Gragson Opens Utah Weekend In Victory Lane

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 Noah Gragson put a near-miss on a road-course behind him Saturday.

Gragson redeemed himself at Utah Motorsports Campus with a win in the Utah 110 presented by Ken Garff Volvo, the first race of the weekend doubleheader at the 3.048-mile road course. It was the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win of the season for the 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver and sweet redemption after coming up short and settling for second-place at California’s Sonoma Raceway in June.

The Las Vegas, Nevada, driver took the lead from Todd Gilliland with nine laps to go to earn his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory of the season. 

The NASCAR Next driver started the race in fourth in the No. 7 SPEEDVEGAS/AlertID/Colliers International Ford. Gragson spent most of the race behind Ryan Partridge and Gilliland conserving his tires and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. His window opened when Partridge cut a tire with 13 laps to go and it continued when Gilliland made a mistake late in the race.

Gragson capitalized on the error to take the lead and cruise to Victory Lane.

It was Gragson’s fourth career K&N Pro win. Earlier this season, he won the K&N Pro East race at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway.

Gilliland and Gragson’s Jefferson Pitts Racing teammate Gracin Raz finished second and third, respectively, at Utah. Gilliland’s Bill McAnally Racing teammates Julia Landauer and Riley Herbst rounded out the top five.

Blaine Perkins, Will Rodgers, Tim Spurgeon, Partridge and Cole Rouse completed the top 10.

Gilliland was able to push his lead to 11 over Partridge, who won the Coors Light Pole Award earlier Saturday. Gragson is third in points, 29 behind Partridge and one in front of Raz.

The K&N Pro Series West will be back in action tomorrow afternoon for the second doubleheader event at Utah Motorsports Campus. The green flag will be at 2:15 p.m. local time. The lineup for Sunday’s race was set based on the driver’s best lap in Saturday’s race. Partridge will start on the pole and will be joined on the front row by Gilliland. Gragson and Riley Herbst will make up Row 2.

The Utah doubleheaders will air on NBCSN Saturday, September 17 from 9-10pm ET / 7-9pm MT.

NASCAR PR

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