Saturday, June 23, 2018

Rodgers Holds Off Almirola For Another Road Course Victory

Will Rodgers celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday. (Photo Courtesy Nigel Kinrade)

Via NASCAR Media

Sonoma, Calif. - Will Rodgers has been the driver to beat in recent NASCAR K&N Pro Series roadcourse events. Rodgers continued that trend with a victory in the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway.

The 23-year-old NASCAR Next driver dominated the race leading 35 laps from pole position. It was the fourth road course race win in a row for Rodgers between starts in both the NASCAR K&N East and West series.

Five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered the race yet they were unable to compete with Rodgers during the weekend. Besides winning the race and pole, Rodgers was also the fastest in practice.

“I knew we would have a great car prepared by Jefferson-Pitts Racing” Rodgers noted. “We had a great piece and made very minor adjustments, my crew chief Jeff (Jefferson) definitely had the right ideas in mind and it helped us obviously stay first in practice, get the pole and then here we are in Victory Lane.”

The first five-minute break on lap 21 saw Rodgers race leader over NASCAR Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers William Byron, Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola. Seven cars chose not to pit including Almirola who moved to the lead. Business picked up as the fastest cars in the field had to maneuver through traffic to retain their previous positions.

Rodgers and Suarez thrilled fans as both drivers were able to enter the top five after the restart. Suarez moved by Almirola on lap 39. The second break on lap 41 it was Suarez leading over Almirola, Rodgers, Erik Jones and Byron.

The restart saw Almirola take advantage of Suarez and move back to the lead. The race was decided on lap 50 when Rodgers was able to drive under Almirola in turn 11. Rodgers went the rest of the way unchallenged and at the finish his margin of victory was 4.420 seconds.

Almirola took second with Byron placing third. Suarez was fourth and Ryan Partridge fifth. Partridge's top five finish allowed him to take over the championship lead by a singl point over his teammate Derek Kraus who finished in the eighth position. Jones, Hailie Deegan, Derek Thorn, Cole Keatts and Derek Kraus finished out the top 10.

NBCSN will broadcast the Carneros 200 on Thursday, June 28th at 6:00 PM EST.

It will be a quick turnaround for the series as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will be racing Saturday, June 30 at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Ore for the Clint Newell Toyota 150 presented by NAPA Auto Parts.

NOTES:
The win marks eight straight road course wins for Jefferson-Pitts Racing.
After a career best qualifying effort of third, Hailie Deegan finished seventh.
Derek Thorn entered the race as the series points leader. He was able to recover from a late race incident to finish eighth.
After fighting for fourth with Suarez, Cole Rouse went around in turn 11 on lap 61. He finished 12th

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-Carneros 200 Results
Saturday
At Sonoma Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
Lap length: 1.99 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Will Rodgers, Solvang, Calif., Ford, 64 laps, 58.482 mph.
2. (5) Aric Almirola, Tampa, Fla., Ford, 64.
3. (2) William Byron, Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet, 64.
4. (6) Daniel Suarez, Monterrey, Mexico, Toyota, 64.
5. (4) Ryan Partridge, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Ford, 64.
6. (13) Erik Jones, Byron, MI, Toyota, 64.
7. (3) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Toyota, 64.
8. (9) Derek Thorn, Lakeport, Calif., Ford, 64.
9. (16) Cole Keatts, Lewiston, Idaho, Ford, 64.
10. (8) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wisc., Toyota, 64.
11. (11) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif, Chevrolet, 64.
12. (14) Cole Rouse, Fort Smith, Ark., Toyota, 64.
13. (18) Tom Klauer, Reno, Nev., Chevrolet, 64.
14. (26) Rodd Kneeland, Sonoma, Calif., Chevrolet, 63.
15. (20) Jesse Iwuji, Carrolton, Texas, Chevrolet, 63.
16. (24) Rich DeLong III, Santa Clarita, Calif., Chevrolet, 63.
17. (10) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 56, engine.
18. (12) Jim Inglebright, Fairfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 46, clutch.
19. (15) Todd Souza, Aromas, Calif., Toyota, 45, engine.
20. (25) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 44, electrical.
21. (17) Travis Milburn, Eagle, Idaho, Chevrolet, 39, electrical.
22. (19) Carlos Vieira, Atwater, Calif., Ford, 31, accident.
23. (23) Hollis Thackeray, Gridley, Calif., Toyota, 17, transmission.
24. (7) Alex Bowman, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 10, engine.
25. (21) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Chevrolet, 9, accident.
26. (22) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 1, accident.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 2 hours 10 minutes 40 seconds
Margin of Victory: 4.420 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: W.Rodgers (90.591 mph, 79.081 seconds)
Caution Flags: 5 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: W. Rodgers 1-21; A. Almirola 22; C. Rouse 23; A. Almirola 24-39; D. Suarez 40-44; A. Almirola 45-50; W. Rodgers 51-64.
Standings: 1. R. Partridge, 254; 2. D. Thorn, 253; 3. D. Kraus, 237; 4. C. Rouse, 232; 5. H. Deegan, 225; 6. K. Vanderwal, 219; 7. T. Huddleston, 213; 8. M. Levin, 185; 9. W. Rodgers, 181; 10. T. Souza, 179.