Tuesday, August 9, 2016

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West News & Notes: Evergreen



DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 9, 2016) - When the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West hits the track Saturday night at Washington’s Evergreen Speedway, two drivers will be duking it out for the continuous championship battle, while another two will be fighting to join the scrum for the trophy.

With David Mayhew, Evergreen’s victor the past two years, out of the lineup this weekend in the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota, the door is open for a new winner in Victory Lane. The two notable favorites are championship contenders Todd Gilliland and Ryan Partridge.

Gilliland, 17-years-old from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, heads into the weekend on a two-race win streak. After an early exit at California’s Sonoma Raceway in June, the NASCAR Next driver has rebounded to win at Idaho’s Stateline Speedway and the K&N Pro Series combination event at Iowa Speedway.

Partridge, 28, from Ranch Cucamonga, California, trails Gilliland by only three points. The veteran has some success at the .646-mile semi-banked oval, he finished runner-up to Mayhew in Washington last year.

Not to be counted out of the competition are Noah Gragson and defending series champion Chris Eggleston. They head into the NAPA Auto Parts 150 24 and 25 points back, respectively, and both will be looking for a victory in order to join Gilliland and Partridge in the battle for the title. Eggleston and Gragson finished third and fifth, respectively, at the track last season.

RACE: NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota
PLACE: Washington’s Evergreen Speedway
DATE: Saturday, August 13
TIME: 6:30 p.m. PT
TV SCHEDULE: NBCSN, Thursday, Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .646-mile semi-banked oval
2015 WINNER: David Mayhew
2015 POLE SITTER: James Bickford
EVENT SCHEDULE: Garage opens: 9 a.m.; Practice: 12-12:45 p.m.; Final Practice: 1:15-2 p.m.; Qualifying: 4:15 p.m.; Driver Autograph Session: 5 p.m.; Driver Introductions: 6:20 p.m.; NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota: 6:30 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Doug Hobbs, (369) 805-6100, doug@evergreenspeedway.com
TWITTER: @WAStateNascar
EVENT HASHTAG: #NAPAAutoParts150
NASCAR IMC CONTACT: Brooke Franceschini, (386) 631-6142, bfranceschini@nascar.com

FAST FACTS:
The Race: The NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Toyota is the eighth race of the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season. It’s the seventh of 11 oval events and 14 races overall on the schedule. This will be the series’ 52nd visit to the Monroe, Washington, facility.

The Procedure: The starting field is 24 cars, including provisionals. The first 20 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials with the remaining four spots being awarded through the provisional process. The race is schedule for 150 laps covering 93.75 miles. The race will be run in two segments, with a five-minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75.

The Track: Evergreen Speedway is a semi-banked .646-mile oval with turns banked eight degrees and four degrees banking in the straights.

Records: Qualifying: Greg Pursley, 22.831 seconds (101.862 mph), July 10, 2011; Race: Ray Elder, one hour 10 minutes 15 seconds (80.071 mph), July 6, 1975.

EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY RACE NOTES:
Behar Making Her Return: Nicole Behar will be returning to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this weekend. The Spokane, Washington, native finished last year 10th in the championship standings. In her two series starts at Evergreen, she finished 17th (2014) and ninth (2015).

Notable Winners at Evergreen: There have been 46 different winners in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Evergreen Speedway. Notables include: Ray Elder, Bill Elliott, Butch Gilliland and Brendan Gaughan. Only seven drivers have managed to win back-to-back races at Evergreen since 1964, Bill Amick, Ray Elder, Ron Eaton, Jim Robinson, Chad Little, Brendan Gaughan and most recently, David Mayhew.

Ford Paving the Way at Evergreen: Ford has proven to be successful at the .646-mile track, earning 14 victories at Evergreen Speedway. Chevrolet has been closing the gap the past few years, trailing with 12 wins. Dodge also has 12, while Pontiac has five, and Buick Mercury and Plymouth each have three wins. Oldsmobile has registered two wins and Toyota has earned one.

NASCAR Next Update: Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson and Julia Landauer are showing why they were selected for the NASCAR Next program. Gilliland is leading the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings with 336 points, while Gragson trails by 24 points in third and Landauer is sixth with 294 points.

NASCAR Home Tracks: Three Events Highlight Packed Saturday Schedule
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will be joined by three local divisions Saturday night, Speedway Chevrolet Super Late Models, Les Schwab Street Stocks and Foster Press Mini Stocks. Naima Lang leads the Super Late Model division with four wins and 319 points. Trenton Moriarity trails with 281 points, while Tyler Tanner sits in third with 279. Darrell Lutovsky leads Chad Fitzpatrick by seven points (462-455) in the Street Stock division. While Nat Barber carries a 16-point lead over Michael Fritz (433-417) in the Mini Street standings.