Cameron Hayley out-dueled polesitter and race leader Derek Thorn following the ninth and final restart of the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 Saturday night at All American Speedway to earn his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory.
Hayley, a 17-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, battled Thorn for five laps following the last restart and made the decisive move on the outside to take the lead four laps from the finish and capture his first win in a championship points race.
After five runner-up finishes, the breakthrough victory came in Hayley’s 32nd career start.
“It was amazing,” Hayley said of his win. “Our Cabinets by Hayley Ford Fusion was just perfect all night. We really wanted to save tires at the beginning, so that we had stuff at the end and it’s just what we did. We stuck to our game plan and made sure we had stuff left at the end and it paid off.”
Thorn, who earned his fourth career Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the evening, held on for second after leading 138 circuits of the 150-lap race.
“We were able to qualify on the pole,” he said. “The guys really worked hard on this car to make it what it is. At the very end, with five laps to go, we got a little nudge from someone behind us and the 24 was able to kind of get a jump on it and I just couldn’t real him back in in the last five laps.”
Eric Holmes, who led on four occasions as he battled Thorn side-by-side through much of the event, came home third.
“The NAPA Toyota was one of the best cars I’ve had all year,” Holmes said. “It’s just hard to pass Derek side-by-side. I just needed to get the lead so I wouldn’t have to run it so hard. The 24 at the end just had a little better car than us just because me and Derek ran so hard.”
Michael Self and Greg Pursley brought home the top five. Patrick Staropoli, Dylan Hutchins, Shane Golobic, Daryl Harr and Luis Tyrell completed the top 10 finishers.
The race featured nine lead changes among three drivers.
Hayley, a member of the NASCAR Next driver group, first visited Victory Lane in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series car in the inaugural non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway this past February.
With his win, Hayley moved back to second in the championship standings. He trails Thorn 554 to 536. Pursley slipped to third with 529 points, followed by Self with 521 and Lupton with 469. Sixth and seventh are Carl Harr and Taylor Cuzick, with 420 each. Daryl Harr is eighth at 410, followed by Giles Thornton at 394 and John Wood at 381.
The Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 will air on FS1 on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. ET.
The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West schedule will be the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif., on Oct. 26.
1. (2) Cameron Hayley, Calgary, Alberta, Ford, 150 laps, 53.534 mph.
2. (1) Derek Thorn, Lakeport, CA, Ford, 150.
3. (3) Eric Holmes, Escalon, CA, Toyota, 150.
4. (11) Michael Self, Park City, UT, Chevrolet, 150.
5. (5) Greg Pursley, Newhall, CA, Ford, 150.
6. (10) Patrick Staropoli, Plantation, Fla., Toyota, 150.
7. (8) Dylan Hutchison, Fair Oaks, CA, Chevrolet, 150.
8. (14) Shane Golobic, Fremont, Calif., Toyota, 150.
9. (12) Daryl Harr, Edmonton, Alberta, Chevrolet, 150.
10. (17) Luis Tyrrell, Brisbane, Calif., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (16) Jay Beasley, Las Vegas, Nev., Toyota, 150.
12. (20) Carlos Vieira, Atwater, Calif., Toyota, 150.
13. (13) Giles Thornton, Whitefish, Mont., Toyota, 150.
14. (15) Thomas Martin, Auburn, Calif., Chevrolet, 150.
15. (6) Dylan Lupton, Wilton, Calif., Ford, 150.
16. (9) Travis Milburn, Eagle, Idaho, Toyota, 150.
17. (19) Jim Weiler, Sonoma, Calif., Ford, 150.
18. (21) Carl Harr, Edmonton, Alberta, Chevrolet, 148.
19. (23) Jack Sellers, Sacramento, CA, Chevrolet, 141.
20. (7) Michael Waltrip, Owensboro, Ky., Toyota, 78, transmission.
21. (22) John Wood, Eagle, ID, Toyota, 73, electrical.
22. (18) Taylor Cuzick, Tolleson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 53, accident.
23. (24) Andrew Tuttle, Eagle, Idaho, Ford, 37, suspension.
24. (4) Jason Romero, Cameron Park, Calif., Toyota, 30, suspension.
NASCAR PR
