Todd Gilliland Reigns Victorious In United Site Services 70 At NHMS
Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – LOUDON, NH – After the XFINITY racing action was over, the NASCAR K&N East Pro Series took to the track for the United Site Services 70.
Chase Purdy started on the pole after scoring his fourth consecutive pole on Friday. He was followed by Ronnie Bassett Jr., Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton and Sheldon Creed. Purdy shot to the early lead, with Gilliand challenging. New England native Eddie Macdonald was moving up quickly, finding his way up to the 15th position on lap 3 after starting the race in 21st, gaining 6 positions in a few short laps. The #41 of Vinnie Miller had a right front tire go down on lap 5, causing him to move up into the outside wall in turn 2. This brought out the first caution of the day.
The #16 of Todd Gilliland got a good jump on the restart, capturing the top spot from Purdy on lap 8 in turn 2. The #88 of Julia Landauer began to slow in turn 3 on lap 13, bringing her #88 car down to the pits. Todd Gilliland and the rest of the leaders caught up to the rear of the pack on lap 18 and began lapping slow traffic, setting the pace. By lap 19, Gilliland extended his lead on Purdy to 1 second, pulling away from the rest of the pack. This lead furthered to 1.5 seconds by lap 25, with Gilliand showing the way. Harrison Burton fell to 6th place by lap 31, fighting to gain position. By the halfway point at lap 35, the field was completely spread out, with Todd Gilliland and Chase Purdy maintaining a 5 second lead over the remainder of the pack.
John Wood was suffering from an ill-handling car all night, making his way to the pits on lap 38 after falling 9 laps behind the leader. By lap 40, the lead lap only held 12 cars, carrying over the dominance from the earlier XFINITY Series race. The #38 of John Wood brought his car behind the wall on lap 47, ending his night. With 15 laps to go, Gilliland and Purdy continued their dominance, maintaining a steady 8 second lead over the rest of the pack. Only 6 cars remained on the lead lap with 10 to go, with Todd Gilliland putting them down, one by one. Harrison Burton was finally able to clear Sheldon Creed for the 4th spot on lap 38 in turn 4, driving toward the front, but running out of time. Gilliland went on to win the feature in dominating fashion, followed by Chase Purdy, Ronnie Bassett Jr., Harrison Burton and Sheldon Creed.
This was Gilliland’s first win at NHMS and his second win of the 2017 K&N East Pro Series season. Gilliland, a third generation driver and David Gilliland’s son, described this win as “special” in Victory Lane. “This is great preparation for running the Truck Series race here later this season.” he explained in his post-race interview, saying that he’s excited to return to NHMS in the future. He hopes to continue his dominance in 2 weeks at Iowa Speedway on July 28th, continuing his winning season.
The top three finishers talked about the VHT surface on the track. Chase Purdy liked it and thought it was very helpful throughout the race. He felt whoever could get turn off of it could win the race and he knew Todd Gilliland was going to win the race. He thought overall it really helped the K&N East drivers.
Ronnie Bassett, Jr finished third for the second week in a row. He did not know what to think of the VHT surface as he tried to stay out of it Bassett got up into the new surface and made his car tight. He ran on the bottom all day.
Race winner Todd Gilliland hopes they do the same thing to thew track when the trucks return in September as he will be racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He felt his car was faster this year than last year. He felt you could drive win and wash up to the top VHT and then come on the bottom.
| Finish | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 16 | Todd Gilliland | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 70 | 48 | 5 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 17 | Chase Purdy * | Bama Buggies/Textron Off-Road Toyota | 70 | 43 | 1 | Running |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | Ronnie Bassett, Jr. | Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet | 70 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 4 | 12 | Harrison Burton | Dex Imaging Toyota | 70 | 40 | Running | |
| 5 | 5 | 40 | Sheldon Creed * | United Rentals Toyota | 70 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 7 | 30 | Tyler Dippel | TyCar Ford | 70 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 9 | 6 | Ruben Garcia Jr. | Max Siegel, Inc. Toyota | 69 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 11 | 44 | Dillon Bassett | Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet | 69 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 6 | 14 | Trey Hutchens | Hutchens Motorsports Chevrolet | 69 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 8 | 51 | Brandon Oakley * | Oakley Blacktop Chevrolet | 69 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 14 | 2 | Collin Cabre | UTI/NTI Toyota | 69 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 20 | 71 | Eddie MacDonald | Grimm Construction Chevrolet | 69 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 15 | 31 | Andy Seuss * | Whelen Engineering Chevrolet | 69 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 12 | 42 | Jay Beasley | Castle Power Toyota | 69 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 10 | 13 | Spencer Davis | Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 68 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 19 | 4 | Chase Cabre * | Lincoln Electric Toyota | 68 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 21 | 32 | Stafford Smith | Stoney’s Rockin Country\Wahl Traction Ford | 67 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 17 | 36 | Jesse Iwuji | The Patriot Mtrsprts Group\Lights Out Chevrolet | 64 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 18 | 38 | John Wood | Holleran Performance Chevrolet | 33 | 25 | Vibration | |
| 20 | 13 | 88 | Julia Landauer | Ford Performance/onelove Ford | 14 | 24 | Overheating | |
| 21 | 16 | 41 | Vinnie Miller * | Master Mfg. Inc Toyota | 12 | 23 | Mechanical |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Chase Purdy *, Time: 30.216 Seconds, Speed: 126.052 mph
Failed to Qualify: (1) Woody Pitkat * (#9).
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 39 mins, 45 secs Average Speed: 111.789 mph Margin of Victory: 7.558 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 5-7 (#41 – Turn 2 – No FP). 1 for 3 laps.
Lap Leaders: Chase Purdy * 1-7, Todd Gilliland 8-70.
Total Laps Led: Todd Gilliland 63, Chase Purdy * 7. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Harrison Burton 387, Todd Gilliland 373, Chase Purdy * 335, Ronnie Bassett, Jr. 331, Ruben Garcia Jr. 321, Chase Cabre * 312,
Jay Beasley 300, Dillon Bassett 291, Hunter Baize 283, Tyler Dippel 283
Next Race: Iowa Speedway: July 28, 2017
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
