latest win may have been the toughest.

Gilliland’s No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota lost the lead to Ryan Partridge following a Lap 132 restart, in which the caution flag came out for a wreck behind the leaders immediately after the green flag flew. Before the yellow, though, Gilliland not only lost the top spot, but also second place to Partridge’s teammate Cole Rouse.

Following a lengthy red flag for cleanup, Gilliland quickly dispatched of Rouse, and then tracked down Partridge to make the pass and lead the final nine laps.

“I think we did what we could without getting dirty,” Partridge said.

Partridge settled for his second runner-up finish of the season, while rookies Rouse and Riley Herbst, and defending series champion, Chris Eggleston, rounded out the top five.

Gilliland was fastest in practice, won his second 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light of the K&N Pro Series West season. He then went on to lead three times for a race-high 54 laps on the three-year-old high-speed-half-mile.

David Mayhew, making his 100th career K&N Pro West start, led 31 laps and appeared to be in position to spoil Gilliland’s streak. However, the series veteran cut a tire shortly after the halfway break and fell out of contention.

Mayhew came back to finished sixth, followed by Gracin Raz, Noah Gragson, Johnny Borneman and Julia Landauer.

Todd Gilliland will continue to chase history on April 16 as he’s entered in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will return to action May 7 at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
Kern County Raceway Park – Bakersfield, CA
NAPA Auto Parts 150 – April 2, 2016

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RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Todd Gilliland *, Time: 17.971 Seconds, Speed: 100.161 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 16 mins, 39 secs Average Speed: 58.708 mph Margin of Victory: 1.287 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 9-16 (#20 Spun in T2 — No Free Pass); 43-49 (#15 hit inside wall back straight — 84 FP); 63-66 (#54 Spun T2 — Free Pass 06);
76-79 (Break — Free Pass 36); 83-85 (#17 Spun T4– Free Pass 36); 97-102 (#38 Spun T4– Free Pass 36); 127-131 (#29 Hit Front Wall — Free Pass 30); 133-135 (#’s 21, 54 & 14 Accident Front Str. – FP 84).  8 for 40 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Gilliland * 1-26, David Mayhew 27-29, Johnny Borneman 30-49, David Mayhew 50-57, Ryan Partridge 58-60, David Mayhew 61-80, Ryan Partridge 81-112, Todd Gilliland * 113-131, Ryan Partridge 132-141, Todd Gilliland * 142-150.
Total Laps Led: Todd Gilliland * 54, Ryan Partridge 45, David Mayhew 31, Johnny Borneman 20.  9 changes involving 4 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Todd Gilliland * 95, Ryan Partridge 86, Chris Eggleston 81, Riley Herbst * 78, Cole Rouse * 76, Noah Gragson 76, Johnny Borneman 75, Julia Landauer * 70, Gracin Raz 69, Ron Norman 64

* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender