Cale Conley Wins First NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio
- 10 Aug 2012
Conley has three top-five finishes in four NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races this season. He was third in the race at Iowa Speedway and second at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. "This is pretty cool," the 20-year-old Conley said. "I gave two of them away, one at Iowa and one at Gresham.
Conley started the Jegs 150, at the Columbus Motor Speedway, on the front row with pole winner Ben Kennedy. Conley took the lead on the first lap and was out front for all 150 laps. There were six cautions for 35 laps. The last caution period of the race came on lap 116 when Ryan Gifford spun out in turn 2. "I don't really know what to feel. I know what it feels like to lose them, but I can't believe I won," Conley said. "Coming to the white flag, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?' This is unreal. I just won a NASCAR race at Columbus Motor Speedway. How many people would love to do that?" It was Conley's first win in 14 career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts. Brett Moffitt finished second and padded his lead in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings. Darrell Wallace Jr. was third, only his third top-five finish in nine races this season.
It was a rough race for some of the championship contender drivers. Corey LaJoie, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott all had flat tires at key moments in the race. Elliott had a flat tire when the race started and had to pit. He never made up ground and finished in 15th place. LaJoie and Larson cut tires as the race was winding down. Both drivers had to pit with flat tires with less than 10 laps to go in the race. LaJoie ended up in 17th place and Larson was 21st. Moffitt has a 22-point lead over Elliott in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series standings after nine races. "It was a really good night," Moffitt said. "Our car started off a little tight, but we were able to hang in there. Luckily it didn't go away too much.
Wallace, the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie of the year and the 2011 runner-up in the East Series standings, has struggled this season. He won three races last year, but has yet to win a race this season. "Good hard, racing. We got some donuts on the side there," Wallace said. "It was a good points night for us. We'll take third over anything. A third is like a win to us this year. We'll go to Iowa and hopefully win that and win the Nationwide race." The Jegs 150 will be televised on Speed on Aug. 2 and noon PDT. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series race is at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 3. It will be a combination race with the K&N Pro Series West. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
