Harvick Holds Off Rodgers For Sonoma NASCAR K&N West Win
Story By: DAVEY SEGAL / NASCAR – SONOMA, CA – Kevin Harvick made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West return and he delivered.
The Bakersfield, California, native dominated the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway. Harvick held off hard-charging Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender in Will Rodgers, while the rest of the field was more than nine seconds back.
Harvick won the 1998 West championship on his way up the NASCAR ladder, which culminated in winning the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. He drove the No. 4 Fields Ford for Jefferson Pitts Racing to his eighth victory of his career in the K&N Pro West Series.
“It always feels good to win no matter what it is,” said Harvick. “The main objective was to come have fun, shine a little light on the series and shine a little light on how much talent is in the series. This particular series did a lot for me and to come back and be a part of it, see the health of it and see the young guys racing was the main objective.
“It’s always fun to race in front of your home state fans. It’s been a long time since I raced in this particular series here, so it was a fun weekend.”
Rodgers, a 22-year-old from Murrieta, California, won his first Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day and brought his No. 7 Solvang Brewing Company Ford home in second place, his best finish of his 14 K&N Pro Series West starts.
“For some funny reason, I had a feeling as far back as four weeks ago that it was going to be me and Kevin coming into turn 11 on the last lap,” Rodgers said. “And sure enough, there we were. He ran a really good race, I learned a lot from him. We were able to lead some laps there in the beginning. It doesn’t feel too bad to finish second today.”
David Mayhew came home in third, followed by Michael Self and Derek Kraus in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Championship points leader Todd Gilliland, Blaine Perkins, Todd Souza, Sheldon Creed, Chris Eggleston and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup driver Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10.
Gilliland leads Eggleston by 11 points. Kraus is third (56 behind Gilliland), while Rodgers is 12 points back of Kraus in fourth.
The Carneros 200 will air on NBCSN on Thursday, June 29 at 11 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will return to the track on July 28 for the annual combination race with the K&N Pro East at Iowa Speedway.
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Fields Chevrolet | 64 | 47 | 4 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 7 | Will Rodgers * | Solvang Brewing Company Ford | 64 | 44 | 2 | Running |
| 3 | 5 | 17 | David Mayhew | MMI Racing/Ron’s Rear Ends/Pour House Chevrolet | 64 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 2 | 9 | Michael Self | Sunrise Frd/Eibach Spring/Lucas Oil/Braille Batter | 64 | 41 | 1 | Running |
| 5 | 16 | 19 | Derek Kraus * | Carlyle Tools Toyota | 64 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 8 | 16 | Todd Gilliland | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 64 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 14 | 21 | Blaine Perkins | Golden Gate Meat Chevrolet | 64 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 11 | 13 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Racing Toyota | 64 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 15 | 55 | Sheldon Creed * | AM Ortega/United Rentals Ford | 64 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 9 | 99 | Chris Eggleston | NAPA Filters Toyota | 64 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 7 | 12 | Daniel Suarez | ARRIS Toyota | 64 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 20 | 51 | Carlos Vieira | 51 FIFTY Energy Drink Chevrolet | 64 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 19 | 86 | Tim Spurgeon | Kleen Blast/David’s Racing Products Chevrolet | 64 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 25 | 10 | Matt Levin | Port of Tucson Chevrolet | 64 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 24 | 32 | Kody Vanderwal * | Biltrite Signs/General Air Ford | 64 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 23 | 47 | Scott Ivie | MSI Development Toyota | 64 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 17 | 30 | Dave Smith | Baker Energy/Wild Flower Bread Co/Ken Nix & Assoc | 64 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 13 | 61 | Johnny Borneman | Borneman Trucking/Rich Thompson Trucking, Inc | 64 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 31 | 68 | Rodd Kneeland * | Wine Roads/Florian Ind/Rodd Renovations, Inc | 64 | 25 | Running | |
| 20 | 18 | 54 | Will Gallaher | First Community Bank Toyota | 64 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 26 | 11 | Takuma Koga | ASHxTHEES CKB-JKR Chevrolet | 63 | 23 | Running | |
| 22 | 27 | 40 | Ron Norman | Port of Tucson Chevrolet | 63 | 22 | Running | |
| 23 | 10 | 6 | Julia Landauer | Sunrise Frd/Eibach Spring/Lucas Oil/Braille Batter | 63 | 21 | Running | |
| 24 | 22 | 38 | Stafford Smith * | Stonys Rockin Country Chevrolet | 60 | 20 | Running | |
| 25 | 29 | 33 | Nicole Behar | Custom Welding & Fabrication Chevrolet | 55 | 19 | Running | |
| 26 | 3 | 88 | Ryan Blaney | Discount Tire Ford | 53 | 18 | Rear End | |
| 27 | 21 | 84 | Rich DeLong III | Country Girl Saloon Chevrolet | 38 | 17 | Transmission | |
| 28 | 4 | 43 | Derek Thorn | Campbell Motorsports/Race for Autism Toyota | 22 | 16 | Engine | |
| 29 | 30 | 14 | John Wood | Idaho 208/Patriot Motorsports Group Ford | 16 | 15 | Drive Line | |
| 30 | 12 | 20 | Jim Inglebright | Inglebright Racing Chevrolet | 10 | 14 | Electrical | |
| 31 | 28 | 36 | Jesse Iwuji | Champion Parts/Lights Out/ Bullet Proof Energy | 8 | 13 | Oil Line | |
| 32 | 32 | 77 | Kevin O’Connell | RC-1, Inc. Chevrolet | 0 | 12 | Did Not Start
|
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Will Rodgers *, Time: 77.949 Seconds, Speed: 91.906 mph
Time of Race: 2 hrs., 8 mins, 43 secs Average Speed: 59.368 mph Margin of Victory: .530 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 14-16 (#38 hit wall—-Free Pass #11); 18-21 (#14 stopped T2..No Free Pass); 23-26 (#43 stopped T4 —Free Pass #54); 34-37 (Break—-Free Pass #88); 39-40 (#84 stopped T2—-Free Pass #38); 55-57 (#88 stopped T11—-Free Pass #11). 6 for 20 laps.
Lap Leaders: Will Rodgers * 1-26, Michael Self 27-41, Kevin Harvick 42-64.
Total Laps Led: Will Rodgers * 26, Kevin Harvick 23, Michael Self 15. 2 changes involving 3 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Todd Gilliland 354, Chris Eggleston 343, Derek Kraus * 298, Will Rodgers * 286, Michael Self 272, Kody Vanderwal * 272, Todd Souza 266, Blaine Perkins 261, Nicole Behar 258, Matt Levin 258
Next Race:July 28, 2017
* – Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
